Arrived in Melbourne safe and sound

17/01/2010

The good news is I got to Melbourne safely. The bad news is that my bags didn't. I certainly didn’t need that after 27 hours of travelling but worse things happen at sea and I've done enough long haul flights with tight connections to remember to pack emergency supplies in my hand luggage. And of course it’s the perfect excuse to hit the shops on Chapel Street. As if I needed one.

Not that the whopping 100 Aussie dollars that Qantas give you for "necessities" is going to go very far. That's about £40 and will just about pay for my absolute necessity - Clarins anti-wrinkle device. It certainly didn't run to hair straighteners so I bought a cap in the 40% off Diesel sale.

Well it’s what Victoria Beckham does and she always looks alright! If my bags fail to turn up as promised, on Monday morning, you may well get a sighting of the cap during Andy’s match vs. Kevin Anderson at the Rod Laver arena in the afternoon.

It’s a real bonus to be scheduled on RLA as you know your match will go ahead regardless of the heat, wind or rain and rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday!



A general view of the impressive Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne

It’s a busy opening day for the British contingent with Elena Baltacha on at 11am on court 7 vs. Pauline Parmentier, a promising French player who trains at the Mouratoglou Academy on the outskirts of Paris.

Laura Robson has been basing herself there for periods of time and so has Liam Broady, one of our top 16 year old boys, but it’s probably best known as the camp which produced Marcos Bhagdatis.

It’s a good draw for Bally as her opponent is ranked below her (although she has been as high as 40 and won 2 Tour events). Last year I watched Bally beat Anna-Lena Groenfeld in the first round here in a howling gale before losing in 3 sets to Amelie Mauresmo. So she has points to defend and will need to do so if she is to retain her top 100 position.

Katie O'Brien’s got a decent draw too. Patricia Mayr is the Austrian who beat Anne Keothavong at Wimbledon last year and is an awkward player. Katie’s known her since 14U events and is ranked slightly higher.

I bumped into Katie and her sister in the player lounge today. They had just been to see the matinee of Jersey Boys and had been invited backstage by the producer who was British and a tennis fan! That's another bonus at the Slams - free theatre tickets for players and their guests.

Andy’s on 3rd match after Sharapova vs. Kirilenko (battle of the babes) and Clijsters vs/ Tetreault (who?). The Aussies love Kim - they kind of adopted her when she was engaged to Lleyton Hewitt who was on site practicing earlier and had his adorable kids Mia (4) and Cruz in tow. Interestingly Cruz (13 months) had a cricket bat with him!

There was an exhibition event on at the RLA this afternoon - Hit for Haiti - to raise funds for the Haiti disaster. It lasted an hour and a half and had a whack of top players, including Federer and the Williams sisters, involved in some fun doubles and mixed. Cost 10$ to get in. Read more about the Hit for Haiti.



Top players in action during the Hit for Haiti charity event

On my list of players to check out tomorrow are Bernard Tomic, the 17 year old Aussie who beat Djokovic in 3 sets in Kooyong last week. The Aussie media and Tomic's Dad are predicting great things.

Also Daniel Koellerer, my favourite bad boy and Austrian show-man who usually manages to get the crowd and his opponent against him. And finally Fabrice Santoro - le sorcoreur - who is playing in his 70th Grand Slam match before retiring from tennis.

His Grand Slam career started in 1989 and ends in 2010 so it spans 4 decades! Amazing. He's my favourite player ever. So much skill. Double handed both sides. Love him.

That's it for today. More tomorrow. Go Poms!

Judy will be keeping us posted on the latest goings on throughout the event in Melbourne. Read the latest in Judy's Blog area.

For detailed Australian Open coverage including live 'As It Happens' blogs from our very own ACE magazine, visit the Australian Open area.

Follow British Tennis on Twitter @BritishTennis

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Arrived-in-Melbourne-/

Day 1 - At the Aussie Open 2010

18/01/2010

I came over to Melbourne to escape the snow and freezing conditions at home and so far it’s been cold, windy and raining. Not good. It’s played havoc with the schedule as a lot of matches have been cancelled (including Katie O'Brien) and many interrupted several times for showers.

