WORLD INDIVIDUALS- SAN LUIS POTOSI- WEDNESDAY

My doubles partner, Mary Beth and I are getting ready to play the semis of the doubles. We are playing to very young and strong 35 yr. olds. Remember I am 12 years their senior. How dare do they hit that ball at me that hard????? Well they tried to win that way but it did not work. I came to the net often and did alot of poaching, I-formation, spin serves, serve and volley and they got very confused. We won it in 3 sets after being down 3-1 in the third set. I feel great about our victory!!! We are now in the finals of the Worlds!!!

WORLD INDIVIDUAL- SAN LUIS POTOSI

We arrived in San Luis Potosi on Sunday, just in time for the opening ceremonies. The ceremonies were fantastic, great food, and good entertainment. There are many diffierent countries represented here, from Japan, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Belgium, South Africa, Puerto Rico, etc. It was great to see my old foreign friends again. The draws have been made and play begins on Monday. I am seeded 3 but the entire draw is full of great players. Some that just aged up to the 45's!!
Monday: I have a bye so we just trained in the morning and in the afternoon. I hit with my Belgium friend and former 5 time world champion in the morning for warm up. The courts we are on are painted asphalt!! Unbelievably difficult to play on.
Tuesday: I play a girl from Finland today. I won easily and will play in the quarters against the big Lefty from Ireland. I wrote about her earlier during the team competition. She has one of the biggest serves in the 45's !!!
Wednesday: I played in the quarters this am and won the first set. I struggled alot during the set. There were heavy winds and my opponents shots were very hard and difficult to get back. Especially in the wind!!! Her big groundstrokes kept me back and i could not dictate well. She won the second in a very tight set. I really thought I had her in the third set but she came on very strong, only double faulting a few times and hitting her serves very well. I had many break points but with the big lefty serve she found a way to get back to deuces. I ended up losing in 6-3 in the third. I was disappointed but realized later that the court conditions favored her game very well and did not help mine at all!!!! In any case I am playing doubles soon and don't want to sbe negative.

SATURDAY- WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

We played the finals today and we won the Team World Championships!!! It was and awesome match. We played the French Team, who we played last year in the semis and was also a battle. Fran played first and she played great. Won easily, but the match was more difficult than the score indicated. Gretchen played second and she also played a very tough opponent. The match ups were exactly the same as last year. Gretchen's match was a battle. She was down 5-1 in the first set and came back to win it in a tiebreaker. She lost the second and in the third set at 2-1 on serve, her opponent pulled a calf muscle and had to default the singles!!! Unbelievable, but the court conditions here in Mexico really took a toll on the players this year. We were all very sore after every match. In any case, we were the World Champs once again!!! We worked well as a team and it paid off!!!! USA is the 2010 Margaret Court Champions again. Travel day tomorrow. A 6 hour bus ride to San Luis Potosi, for the World Individual Championships!!!

FRIDAY- MEXICO CITY

It's Friday now and I can't believe I have been here a week already!! We play Great Britain in the Semis today, a very tough team. I am playing singles today and will play a player I played last year in Mallorca, Spain on the dirt. It will be a different match today, because these courts are lighting fast and it suits her game very very well. She uses a tremendous amount of slice and has a big lefty serve. I got down early in the first set 5-1. I just could not get my timing or any rhythm but kept fighting to get it to 5-4. Long game with multiple deuces and ads but I eventually lost the set 6-4. I started strong in the second set breaking her the first game then holding. I got up 4-2 and thought I was playing better. But on these courts it is so easy to lose focus confidence because someone can just hit some big shots and before you know it they are back in the match. Unfortunately, that happened to me. I did not serve well and she took advantage of it and before I knew it I was down 5-4!! I ended up losing 6-4. I fought hard, but she just had more effective shots on this surface than I did today!!
Gretchen was up next and she also struggled, but won 6-4, 7-6. She also felt like I did, frustrated. It was going down to the doubles so our most experienced doubles team of Gretchen and Renata played the deciding match. They played really well and won. We are in the Finals!!! Again!!! Going for the Gold and the CUP. We play France tomorrow!!! Same team we beat last year in the semifinals!!! But again, the courts and conditions are a challenge so we are expecting a very tough battle!!!!! Going to bed, tired!!!!

