Monday 2nd May 2011
It was a very positive day at the office today as Devan played both singles and doubles and showed that she can compete with the likes of Sharapova.
I was up early this morning at 6.30am to put some finishing touches to Devan’s pre-match sheets and make sure everything was ready for her singles and doubles matches. We had breakfast together at 7.45am and to my relief Devan’s swollen glands had gone down and she was feeling much better than yesterday evening.
We left for the club at 8.50am and warmed up ready for our pre-booked practise session at 9.30am. The match warm up was very good, Devan was hitting great (which makes my job a lot easier!) and by 10am everything was warm and she was ready to go. She got changed after practise into her match kit and we then went over the plan for the match including setting some goals for her to focus on.
Devan was taking on Charlotte Thuries from France today and from the start she took control of the match putting the French girl under pressure from the back of the court. One of Devan’s goals was to keep the number of unforced errors down while still attacking to produce winners – she did this very well throughout the first set as she hit 12 winners and 11 unforced errors in taking the opening set 6-0. The French girl was not about to give up without a fight though and made the second set a little more tricky for Devan. Charlotte broke back to make it 1-1 and then a few tight games meant that Devan’s focus and attitude would be tested – it’s not always easy when you win the first set 6-0 as your opponent can easily come out in the second set swinging and then suddenly put you under pressure. Devan however stayed focused and showed a great attitude to accept Charlotte’s winners but then also showed great fight to come back a few times when she was down including the last game when she was serving for the set. At 0-30 Devan produced 2 aces and 2 unreturnable serves to take the match 6-0, 6-2.
Straight after her match she showered and changed and then joined me to watch some of her next round opponent play before we headed off site to get some lunch.
Doubles was a little later in the day and at 4pm Devan & Cassandra Vazquez took on Daria Sharapova and Zhanlan Wei. Daria is the younger cousin of Maria Sharapova and she has a lot of the same traits as Maria including a huge strike on her forehand. Devan and Cassandra fought hard in the first set but a couple of sudden death deuces went against them and Devan was broken twice to go down 6-2. From the back to the court they were both living with their opponents but it was at the net where the biggest difference showed. This changed in the second and Devan and Cassandra started to close out more points with first volleys, they got a break to go 2-1 but then lost the next 3 games to go 4-2 down. The broke straight back at 4-2 and then broke again and held at 5-3 to level the set. It was a much better performance now and the girls were within touching distance of levelling up the match when they went 5-2 up in the tie break but Daria and Zhanlan played some very strong points to take the next 5 points in a row.
Devan & Cassandra in action against Sharapova & Wei
It was a disappointing 6-2, 7-6 loss but only because they were so close to taking it to a third set, the actual performance was good and I was very pleased with how Devan was striking the ball from the back of the court. It’s great to really compete with someone who is 200 in the world and know that you can live with them all day long in the rally, hopefully Devan will take that confidence into her singles match tomorrow.
For dinner tonight we went to Chipotle, I’ve been a few times before and I love it but for Devan it was her first experience! The food in there is always very good and in Tim’s words it’s “legit food” so it must be good for you!!!
Schedule for tomorrow:
Devan McCluskey (USA) (958) vs (9) Clementina Riobueno De Paola (VEN) (326) – Not Before 11am