Andy got lucky as he was third on the Rod Laver Arena which has a retractable roof so play started on time at 11am and he was saved from the swirling wind and drizzle that players on the outside courts had to suffer.
Find out how Andy got on in his first round match.

Elena Baltacha eventually got underway on court 7 around noon against the Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier and managed to emerge victorious in what was a scrappy match in very tricky conditions.



Elena Baltacha in first round action against Pauline Parmentier

Bally had points to defend from last years first round win and was aware that a defeat would have dropped her out of the top 100 for the first time in a year. She took the first set 6-4, lost the second 6-3 and recovered from 0-2 and a rain break at 3-3 in the third to win it 7-5. Read more from Bally's match.

Her relief was obvious as she sank to her knees when Parmentier shanked the final backhand on the second match point and proceeded to demolish her racket at the side of the court a few seconds later.

There was huge roar from the crowd as Bally won but the noisiest section was a large group of Turkish supporters who had arrived early to get seated for the following match between their boy Marsel Ilhan (who had put Boggo out of the qualification draw) against Sebastian Grosjean.

The Oz Open is really the only Slam where you get large groups of fans from different countries showing colourful and vocal support for their players. There are painted faces and flags, carefully coordinated chants and even choreography! It really does create a great atmosphere.



Crowds at the Australian Open making for a fantastic atmosphere in Melbourne

I'm still in the player lounge waiting to commentate on Jelena Dokic vs. Alisa Kleybanova so I am passing the time with a cup of tea and a melting moment. Awesome.

So glad I'm not watching an outside court right now - its freezing cold, winds howling and it’s dark!

More tomorrow guys!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-1---At-the-Aussie-Open/

Day 2 - At the Aussie Open 2010

19/01/2010

What a great start to the day! Sun shining, bags turned up and an impressive win for Katie O'Brien on court 4! She had a good draw against Patricia Mayr, the Austrian who beat Anne Keothavong at Wimbledon last year and played as well as I've ever seen her - which admittedly isn't loads.

During the 6-3, 6-3 win I was remembering some of the trips I took Katie on as a 12U player and how good she was at sleeping through her alarm and forgetting her tennis shoes:). Time flies. That’s 11 years ago! Her win earns her a shot at Jelena Jankovic, the colourful Serb who won the mixed dubs title at Wimbledon with Jamie a couple of years ago. A great opportunity for Katie and new coach Billy McKinlay to measure her game against one of the world’s best. Read more on Katie's first round victory.



Katie O'Brien celebrates reaching the second round of the Australian Open for the first time

Talking of Jamie.....he and Jonny Marray picked up their first title of the year in Salinas on Saturday and are now in Bogota training (and taking the cable car up Montserrat) before the ATP tour event in Santiago.

During the day I watched Andy practice with Miles on court 17. There was a big crowd watching including a 7 year old Scottish kid called Ethan who told me he wanted "to be as tall as Andy Murray one day". Ha ha. While we are on the subject of 7 year olds - my twin niece Cora won her first swimming race at her lessons yesterday, got out of the pool and kissed her bicep!! Wonder where she learned that!



Andy practicing ahead of Wednesday's second round match

I also saw Rog's twins for the first time today in the player lounge. So cute. No sign of Sharapova though. There is a lot of chat out here about her defeat to Kirilenko yesterday and whether she will ever get back to the top of the game.

Nike didn't get much payback on the green and gold dress they designed for her Oz Open campaign. Apparently the colours were chosen to appeal to the Aussie tennis fans! Nor did Tiffany (another of her sponsors) who threw a party at the weekend to launch her Oz Open earrings. She's one of the most marketable women in sport but I bet she would rather be winning big events again. And so would her sponsors.



Kirilenko defeated Sharapova in the first round on Monday

I'm at court 4 again watching Daniel Koellerer who just flung in an underarm serve on break point down! He's one of the Tours bad boys, with a backhand drop shot to die for, but is great entertainment and has attracted a sizeable crowd for his match vs. Antonio Veic, a talented young Croatian.

