SATURDAY FINALS OF SINGLES AND DOUBLES

It is now Saturday and the Finals of Singles was set again for 10:30 am. I got up early and had a good breakfast and warm up session with my normal warm up partner (Vesna) from Flordia. We have been warming up every morning at 7:15 because the matches started and 8:30 and all the courts were being used for the tournament. I spoke with Fran again about my opponent's game and she gave me some useful information that I could use. I really thought she would be tired after her long match with Fran, so again one of my plans was to wear her out! Physically I felt great, so I knew that stamina would not be an issue for ME!!! We started the match at 10:30 on the money!! Every single point was extremely long and very good, we both used deep shots against each other, came to the net, used angles etc. Overall the first set was great. I was up 4-2, then before I knew it she came back and won the set 6-4!!! I was disappointed because I felt like I had the uppper hand in the first set, but she somehow managed to pull it out with some clever drop shots and good net play. I did force the issue on some of the points, coming to the net and hitting some oh but I missed a few shots to lose the first set. The second set started a bit slow for me and she had the momentum. She got up 2-0 in the second set by being more aggressive and using the wind to her advantage. Well I was not going to give up!! I kept plugging in, using my movement and good net play to tie it up at 2-2. We battled back and forth to 3-3 and I finally broke her to go up 4-3 and I fininished the second set at 6-3. We took a 10 min break and came back out to do more battle. It was one set for the entire championship so I was going to give it my all. I was not tired at all, my legs felt great and I thought I had the momentum after winning the second set. I thought she may have ran out of gas in the second so I was ready to rumbel and make her run some more!!! We started the 3rd set and again I went down 2-0, similar to the 2nd set. Again I fought back to 2-2. We kept holding serve and I finally broke to go up 4-3. She broke back and tied it up at 4-4, she then went up 5-4, 30-love against my serve. I managed to win that game with some unbeilievable gets and some good strategic points. I tied it up at 5-5, went up 6-5 and finished the match at 7-5 in the third. I could not believe that I had just won the Worlds!!! I jumped for joy and thanked all of my USA teammates and players who supported and encouraged me throughout the match. It made all the difference in the world to have them there!!! What a great experience!!! It it hard to explain how it felt, but I knew I had accomplished something big!!! I did not celebrate too long because I now had to play the doubles at 4:30. My singles match lasted 4 1/2 hours, started at 10:30 and finished at 3:00. I quickly ate lunch (late), got a 30 minute massage and proceeded to go back to the courts for the finals of the doubles. We played our own teammates (#1 seeds), Fran and Susan. It was an All American Doubles finals. I think my partner was a bit concerned that I would be tired, but I assured her that I was fine and ready to play!! We started just after 4:30 and the concern was that we would end up playing under the lights. The lights at the club were not good, hard to follow the lobs because they went over the lights, but we had to play. We started a little slow, but eventually started to get warmed up. We played a very tough first set winning it 7-5, after being down 4-2. We capitalized on our net game and solid overheads to close out the first set. We started strong in the 2nd, went up 4-2 and 5-2, and eventually finishing at 6-3 in the second set. Once again, I was the World Champion in Doubles!!! We hugged and hugged and we celebrated. A great accomplishment for both of us!!! It was time to celebrate and boy did I. Even though I had played over 6 hours of tennis that day, I found the energy dance and dance until 2 am!!! Tomorrow is a rest day, and I can't wait!! I will get a massage and take a turkish bath and just lay by the beach and soak it all in!!! I travel back home early monday morning. I look forward to seeing everyone and showing you pictures and the videos from Team World and Individual Tournaments!!!