THURSDAY- MEXICO CITY

Have the day off today, but still got up early to practice this morning before we go to the Pyramids. I set up a tour with 9 of us, 50's ladies USA team and 3 South African team members. We were really excited about the trip. We had heard from some others that is was a really cool thing to see. The pyramids are located about 60 km from Mexico City. As we traveled the highway of Mexico City, the sights were quite interesting and sad. On the mountainside were small homes made of cement, very small, (called Cerras). Most of them did not have electricity, running water, or toilets. This is why in Mexico you really have to be careful about what you eat on the streets. This very poor people come down from the mountains and try to find work in Mexico City. Any type of work!!! We see alot of very poor families on the streets selling food, merchandise, things they made etc.
We first went to the Church of Guadalupe, a very sacred and well know church in Mexico City, where the Virgin Mary (Guadalupe) has made one of a few miracle appearances around the world and where John Paul II has visited on many occasions. We saw very interesting sights including the actual cloth where the Virgin Mary appeared on a very poor man, people crawling on their knees as a gesture of thanks to the Virgin Mary for improving their health etc.
We next visited the Pyramids. I was really excited about this because I have always found pyramids extremely interesting. When we arrived I was amazed at the vastness of it. The tour guide gave us the history and then we proceeded to walk up one of them (there were two pyramids, sun and moon). We went up first group of steps, I could not believe how tiring it was!! (and I thought I was in good shape!!!) It amazed me that there were so many families with small children there and they were going up it too!!! The steps were steep and we had to go up slow. We all made it to the top and proceeded to take alot of pictures because the sight was incredible!!! The trip was great and I was very happy to have done it. I will post the pictures tomorrow, I am tired and need to get to bed!! We have a big day tomorrow!!! I am playing singles tomorrow and I play a very tough player from Great Britain. I beat her last year in Mallorca, but it was a very close match and she is a much better player on these incredibly fast hard courts!!!

WEDNESDAY- MEXICO CITY

Same routine as yesterday. Got up early, 6 am and got everything ready to play. Had a great breakfast and off to the courts at 7:30. We must leave early because the traffic in Mexico City is awful. There are 24 million people in Mexico City, and it is crowded. We play at 10 am . We play Ireland today. Fran is playing 2 today, Gretchen 1 and Renata and I are playing the doubles. Fran destroyed her opponent only losing 1 game. She played very well. Gretchen on the other hand had a tough first set. Remember she was playing the 6 footer with the 110 mph serve!! Gretchen struggled at first, just trying to connect with the serve, but managed to win in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. Renata and I played the doubles, the 6 footer and her partner!! We won the toss and chose to serve first. I served first and then prepared myself to return Lesley's serve. I connected really well the entire set. We played well and won 6-1. We continued the match (new balls after every set) and proceeded to lose the second set 6-1. Lesley served the hugest serves I have played agains in many years!! They won the second set 6-2 and we took the last set 6-0. We decided to keep the ball away from the amazon woman!!! It worked. We have off tomorrow, Thursday. Planning to do a little sight seeing (the pyramids)!! We also have the big Dinner Gala tomorrow. Off to bed I go. tired.

TUESDAY- MEXICO CITY

We played our first match today vs. Mexico. I played at the #2 position and won easily in straight sets, only losing one game, yeah!!! Greatchen played at the #1 position and also won easily. We finished the day with an easy win in doubles. Good day at the office!!!! All the top teams won easily with no surprises. Tomorrow we play Ireland. Their number 1 player is very very tall, about 6 feet tall, and hits her serve at what the guys said, 110!! Thank goodness I do not have to play her!! Gretchen will have the chance at that one!!