It’s roasting and I'm going to have to move soon or end up like a lobster. Wishing I had one of those bright pink Lacoste foreign legion caps that the ball kids have been saddled with. Yes, bright pink long sleeved shirts and pink caps. Bet the boys are gone about that!

Koellerer just levelled at a set all after a behind the back lob winner. Unbelievable. Then he shouted out "that's the best shot of the match after my drop shot". Even Veic applauded.

Rog has lost the opening set to Igor Andreev, long term boyfriend of Maria Kirilenko. They made a pact "to start the year loud". She kept her word by dumping Sharapova, now he has to do the same!!

Just wandered past the Fan Zone where Ivan Ljubicic was on autograph duty. Didn't stop! There were loads of people queuing for his signature though. There's a pile of kids waiting to get their picture taken with the worlds biggest coach - a guy on stilts (picture attached) with a wooden racket. The AO committee have really tried to create a family zone in the Garden Square.



Big coach at the fan zone

So that’s enough from me for today. Rog just saved set points on Igor’s serve in the 3rd set and goes 2-1 ahead. Koeller finally got a code violation for audible obscenity and my blackberry's about to melt.

Off for a melting moment and a cuppa (pic attached) before I try to watch Bhagdatis if I can get anywhere near his court. He's so popular here after making the final a few years back.



Melting moment and a cup of tea

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-2---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 3 - At the Aussie Open 2010

20/01/2010

What a day! I'm officially the reddest person in Melbourne after a 12pm - 9.30pm shift on Brit watch. It started off with Bally’s duel in the midday sun with Kateryna Bondarenko and it was great to see her play with such controlled aggression to stuff the 30th seed 6-3, 7-5.

She's got a crack at (Dinara) Safina now which is bound to be on a show court. I can't wait. Its not often players ranked around 80 get the chance to take on the top ten players so it will be a good test for Bally to see how her game shapes up against the world no.2.

One of the drawbacks of a big win of course is the increased media attention. Some of them even gatecrash your lunch!



Neil Harman of the Times with Bally and her trainer Nino Severino

So then it was over to court 14 to watch Rossco (Ross Hutchins) and Aussie partner Jordan Kerr vs. Mariusz Fyrsteberg and Marcin Matkowski. Not much seating at this court out in the very furthest corner of the arena but it attracted a healthy crowd including about 30 noisy Poles and a supporting British coaching team watching on. Two hours and several layers of sun block later, Rossco and JK went down 7-6 in the 3rd.

I couldn't wait to get back inside and out of the sun. I managed an hour (and a melting moment ha ha) before heading to court 5 for Flemski vs. Yen-Hsun Lu and Janko Tipsarevic. It was soooooo good to see them get their first Slam win 7-5 6-4. They played with such great energy and teamwork - a credit to the amazing Louis Cayer.

That led into Katie O'Brien’s clash with (Jelena) Jankovic on court 2. She followed Deliciano Lopez (no, that's not a typo!) who has ditched his long hair and bearded look from the Autumn) for a short wavy look. Lovely. I digress.

Big match for Katie and she took advantage of the chance to play a ‘top 5er’. She may have lost 6-2 6-2 but she will have learned loads and gained massive confidence from her best ever Slam performances.



The tallest player at this year's Australian Open

And it still wasn't over. Andy was called to Margaret Court Arena at 7pm and arrived at a packed stadium where there was an unbelievable atmosphere. He got through in three sets against the nippy Frenchman Marc Gicquel, a quarter-finalist here two years ago. Right now he's showering and having food (pasta) before facing the British press. There should be some great coverage tomorrow after Bally’s win.

I'm in the player area. It’s still pretty busy. Everyone glued to Del Boy Potro vs. Blake and Henin vs. Dementieva. The schedules out for tomorrow and there's doubles action for Sarah Borwell, Bally and Laura Robson.



Attention is fixed on the TV screens in the player lounge

I grabbed a quick chat with Roger Rasheed who is the coach of Gael Monfils and also commentating for channel 7. He's got the flashiest pair of shoes on with his chinos so he got a bit of grief for that. Del Potro and Henin just won so I'm off after a long day.