FRIDAY @ THE INDIVIDUAL WORLDS

So it is now Friday and I play in the Semifinals of singles at 10:30. Thank goodness because I am not an early person!!!! Those 8:30 am matches just about killed me. Today I play the #1 player from the Czech Republic, Barbara Koutna. She is seeded #2 in the draw, I am #5. I saw Koutna play against Fran in the Team Competition so I knew she would be one of my toughest matches. She is seeded no. 2 for a reason!!! She has a tremendous forehand, solid backhand, a good serve, and an overall solid net game. I had a plan in mind, but of course it was a matter of executing the plan. I knew that Fran frustrated her by getting alot balls back and being consistent, so that was going to be game plan #1, frustrate her and hit deep balls to her backhand (1 handed). She frequently ran around the forehand and tried to control the points with her forehand. We battled in the first set and my gameplan worked, she got very frustrated and made unforced errors so I got the first set 6-3. I felt good about how I was playing, confident from the baseline and my movement was exceptional. We started the second set and I immediately broke her and was up 1-0. I thought I had her mentally because I won that first game so easily, but I was wrong. She settled down and began to use her forehand effectively, moving me from corner to corner and coming up with tremendous angles and some great drop shots. I got down 5-1 in the second set, so I mentally decided to just play one point at a time, kept making her work for every point, and before I knew it I got back even with her. In a key point at 5-4 her, I came to the net and she hit an angled backhand passing shot, which I hit with my left hand at the net (just trying to reach it), hit the ball back in the court short, then hit a lob volley over her head for a winner!! That was the turning point!! I ended up winning the tiebreak in the second set 7-3 and I found myself in the Finals of the World's!!! I was ecstatic and quite shocked!! I did play well and felt very deserving of that match!!!! The other semi finals was still going on, with Fran (my teammate and the #1 seed) playing the #4 seed, Christine French (the #1 player from Great Britain). I went to watch the match and the match was at 5-2, Christine in the third set. I knew Fran was not going to give up (I have played her so many times!!!!) and she came back to win 2 more games. They battled at 5-4, long game, and Christine ended up 6-4 in the 3rd set. I kept mental notes on what she did well which was her serve and baseline consistency and a great bh drop shot!!! I knew I had my hands full tomorrow in the FINALS, but I also felt that maybe she would be a little tired. My partner and I are in the semis this afternoon against Brenda Foster and Christine French, the #2 seeds. I knew Christine would be a bit tired from her singles match and I had already played Brenda (the tall Australian that I played in the quarters), so I knew what we were up against, both good solid doubles players. Myke and I knew we were ready, we had practiced together alot during the Team Competition and had played quite a bit before. We had to just play consistent and smart doubles. We talked about the importance of playing Christine more since she was tired, and that they were both tall and had very solid overheads, so we were going to keep the lobbing to a minimum!! We started the match with a break of service and just played great in both sets. We made very few mistakes, communicated well and controlled the net!! A great match for us and once again, I was in the FINALS (doubles) of the World's. It has been a GREAT day for me!!! I had set some goals for myself before leaving the states and slowly I was accomplishing them. I have 2 more matches left to win the Worlds so I focusing and will be ready for tomorrow!!

It is now Friday and I played yesterday in the quarters of the singles and the doubles. I played the #3 seed yesterday in the singles, the #1 player from Australia. I had lost to her twice before and was a bit nervous about playing her. I knew what I needed to do to beat her, but it was a matter of executing the right shots. She is a very aggressive player, big serve and a big net game, but not very mobile. My strategy was to keep the balls deep and not let her get to the net as much as she would like to. I broke her right away, first game!! That gave me alot of confidence. I also noticed that she lacked confidence on her forehand so I was relentless and kept her moving and hitting to that side. She has a great backhand and she diguised her drop shot very, very well!!! I played a tough first set, and won it 6-4. I started well in the second and won the second 6-2. This was a great win and now I am into the semifinals of the singles at the World Championships!!! I play a tough opponent today, #1 Czech player. I warmed up this am and feel great!! I am ready to rumble!!! My doubles partner, Myke and I also yesterday in the quarters of the doubles so we are in the semis of the doubles. We play the Australian, Brenda Foster (who I just beat in singles), and the #1 player from Great Britain. It should be a very good match!!!!

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

All is going great!! I played Tuesday vs. a Turkish lady. Pretty nice strokes but not in great shape so I took advantage of that!!! I won 6-2, 6-0. No doubles today so I hung out watched all the other Americans play their matches and got a great massage!! The massages here in Turkey are out of this world!!! I also played yesterday, Wednesday vs. the #2 player from Great Britain. I knew she was a good player since she played on their Cup Team and had some good wins. I warmed up well and was ready to go. I started the match well with a break of service. Her serve was good so I was happy to break her right away. From then on I played very consistent used my agility and speed and made her hit alot of balls!!! She made some unforced errors on some key points and I won the first set 6-3. The second set was easy at first. She made alot of unforced errors on her forehand side, so of course she kept seeing alot of forehands!!! I went up 4-0 quickly. She had a good service game and won the next game to make it 4-1. I rallied back to take a 5-2 lead and several match points. She played loose and went for some fh winners and got back to 5-3. I finally closed out the match after about 5 match points!!! Good win and I now have advanced into the Quarter finals. I play the #3 seed today, the #1 player from Australia. It will be a tough match. She is 5 11" and hits the ball hard. Likes to come in alot, so I will need to keep that ball deep so she does not get to the net as much!!! My partner and I are in the quarters of the doubles also and will play at 4:30 pm!! Last night at the Club we had 3 four legged creatures on site!! Camels!! My friends decided to take a ride on one!! It was too funny!! I will post some pictures later today since I am getting ready to go on the court for my match.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY/MONDAY

