Barbados U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 3

Saturday 30^th March 2013

We had a solid start to week 2 today as Alex eased through his 1^st round match against Joshua Blanchard from Barbados.

Due to one of the courts being reserved for Davis cup, the tournament is being held on just three courts this week which has meant that the schedule for each day is going to be very long. As Alex was scheduled for 6^th match I decided that there was no point in getting to the club early today so we had breakfast at 9am and then practiced on the hotel court from 11-11.30am. The condition of the court was ok and it was probably the same as the practice courts that are available at the tournament site but it was interesting to have the court surface different to the outside of the court!

Alex and Mia had a good hit for just over 30 minutes and as soon as Alex felt as though he was warmed up and ready for his match we concluded the session and returned to the hotel. Both players then showered and changed before we got the local bus into Oistins to get some food from the supermarket. There is a big fish festival in town at the moment with lots of different market type stalls selling items from toys to clothes so hopefully we’ll get a chance to venture in one evening to check it out.

After lunch we got the 1.30pm shuttle to the courts and then waited for Alex’s court to become available. Even though Alex’s match was scheduled not before 3.30pm the match before his finished early so both boys agreed to go on at around 3.15pm.

Alex took control of the match from the first game and even though Joshua was a weaker player Alex made sure that he pushed himself to improve in every game. In particular, Alex worked hard on his return of serve and on developing his movement forwards to the net, both of which he did well on his way to a 6-0, 6-0 win.

After the match we still had an hour before the next bus left for the hotel so, while Alex cooled down and stretched out, Mia and I went for a 30 minute run around the cricket pitch to tick off another one of her strength and conditioning sessions for the trip. We then returned to the hotel and had a swim in the hotel pool to cool off before dinner.

Our bus journeys to and from Hastings are getting better each day and today had to be one of the best – we had 20 of us in a 12 seater mini-bus which included 2 young children trying to sleep! As always Alex loved the experience!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Ethan Ammon (TRI) (UNR) vs (8) Alex Hagon (GBR) (1811) – 2^nd match after 9am

Winner to play (WC) Jeremie Euphraise (MRN) (UNR) or William Berry (JAM) (UNR) – 6^th match after 9am (not before 2pm)