More to come tomorrow.

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-3---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 4 - At the Aussie Open 2010

21/01/2010

I stayed up way too late watching the (Marin) Cilic- (Bernard) Tomic clash yesterday. What an effort from the 17 year-old Aussie who's being rightly hailed as the next big thing out here. Big is the right word - he's 6 ft 5 and has size 14 shoes. His tennis is a major talking point down under but an intriguing side issue is also gripping the nation - the Tomic-Hewitt "bitter feud".

There was even a mini programme on TV about it last night. Apparently it all started when Lleyton invited Bernard to practice with him several months ago and the young man (or his dad) declined. It has gathered pace since with Lleyton saying Tomic isn't ready to play Davis Cup. He may have changed his mind after last night’s performance.

I just grabbed a late breakfast in a coffee shop in the mall beside my hotel. They do great toasted banana bread and I decided to try the vitamin C mix juice after watching Daniel Nestor tucking into one yesterday. Orange, watermelon and grapefruit. "Good for the serve" apparently



Andy practicing on court ahead of Friday's third round match against Florent Serra

I bagged going in for the three women’s doubles matches featuring Laura (Robson), Bally (Elena Baltacha) and Sarah (Borwell), which were all on at 11am.and they all won! Awesome! Sorry girls but overdose of tennis and sun yesterday.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance yesterday to watch Louk Sorenson the Irish qualifier who lost in round 2 to big John Isner - 55 aces in two matches – 6-3 7-6 7-5. Pity :( I'm told there was a huge Irish presence in the crowd - lots of green and white painted faces - and he got a standing ovation at the end. I know his dad Sean from umpteen years ago on the circuit and Tri Nations events. He's now the Ireland Davis Cup coach but went to Germany as a club pro in his twenties and raised his family there, so no surprise to hear that Louk speaks with a German accent!

A great boost for Irish tennis since Connor Niland made the last round qualification too. Ireland is a potential Davis Cup opponent for GB this year so that could be very interesting! John Lloyd was grinding it out in the heat yesterday checking out the British doubles guys and must have been impressed with Fleming/ Skupski. However it’s the singles picks that will be crucial if we are to beat Lithuania in March.

I read the local papers while struggling to finish the vitamin C mix and loving all the gossip columns. Did you know that Jelena Jankovic is starring in a TV ad in Serbia for Orbit gum? It seems perfect for her and her super white teeth. Taylor Dent’s wife is due to give birth next week and Svetlana Kusnetsova’s favourite movie is Love Actually.

After catching up on the latest from the papers I went out and watched Andy practice at lunchtime, although they spent half the time playing tennis footy. Ross (Hutchins) made up the four (with Jez and Miles) and gave a woeful performance to claim the forfeit - doing Stepanek’s worm dance in front of sizeable crowd. He disappeared pretty quickly after that!



Tennis Football warm-up

I didn't watch any matches today and instead hit the shops later in the afternoon. I managed to find a cracking Oz designer shop called Sass and Bide on Chapel St. Serena Williams found it too. According to one of the assistants, she bought "an extremely short mini skirt and a very cagey vest top". Needless to say, I didn't.

Heading out for dinner tonight with Louis Cayer to The Botanical, one of my favourite Melbourne Restaurants. They do great fish.

G’day guys!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-4---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 5 - At the Aussie Open 2010

22/01/2010

I have just watched Kim Clijsters bomb out of the women’s singles, thumped 6-0 6-1 in 52 minutes by Nadia Petrova. Everyone is stunned and though Petrova played well, Clijsters contributed big time to her own downfall with a stack of unforced errors.

After she won the title in Brisbane two weeks ago with that epic three set victory over Justine Henin, many were tipping her for glory here. Not to be.



Ground staff sweeping the yellow tennis ball fluff off the court!

Bernard Tomic is also being tipped for glory but his excellent performance vs. the no.14 seed Marin Cilic which ended at around 2am on the Rod Laver Arena (RLA) two nights ago, has been largely overshadowed by the reactions to his post match comments regarding the scheduling.