Well we had our closing ceremonies on Friday!! We got our Bronze medals and we were very proud of them. We knocked out France for 3rd place!!! As my teammate said,"The difference between 3rd and 4th is that we get to go up to the Podium and get a medal!!!!" . Saturday was a day to just watch alot of the other team finals. We had alot of teams playing for their cup today, and we prevailed in many of them but lost in some others. A long presentation for those that played today proceeded the matches and the end of the Team Championships came to an end!! I will miss the team spirit from the week. Alot of the players will be going home, but quite a few are staying to playing the World Individual tournament. Some are just flying in and getting ready to compete. I got seeded 5th in the singles and 3rd in the doubles. The matches will start on Sunday or Monday depending on the size of the draws and your seeding. I had a bye first round so I will not start playing until Tuesday. I took advantage of the day off and went to the ancient city of Side. Did some shopping and bought some great Turkish items!!! It is Tuesday now and I play at 4:00 pm. I am headed to the warm up court to get some hitting in. I play a lady from Turkey. I will update you later!!!!!

PLAYOFF FOR 3RD/4TH

Well I woke up this morning and felt a little tired after the long day yesterday!!! We started the match vs. the Czech's at 8:30 am and we finally finished at 6:00 pm. All matches went three sets and all of them were battles. I decided to sit out this match since I did not feel 100% and Myke played in the #2 position vs. France (the #1 seeds). We thought she was going to have an easy match, since I had scouted the #2 French player yesterday, but they played their #3 player and she was a very good player, a totally different player than their #2. She had a very strong baseline game so Myke had to be ready to battle and boy did she. She played with alot of patience and tenacity!!! Alot of long points (typical of the red clay), and she prevailed in 2 sets (after being down 4-1 in the 2nd set). Great playing Myke!!! We really needed that win at #2 because their no. 1 player is an incredibly good world class player and we knew Fran would have her hands full!!! Fran's match started with alot of good points, but Catherine took alot of her short balls and attacked beautifully!!! Fran lost the 1st set 6-3, but I knew that if she used the right strategy, she could break her down some!! I coached both Myke and Fran's match and kept reminding them of what they were doing well and how they were winning points. I have to say that I did a great job, because Fran won the 2nd and 3rd set, using the strategy we had been discussing to perfection!!! She had to execute the plan and she did!!! A great win for both of our players and most importantly a great win for the USA!!! We beat the former #1 team in the World (last year's winners). Overall we played as a team great!! We won significant matches and we worked very well together. We were a TEAM, and the results showed!!! We were very happy to get on that podium and receive the 3rd place medal!!! By the way the Czechs ended winning the Cup this year with a win agains Italy. We were literally one set away from winning the Cup!!! Well I start the Individual Singles tournament on Monday. I have spent the last few days sightseeing and practicing.

DAY 4 COMPETITION

It is now Thursday here in Turkey and we played this morning at 8:30 am in the semifinals vs. Czech Republic. We had the day off yesterday so we just practiced and watched some very exciting USA Men's and Women's matches. I got up very early today (too early for me!!) and got a good warm up in before my 8:30 am match. My opponent was very, very strong (wondering what she is taking????). Huge, huge forehand, stronger than most men I have played with!!! We battled in the first set and with some good deep shots and moonballs I frustrated and she made alot of mistakes enabling me to win the first set in a close 6-3 battle. I thought she may have been a little tired, but I was wrong, and something kicked in. We battled hard alot of deuces and ads, but her forehand was on fire!!! She hit alot of great shots and beat me 6-0 in the second. It was closer than the score though!! The 3rd set was pretty much the same, she rarely missed her forehand and she ran around all of her backhands, so it was very difficult to get it there!! Fran played her match and again she had to battle a big forehand, and a very, very strong Czech!! What are these girls taking??????????????? Look at the pictures and
judge for yourself!!!! Fran did manage to pull it out in the third set, so it came down to the doubles. Myke and I found ourselves again battling forehands the entire 3 sets of doubles. Angle, topspin lob, moonballs you name it and they did it. We were up 4-2 in the first set and lost a close set at 6-4. We changed our strategy, stayed back, and came in together which seemed to throw them off and it worked for a while. We managed to pull out the second set 6-4. THe new ball in the third set did not help us!! They started extremely strong, not missing much of anything and we lost 6-2 in the third. The match was fantastic and we had most of the USA players from the other teams yelling and screaming for us. It was so exciting and intense, and the points were all fabulous. Even though we lost, we felt great about our efforts and they way we hung in there with these lades (or men????). We play tomorrow against France for 3rd and 4th. Overall it was an exciting day of tennis. We started at 8:30 am and got off the court @ 6:00 pm!! A very long day on the courts today!!!! Hope everyone is doing well in the States!!!

