Guadeloupe U18 ITF Grade 4, Day 1

Monday 8^th April 2013

It was a tough start to the final week of the tour as Alex and George lost a close 1^st round doubles match after having set points in the first set.

Having arrived late last night we were told that none of the players would have a singles match today but Alex would have the first round of his doubles. We therefore had a more relaxed start to the day and met for breakfast at 8am before we got the bus to the courts at 8.45am. The shuttle bus is only a little 8 seater and, by just before 8.45am, there were probably about 15-20 players waiting for a lift. We managed to squeeze into the first bus and arrived on site just as the first singles matches were starting.

After a quick visit to the local supermarket the players warmed up at 9.30am and then we went on court at 10am with George Cartledge who is playing doubles with Alex this week. For the first hour all four players did a lot of drilling to get used to the court surface and then at 11am we moved to court 4 to play points for the second hour of practice.

It was quite a hot, humid and windy morning and the players were all a little agitated throughout the point play which was probably also down to a little tiredness after travelling yesterday.

We finished the session at 12pm and then the players cooled down, stretched and showered before lunch was served! It’s quite unusual to find a Grade 4 ITF that offers full hospitality to main draw players and national coaches but we’ve got it here and so far the food and hotel accommodation has been very good.

For the following couple of hours the players either relaxed, watched the matches or completed their school work before Alex and George went on for their doubles at 3.30pm.

Alex and George had played very well together in Trinidad and they started well today taking a 4-1* lead in the first set against Geoffrey Blancaneux from France and Maxim Renke from Germany. Maxim held serve in the next game but then Alex was broken to get the set back on serve. Our boys responded well by breaking Geoffrey for the second time to take a 5-3 lead and despite 2 set points on Georges serve they were broken straight back. At 5-4* Maxim held serve well and after Alex was broken again Geoffrey held for the first time to take the opening set 7-5.

George and Alex had played some good doubles to take control of the first set but after it went against them they began to look a bit flat. George was broken in the first game of the second set and then again at *1-3 to trail 1-4*. The good movement and sharp volleys from both boys had dried up which gave Geoffrey and Maxim a lot of confidence. Alex held at *1-5 but it was the last game our boys managed to win as they went down 7-5, 6-2.

It was a disappointing loss after such a good start to the match but hopefully both players will respond with a good singles performance tomorrow.

While Alex was playing, Mia watched the match that would determine who she would play in her first match. Once she had enough information on the winner, her and Georgie got stuck into some school work before dinner was ready at 6.30pm.

There was a lot of mosquitos around this evening, which wasn’t much fun, but we just about managed to finish our dinner before we got a bus back to the hotel at 7.30pm. We then sat in the lobby of the hotel and watched The Goonies for an hour following a request from Mia. Georgie and Alex were a bit sceptical to begin with but I think they were just starting to get into it when we stopped the film to go off to bed at 9pm. Part 2 tomorrow evening!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Alex Hagon (GBR) (1835) vs (WC) Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA) (UNR) – 2^nd match after 9am