The 17 year-old reckoned that if the organisers (who awarded him a wild card into the men’s draw) had granted his request for a day match, he would have won. He said it was "ridiculous" that he had been made to play until 2am - that he couldn't see and it was way past his bedtime!

Well he doesn't seem to be getting any sympathy from anyone and was hauled into explain his comments to Tennis Australia officials the following day. The papers are full of it and the local tennis authorities are being accused of over indulging him.

Anyway he's out of the tournament and so are the Atomic kittens, his own cheer squad organised by local radio station Nova 100!

Prince William was at the tennis the other night. He saw Federer’s match with Hanescu and shook hands with the world no1. Pity he wasn't able to stay a bit longer on RLA to watch Bally’s match with Safina at 11am! It was short and sweet and ended Bally’s best Slam performance since she reached the third round here a few years back. Review Bally's match 'As It Happens.'

She's still in the doubles though, as is Laura Robson who teamed up with Oz youngster Sally Peers to reach the last 16 with a convincing second round win yesterday. Sarah Borwell didn't make it through though. She and Rachel Kops-Jones went out in straight sets to the glamour duo of Dulko and Penetta.

Andy made it to the 4th round with a 7-5 6-1 6-4 win over Florent Serra, nickname Kay. You must be able to work that one out, but just in case....the crowd broke into song when Serra took a medical time out for a bloodied arm. "Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, you're not going to beat Murray, que sera sera". Good fun. There has been a lot of support for Andy out here. Loads of saltires and Scottish voices in the crowd!



Andy's fans out in force outside Hisense today

Now he will face John Isner who at 6ft 9in is the second tallest guy in the draw behind Ivo Karlovic. Andy’s first round opponent Kevin Anderson was 6ft 8 whilst Juan Martin Del Potro and Marin Cilic are both 6ft 6. And the smallest? Olivier Rochus at 5ft 6.

I am in early tomorrow to watch Flemski vs. Kohlmann/Nieminen who upset the seeded Mirnyi/Bhupati. Signing off now as Nadal battles thru vs. Kohlschreiber!

More tomorrow!

Review the action from Day 5 at the Australian Open

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-5---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 6 - At the Aussie Open 2010

23/01/2010

It was a cold, damp and windy morning on Day 6 in Melbourne. Just like home! Perfect playing conditions for Colin Fleming, I reckoned. He and Ken Skupski were first up on show court 2 which was described in today’s Age newspaper as "the dumping ground for players you’ve heard of but aren't particularly interested in". Bit harsh, I thought.

There was a decent crowd and good support for the Brits who were up against Michael Kohlmann and Jarko Nieminen who had upset the No.4 seeds Max Mirnyi and Mahesh Bhupati in round 1.

Swirly wind made things tricky, as did the low flying pigeons, and there was an early rain break. ‘Flemski’ broke Nieminen in the second game from 0-40 and took the set 6-3 with Kohlmann appearing to be the weaker link. I would have loved to have heard him shout "this is the pits". Get it? Kohlmann - pits? Never mind.



Flemski in second round action

Play then went with serve to 4-5 when Skupski was broken and he lost his deal again in the 4th game of the third. The Brits had chances to break back on Kohlmann’s serve in the 5th and 9th games but it didn't happen and they eventually bowed out 3-6 6-4 6-3. A real pity. There was a really big opportunity to make quarters here as the Italian singles players Bolleli and Seppi awaited the winner in the last 16.

Afterwards I went on to watch Andy practice. There was a big crowd watching (about 5 deep) with lots of shouts of "C'mon Andy". They do realise he's just practicing, right?

I then grabbed some lunch in Federation Square with Casey Dellaqua vs. Venus Williams showing on the big screen and loads of punters lying around the steps in the sunshine watching.

I'm watching a bit of Hewitt vs. Bhagdatis which seemed to produce the quickest first set ever as Hewitt took it 6-1. Bhagdatis only won 6 points and is struggling on forehand big time. The famous Aussie fanatics are 3 rows behind me, singing "if you love Lleyton Hewitt clap your hands." I'm not clapping. I don't want to get lynched by the Cypriots.