MONDAY AT THE WORLD TEAM COMPETITION

We had Monday off, so we practiced at the club and scouted our opponents for our Tuesday match. We will play the home team of Mexico. The Men's team also had the day off so we hung out at the club and I even got to hit with one of the team members, Rick Leach, who has won 9 Grand Slam titles in doubles and was ranked quite high in singles. We relaxed by the pool after our traning session and had a great lunch at the club. We later went to an Argentinian restaurant for dinner and headed for bed early.

OPENING CEREMONIES/SUNDAY

It is Sunday and we had a great day of practice!! Everyone is getting more comfortable with the high altitude but are still struggling with the breathing. The breakfast are fantastic. Everything you could imagine for breakfast is available. The opening ceremonies are this afternoon so everyone is getting their workouts in and getting ready for later today. Everyone looked great at the opening ceremonies. It is so nice to see all the different countries represented and all of the different warm ups with their countries colors and names on them. We were called country by country (just like the olympics) and walked into a big stadium. Surprisingly there were alot of people there and each country was cheered by the crowd.
It felt as though we were in the OLYMPICS!!! After everyone marched in, there were several speeches made and then a great Mexican dancing performance. Just before the dancers came out, they opened the ceremony by lighting a torch (just like the olympics). This is one of my favorite opening ceremonies I have been to. The show lasted for about 2 hours then we all went around the courtyard and had some authentic Mexican food. From there we went and had some Italian food. There is an Italian restaurant near the hotel where most of the players have become attached to. The food is great and it is close.
The draws have been posted and we are seeded #1. We do have a strong team again this year and deserve the seeding. We have the day off tomorrow and play on Tuesday, we will play Mexico. So tomorrow we practice and check out our opponents for Tuesday's match. Well I am tired and need to go to bed!!!

WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS- MEXICO CITY-2010

March 27, 2010

Well here I am again, playing for the USA in the World Cup Team Event, an honor to have made the team once again....... The venue is Mexico City, Mexico. At first everyone was very hesitant about coming to Mexico, due to the reported violence etc, but after arriving here, I have a different view of this country. It is very modern, there are alot of people and they are very friendly and nice, and the Tennis facilities here are great!!
I arrived yesterday and tried to just get adjusted to the altitude!! We are 6700 feet up!! I had a headache all day yesterday, which is a common affect of high altitude. The hotel is very nice, and all the players from all over the world began to arrive. It is so nice to see old friends that I met at previous World Team Cup Championships. Just great tennis players, and very nice people!!!!
I just went to the gym and did cardio yesterday, because we came in too late to hit. We went out for a nice Italian dinner and hit the bed early. All of us were tired, either from practicing all day or from traveling. We got up early this am, 6:45, (I have not seen the day at 6:45 in the am in a long time!!!!!), had a great breakfast and headed to the courts for our first workout session. We hit alot, just trying to get adjusted to the balls and fast courts. We are playing with pressureless balls and they still fly!!! Nothing like I have experienced before. Faster than I have ever experienced before!!! I was disappointed because I did not hit the ball well, but it is to be expected and so I took a different attitude. I thought to my myself, it is your first day and you will get used to the conditions soon. After our first session, we ate at the club some Mexican food and it was good!!! Soon afterwards, Mary Dailey and I went out for our second round of hitting.. we planned on somehow finding our timing. Well it helped alot to hit again and I felt much better about the way I hit this afternoon. I am very, very tired now. Will stretch, relax and get ready for dinner with our USA team members.

Team USA- Margaret Court Cup team members are:
Fran Chandler (Tennessee)
Gretchen Magers (California)
Mariana Hollman (North Carolina)
Renata Marcinkowska (South Carolina)
!!! We are last years World Cup Team Champions and I feel really good about our chances this year again!!!
GO TEAM USA!!!
I will try to update daily and will get some pictures up very soon!!!!