Thursday 17th May 2012
It was another great training day today as we got through two tough on court sessions as well as a core session in temperatures pushing past 30 degrees.
After getting used to the conditions yesterday and recovering from the long travelling day on Tuesday we wanted to make sure we put in a full training day on court today to prepare well for qualifying on Saturday. We met for breakfast at 8am this morning and then were courtside by 9.30am warming up for a 10am start. During the morning session we spent a lot of time working on Dave’s 1st and 2nd serve to make sure they were not only up to the consistency that he needs for his match but also that the serve is as effective as it needs to be. That means that his 1st serve needs to be harder and more accurate than it was in Israel so that it doesn’t enter into his opponents hitting zone and his 2nd serve needs to be more effective by getting up and away from his opponent to ensure it doesn’t get attacked. The majority of the rest of the session was focussed around effectiveness of Dave’s groundstrokes and his sharpness at the net when he moves in to finish the point. By 11.45pm we were both thoroughly exhausted (!!) but more importantly we were both extremely happy with the level of training Dave had put in.
We then had a good lunch at the club and relaxed for an hour before it was time to warm up again to prepare for the afternoon session at 2pm. Dale joined us again on court which gave Dave a chance to play some practise sets which the type of player who he’s going to meet in the qualifying draw on Saturday. Dave started a little slowly in the set but after a quick chat he raised his level and probably found the best mental application I’ve ever seen from him. He won the first set 6-1 but more impressively he maintained every aspect of the first set level throughout the second set to also take that set 6-1 too. By 3pm the temperature on court had risen to 32 degrees and even though we’re right next to the coast there wasn’t a single breath of wind which made conditions pretty tough.
Dave returning Dale's serve during the practise sets today
After the session Dave went straight into his scheduled core exercises for the day and then when he had finished we went though his stretching programme to end a great days training. It was then off to the supermarket to stock up on some food before returning to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
We decided to walk to dinner this evening to check out the local harbour and the sea front and it was a shame I don’t like fish as the quality of the meals on some of the floating restaurants looked amazing. Saying that I was quite happy with my “Penne Arabiatta with chicken” and Dave was more than happy with his “eat as much as you want” buffet!!
Now after getting a bit of a pasting at Pool yesterday I was up for a bit of revenge but Dave through a curve ball in there by suggesting we go bowling. I was definitely up for that but performed horrendously in both games scoring around 154 in the first to Dave’s 176 and then in the second game Dave had a shocker but I couldn’t find a single strike or spare when I needed one and I lost that as well even though both of us scored under 100! I did manage a bit of revenge on the Pool table though; after losing the first set 6-1 I should have taken a 3-0 lead in the second but it currently stands at 3-2 to me with it all to play for tomorrow night. This could end up being an Isner vs Mahut marathon!!