Aussie fans 'The Fanatics'

Andy is first up on the Rod Laver Arena (RLA) tomorrow so an early night for him tonight. He's got some schoolmates from Dunblane here to support him which really is a great effort from them to come all this way.

Bally went out of the doubles today to Radwanska/Kirilenko 6-0 6-2 and Ross is at 2-6 4-4 in his opening mixed doubles match alongside Liezel Huber.

Other snippets from the top guns include the revelation that Dinara Safina has found a new found passion for cook books. She reckons she cooks a mean asparagus "I'm just starting u know. Until now nobody got sick so this is the positive".

Bernard Tomic is still dominating the majority of the headlines though. His dad John, a one time taxi driver who has coached the 17 yearr old to date, is said to be targeting Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill to take charge of the next phase of his son’s career.

More tomorrow!!!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-6---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 7 - At the Aussie Open 2010

24/01/2010

I am currently sitting in the player lounge with a toastie and the biggest banana smoothie I ever saw. I’m just so glad to get out of the sun and happy that Andy managed to negotiate his way past big John. Tough to play against these big servers – it’s like they're coming at you out of a tree! You've just got to take care of your own serve and keep focussed on the return games for that very occasional chance to put pressure on! I'm exhausted and I didn't even play a shot.

When we got to our box before the match started, Isner’s team were already in it! We managed to get them shifted to the other side of the arena (their mistake) but couldn't do anything about the quartet a couple of rows behind us who were singing at the top of their voices. Turned out they were from Ireland and had come to support Louk Sorenson.

When their man had lost in the second round to Isner, they adopted the 6ft 9in Californian and followed him vs. Monfils and again vs. Andy. They were really great fun and at the end when we were leaving, they started singing "Judy Judy give us a wave". I obliged and they broke into a "there's only one Judy Murray". I couldn't get out of Rod Laver Arena (RLA) quick enough!!!



Fans enjoy the friendly atmosphere as they watch Marin Cilic on the big screen

Andy will be delighted to get through that one and have a crack at Rafa (Nadal) in the quarters. Ricky Hatton arrives in Melbourne on Monday and wants to come and watch. Andy’s a BIG boxing and Hitman fan so that's something else to look forward to. Read more on Andy's fourth round victory.

In addition, Andy’s not our only quarter finalist as Laura Robson and Ozzie Sally Peers fully justified their women’s doubles wild card with a third straight sets victory! Amaaaazing!

The Australian papers over here are reporting that Serena Williams and her mum Oracene (who was spotted wearing white gloves during Venus's match yesterday - what's that all about?) said that meeting Prince William was "super cool". She described him as "dapper and suave. You know, he was just basically Shazam". Whatever that means!

Home and Away star Luke Mitchell’s brother Ben is playing the juniors and was Rafa’s practise partner one day last week.

Speaking of the juniors, I popped out to court 18 to watch our boys Jack Carpenter and Oliver Golding. Carpenter didn't impress and was 6-2 5-1 down to a Brazilian before staging a minor recovery before eventually going down 6-2 6-4.

I wandered around the Grand Slam Oval - the new public entertainment area beside the Hisense arena. The live band was awesome but the (very loud) music carries to the outside courts and must be quite distracting for the players. There was loads going on in there though- from shops to free face painting to a Nintendo wii zone and even a free Evian ice massage tent. Tempted......but the queue was too long!



The live band in the Grand Slam Oval

Back to watch Golding vs.Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan which looks like it will be a good match as both boys are pretty talented. Then I'm off to commentate on Henin vs. Wickmayer which intrigues me because Wickmayer trains at Henin’s academy outside Brussels. That could add an interesting dynamic.

Wickmayer was also banned for a year for missing two random drug tests. She wasn't where she said she would be when the testers turned up. Tour players have to adhere to the WADA Whereabouts programme which means informing the doping authorities of their whereabouts for one hour of every single day.

