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Hi everyone! I'm x.doublea, the tennis tour's second blogger ever! dav6789's bogs were very enjoyable to read, and I hope I can do my best to match what dav6789 wrote.
I usually leave on the night the tournament ends, but since I was lucky enough to win the Kuwait Pro Tennis tournament, I decided to stay in Kuwait, since it was quite late during the night and I didn't want to lose any sleep and develop jet lag!
I would have to say, my run in Kuwait was one of the best of my career. I started off with a tough 7-5, 6-4 win over my practice partner stevos14. We were actually ranked 1 and 2 in Canada prior to last season, when I decided to turn pro. Despite the fact that we had to play each other, we nevertheless went to the practice courts together to do a short hitting session with each other. After beating stevos14, I played top-seeded Aztec, and beated him 6-3, 7-6. Then, I would have to say I played the two best clay court matches of my career in the semifinals and finals. In the semifinals, I beat the ever tough Agassi2000 6-3, 6-2 and in the finals, I defeated Australian Open finalist PSALT 6-2, 6-4. Although both clame other surfaces as more suited to their games, I was really pleased with how comfortable I felt on the clay; it was really the first time I ever felt comfortable on the surface.
I got up bright an early in Kuwait and took a plane to Paris. In bright an early, I mean 6 in the morning. However, I gained back sleep during the three hour flight to Paris. I didn't enter any tournaments today in order to allow me to become used to the the conditions of the French Open.
I arrived in Paris at 8 o'clock local time, and immediately headed over to the hotel I was going to stay at. The top players such as Tricatrina, Bizet, and John Edelstein got the top floor suites, but I'm content in staying in my modest room! After settling in, I headed to the site.
Because stevos14 was not in Paris yet, and was playing in the Tuscany tournament, I found dav6789 wandering around the site and was successful in arranging to hit with him later in the day. We both went to see if a court was available at 1:00, and we successfully found out that Philippe-Chatrier was available for an hour.
After, I ate a quick breakfast on site, since there was nothing to eat on the plane. Then, when I went back to the player's lounge, I was extremely surprised to find an XBOX360 lying there with Topspin 2 in side it. So, I was able to play a full exhibition match on it. It was really fun, and I have to say, it is one of the best (and only!) video games I've ever played! The graphics were amazing, and everything looked almost exactly the same as in real life.
Now, back to real tennis. After eating a light lunch, I got dressed in my purchased Nike clothing (I haven't gotten a sponsorship offer yet...hopefully one will come soon!), stretched, and did some warm-up exercises, before heading out onto Philippe-Chatrier. There, I found dav6789 just organizing a few things with his coach, and within five minutes we warmed up, and after ten minutes, we started to play a set. Both of us seemed to feel comfortable on the clay, and both of us now feel relatively confident heading into the tournamnet. Unfortunately, we had to stop our match at 5-4 in the tiebreak, since Bizet told us that he had the court next. So we shook hands and headed off back into the changerooms.
I then took a quick look at the draw, and found out that my first round opponent was Fluffernutter. She's new to the tour, so I think I have a solid chance to get past her, but then I would face fifth seeded Yodavitch, which will be tough. N_E_A recently defeated him, so I hope I can do the same! I might then have to face the popular Sheila in the Round of 16.
I didn't want to tire my self out before a Grand Slam event, so I called it a day in terms of tennis. So, I went to the Champs Elysées just to do some walking. Most people go there to buy the latest fashion designer clothing and visit other sorts of stores, but I'm not a big fan of shopping, so I just enjoyed the scenery. However, since I'm a big fan of opera, I walked into a ticket agency and managed to buy a ticket to see Puccini's Tosca in two days time. Paris is one of the music centres of the world, so I thought it would be fitting that I go and check it out.
Right when I walked out of the the ticket agency at 6:05, stevos14 called me and told me that he had arrived in Paris and was heading over to the hotel. Since we are practice partners and we like to discuss about our matches, we decided to meet at 7:30 for dinner at the hotel restaurant.
So, at 7:30, we met at the restaurant, and began to discuss our chances. We both agreed that we received difficult draws- stevos14 was drawn to face Duke in the first round, but the real test would be in the second round, when he would have to play World Number 1 John Elestein. Although we both will be the underdogs when if we get to the second round (I face fifth seeded Yodavitch), I think we both have a chance of advancing. Clay isn't Edelstein's best surface, so I think stevos14 might be able to surprise him. And, as I said earlier, Yodavitch was proven beatable by N_E_A.
After dinner, I decided to go back to my bedroom, write a few e-mails on my laptop, surf the internet, and do this blog.
It's now 11 o'clock, and since I'm playing an early first round match tomorrow, I need to go to bed now. Thanks for reading this, and please check back tomorrow to see how I did!
