Wednesday 23rd November 2011
We had three really good doubles today and 2 out of the 3 went our way! Here’s my diary of the day:
6am – Wake up, check and reply to emails
6.40am – Breakfast with the Team
7.30am – Meet the players in reception and go over to the courts
7.35am – Take the players through their physical warm up
8am – On court pre-match warm up for everyone
8.30am – Make sure players know when they’re on and brief Jack for his 1st round consolation
9am – Jack goes on court, Mia goes through the video from her match
9.15am – Help the tournament staff to fix the net with my Centre Strap!
9.30am – Jack starts his match
Jack serving during his 1st round consolation match today
11am – Jack takes the win 6-0, 7-5 with a good 1st set and shaky second (saving 3 set points!)
11.30am – After 20 minutes of trying to get enough balls together I went on court with Julia to work on her serve
12pm – Mia and Julia go on for their 1st round doubles vs Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) & Megdalene Mutua (KEN) (I eat lunch while stating the match!)
1pm – Girls win 6-0, 6-0 with a good performance
1pm – Debrief the girls on the match and set goals for their ¼ Final match
1.30pm – Brief Jack and Jack on their Last 16 match
1.40pm – Boys go on vs (6) Bjorn Scheepbouwer (RSA) & Keegan Sullivan (RSA)
3.30pm – Boy’s lost 7-6(3), 6-3 after serving at 4-2 up in the 1st set. Tough match but great learning experience and positive debrief afterwards
3.55pm – Girls go on for their ¼ Final match vs (4) Melissa Lang (RSA) & Nelise Verster (RSA)
Mia and Julia on their way to victory in the 1/4 Finals
5.40pm – Girls take a very close 6-4, 6-4 win with them both playing superb doubles throughout – the match point was a huge 30+ shot rally that Mia played unbelievably well!
5.45pm – Debrief, cool down and stretch out
6.10pm – Back to the hotel to shower and change
6.30pm – Order dinner, play some cards
7.45pm – Finally eat dinner – they almost got the whole order right!! Few more games of cards!
8.45pm – Players relax before going to bed around 9.15pm
It was a long day today in intense heat but all three players had a positive day; Jack came close again to gaining his first ITF points and the girls impressed everyone with their superb doubles display
Schedule for tomorrow:
Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Ruby Grant (GBR) & Janet Kock (RSA) – Not before 2pm
Consolation Event:
Jack Large (GBR) vs Shabani Kabura (BDI) – 4th round after 9am
To Be Arranged (around doubles):
Akshara Iska (IND) (855) vs Julia Weisel (USA) (1052)
Mia Smith (GBR) (UNR) vs Giselle Umumararungu (RWA) (1326)