It’s so easy to change your plans depending on tournament results/injury/flight delays etc and therefore forget to alter the Whereabouts data. Her ban was subsequently overturned after an appeal but meant that she had to qualify despite being ranked 16 in the world as she had missed the entry deadline!

Golding takes the first set 64 as the weather is now breezy but still hot. I’m glad I'm not suited and booted like Roger Draper and Derek Howarth. They must be stifling but good to see them supporting the kids.



The very popular Evian ice massage area

There was a big shock in the girls’ singles during Andy’s match earlier with Heather Watson, seeded no.2, crashing out to Hao Chen Tang (CHN) 6-1 4-6 6-1. The Chinese girls are tough - consistent, focussed and brought up on hard court and hot conditions so the conditions are perfect for them out here.

And let's not forget how many Chinese women are in the top 100! I bet Heather found it a quite different mindset playing a junior event with big expectations of her, compared to playing the women’s tour where she has nothing to lose.

So that’s it from me for today. G’day folks!

This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent the views of the author and not those of the LTA.

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-7---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 8 - At the Aussie Open 2010

25/01/2010

I fell asleep watching Gonzo (Fernando Gonzalez) v A-Rod (Andy Roddick) on TV on Sunday night. What a match. I loved it - when Gonzo’s on fire, he's such fun to watch - but I couldn't keep my eyes open so I had to get the result off the internet in the morning.

I decided to give the tennis a miss today - well, apart from Andy’s midday practice on court 4. There are only junior matches on the outside courts now so the "show" practice courts (4, 16 and 17) tend to attract lots of spectators.



The Bryan brothers' coach serves some 'leftie' rockets to Andy in preparation for his match with Rafael Nadal

Got myself seated in a quiet corner of the stand and watched the tennis footy which was being filmed by several TV stations. Jez lost and had to do ‘the worm’, much to crowds’ amusement.

A couple of old ladies planted themselves in front of me and had a hilarious discussion about who was hitting. "It looks like Andy Murray to me" said one. "No dear. It’s nothing like him. I think it’s that Frenchman, you know, the one that took the drugs, but he didn't really take drugs, did he? I think he was kissing someone and got infected? Yes it’s him". Clearly clueless or needing a trip to Specsavers. Or quite possibly both.



Andy's merchandising in the Adidas store in Melbourne

Afterwards I caught up with Andy and his team in the player cafe for a few minutes. Ross leaves today (having lost in the first round of the mixed doubles with Liezel Huber) and had been despatched by his girlfriend to the Ugg shop early this morning. He had picked up 4 pairs - yes, 4 pairs - and was getting pelters for being under the thumb. He claimed they weren't all for her. Hope they weren't for him.

I grabbed a quick chat with Marcos Bhagdatis who has been told to rest for a week (tendinitis in his bicep) before starting my four hour trek around Melbourne. There were a few areas I wanted to visit after watching Underbelly, an Aussie underworld DVD series that a mate had given me for Christmas.

I loved it so I headed over to Carlton and Fitzroy (found a great shoe shop called iShoes on Brunswick St which has lots of funky retro shops and a huge variety of eateries) before walking back into the city for a Starbucks stop and along the Yarra river past Melbourne Park and back to my hotel.



The very quaint Brunswick Street in Carlton

There were loads of rowers on the river and I had to keep dodging their coaches who were cycling down the riverside barking instructions from megaphones!

I managed to check a few scores on the internet and saw that Tom Allen had lost but Laura Robson had won. It’s really good to see two Irish lads in the junior draw - one of them plays Oliver Golding tomorrow.



The Yarra river with the Rod Laver Arena in the distance

I then headed out for dinner at The Italian Kitchen on Chapel Street and back to catch last game of Fed (Roger Federer) vs. (Lleyton) Hewitt.

Sorted.

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-8---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 9 and 10 - At the Aussie Open 2010

27/01/2010

Judy keeps us posted on a busy two days in Melbourne which have proved particularly successful for both Andy Murray and Laura Robson in their respective events…

So I am currently sitting in the sun on court 3 watching a mixed doubles featuring amongst others, big Dick Norman. Why? No idea. I just wanted a seat to write this blog.

