Bermuda U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 2

Sunday 23^rd June 2013

We had a very good final day of preparation today but once again we were interrupted by a big rain storm in the afternoon.

While Alex had a bit of a lie in this morning I was up early to hit the roads for a 4 mile run. I’ve got less than 3 months to go until my 12^th Great North Run half marathon so I need to keep up with my training even though it was very hot and humid (even at 6.30am!). When I got back I met Alex for breakfast at 8am and then we headed over to the courts on the 9am shuttle bus.

For our first session of the day we were joined by Robert Levine from America and within the first five minutes Alex had found a very high level of hitting from the back of the court. It was hotter and more humid than yesterday and it was physically quite draining to keep up a high training intensity but Alex worked hard throughout the 45 minute session. The boys played a match tie-break to end the session and even though Alex went down 10-7 he showed that he could maintain his high level during the points.

Over the next couple of hours we had some lunch, watched the final round of qualifying matches and tried to stay out of the heat / occasional downpour of rain! Alex and fellow Brit Harry Copley then warmed up and got on court at 1.30pm for our second session of the day. The boys warmed up for around 20 minutes and then went into a set to make sure they were both ready to compete in their matches tomorrow.

The start of the set was very close with both players serving well at key times but just as the boys were starting to really get their teeth into it the rain came down again. It was a similar time to the storm that hit yesterday and even though the sky didn’t look that dark the rain just kept getting heavier and heavier. In the end (after sheltering under the court umbrellas for 15 minutes!) we came off court at around 2.45pm and then just waited until 4pm for the opening ceremony.

Just as the ceremony was due to start the rain cleared and the players were paraded around the court:

 

We were then treated to a dance performance by a local group and then a skipping performance by some local kids before the tournament was officially opened (much to the delight of the players who had been waiting around all day!).

Dinner tonight was at the club (to make sure everyone stayed for the opening ceremony!!) and then we had to wait around for an hour and a half before the shuttle bus came to take us back to the barracks.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(WC) Ernesto Telles Schmidt (ESA) (UNR) vs Alex Hagon (GBR) (1705) – 2^nd match after 1pm