Day 3 of Competition/Wednesday

Today was a tough day because we had to play @ 8:30 am!! The last 2 days we played at 12:30!! I am NOT a morning person!!! I had to get up at 6:30!!! Got up and took down 3 cups of coffee just to wake up! I did wake up, ate a little breakfast, stretched, and warmed up to prepare for my match vs. Germany. I am playing #2 today. My opponent was mostly a serve and volley player and at first gave me a little bit of problem because in the first game she did not miss a first serve or volley!! She dropped volley beautifully!!! As the match progressed I kept the ball deep and out steadied her. I won the first set 6-2, and 6-4 in the second. Felt good to get that match out of the way. Fran played and won 6-2, 6-3 so we now advance to the semi finals against Italy. They will be tough. We have a day break tomorrow and resume on Friday!! Getting ready to go watch a few of our USA teams finish up for the day.

Day 2 of Competition/ TUESDAY

Today we play Turkey. Not a very strong team so we will play our #3 and #4 players in singles and Fran and I will play doubles. We won both singles and doubles easily. I did watch an incredible match in the men's 35's division. Andy Lake, used to be a North Carolinian from the Asheville area, played an incredible match. The points went on and the shot making from the two guys was amazing. Just like the pros, if not better!!! The match went to 3 sets and Andy finally prevailed with an unbelievable running fh cc winner that was unbelievable. We play a tough German team tomorrow for our last qualifying match. After our win, we will move on to the semis against Italy, a very very tough team!!

The venue is incredible. Every night there is a production on stage where a Russian Dance company comes in and does different dancing and musical shows. They are all incredibly talented and the shows are Las Vegas style. Beautiful costumes and incredible dancing moves. Last night was a great show where they performed dances from different countries. Beautifully done!!! We have had dinner at the Beach Restaurant almost every night. It's been great so far and very relaxing, although the tennis has been somewhat intense. Hope everyone in the US is doing well and the tennis is going well. Well I will update again tomorrow!!

DAY 1 OF COMPETITION

Well I have now been in Turkey for 3 days. My flight went well, there were 15 of us traveling on the same flight so it was alot of fun. We arrived at the Resort at about 2:30 and immediately went for a practice session. We rested the rest of the day and had our first meal at the greatest food venue ever. You can find any type of food imaginable!!! Asia, Tukish, American, Italian!!! alot to choose from!! I always gain weight when I come here. The desserts are unbelievable!! Today we play Australia in our first round match. It will be a tough first round. I will be up first, playing singles in the number 2 position. I am at the gym stretching and warming up getting ready to take the Aussie!! She is going DOWN!!! After my match our no. 1 will play their no. 1 and doubles will follow. I will come back later to update everyone on the final results of our first match!!!!

Well I played well today!! The winds were about 40 mph and very tough conditions!! I won the first set easily 6-0, she made alot of mistakes, trying to go for winners!!! Remember what I have told you all, you can't win matches by making winners!!! She settled into the match in the second set but I still went up 4-1. She started to play well, making less mistakes, and tied it up. We finally had to play a tiebreak and I prevailed, 7-5 in the tb!! Our #1, Fran, won in a tight match against a very tough opponent 6-3, 6-4. Australia is the toughest group in our group so we were quite happy to get that one out of the way with a 2-1 win. We lost our doubles, Myke and Sue played that match. Overall a great first day of competition and alot of great matches throughout the venue!!!

MARIANA'S TURKEY BLOG- 2008

JUST LEAVING FOR THE AIRPORT THIS MORNING EARLY!!! VERY EXCITED AND DREADING THE LONG TRIP!! I THINK I HAVE EVERYTHING????!!!!