I did send one late Tuesday night after the Rafa (Nadal) match but it annoyingly got lost somewhere in cyberspace. So I'll recap a bit.

Yesterday was Australia Day, a public holiday, and there were celebrations all across Melbourne. Not least the pre-match ceremony on Rod Laver Arena (RLA) which saw the great Aussie doubles pairing, the Woodies (Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodford), inducted into the Tennis Australia Hall of Fame.



Australia Day celebrations on RLA before Andys match. The Woodies were inducted into Tennis Australia Hall of Fame

Then there was the monster firework display somewhere in the distance at 9pm which interrupted the Andy-Rafa (Nadal) match for a full 9 minutes at 6-3 2-3. Andy played great to get to 6-3 7-6 3-0 when Rafa had to pull out with the same injury to his right knee that disrupted his season in 2009.

We had two special guests in our box last night, boxer Ricky Hatton and his fiancee Jennifer Dooley. Andy is a huge boxing and ‘Hitman’ fan so he was loving the extra support and catching up after the match. Ricky was intrigued by the ice bath recovery and went to the locker room to check it out; he came back saying he wouldn't be adding it to his regime!

The media were desperate to speak to him about his first live tennis experience and he didn't disappoint. He said it was great that Andy won by "two and a half to nil". Ha ha ha.



Andy and Ricky chatting after the match

It seemed to take forever for Andy to get finished after showering, ice bath, press then food and fuel! The whole site is so deserted that late that it’s seriously weird. We passed the time watching the Bryans (Bob and Mike) v (Eric) Butorac/ (Rajeev) Ram on TV.

It’s pretty quiet during the day on site too now as most of the players have been knocked out. The wheelchair guys and the juniors are here as are the legends including ex world no1, and most importantly, ‘a leftie’, Thomas Muster who hit with Andy before his match yesterday.



A Scottish fan at the match between Andy and Rafa

Henri Leconte is making his presence felt here big time. He's got a new role on Channel 7 commentating and he's a scream. He's totally hyper and is becoming tennis's answer to Sid Waddell, the darts commentator! Hilarious. He's making every other commentator seem dreadfully dull.

I had a late start this morning before heading to La Fiori in the Mall for breakfast. I plumped for a "liver detox mix" with celery, carrot, apple and ginger. Big mistake. Revolting.

I managed to watch Andy practice with Miles at 1 o’clock then joined him and the team for lunch a bit later. They do great toasted sandwiches here - choose your own fillings - and the biggest muffins you ever saw. Perfect.

Afterwards I took in the first set of Oliver Golding vs. the Australian James Duckworth on court 3. He had chances against a guy with a decent serve but didn't convert them and unfortunately went down 7-6 7-5. Laura eased through earlier 6-3 6-3 and plays her women’s doubles quarter-final late tonight on RLA. Big time!!!

I am now watching Team Tennis on Margaret Court arena between Tennis International V Tennis Australia. A good mix of past and future players including Tracy Austin (in a radioactive pink outfit), Pat Rafter, Mary Jo Fernandez and Thomas Muster. And our very own Heather Watson!!! It is a great show for those with ground passes.



Team tennis on Margaret Court Arena. Last time you'll see the skyline from this court - Tennis Australia are putting a roof on it next year!

Women’s doubles first - pretty dull. All the oldies. After watching Serena and Azarenka blasting the ball around, this is like slow mo tennis. It is good fun though and crowd are enjoying it. You sense they are waiting for Rafter and Cash though! Get Heather on!

Well that’s enough from me for today. I need to stop blogging to watch Heather.....and Pat! Haha

More tomorrow!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-9-and-10---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 11 - At the Aussie Open 2010

28/01/2010

It’s 3am and I have had quite an exciting day for a number of reasons!

Just got back to the hotel. Thank goodness for Chapellis on Chapel Street which is open all night and does great food and the best strawberry milk shakes.

It was buzzing even as I left, Chicken satay and peanut butter dip sorted me out after all the excitement. Yes ok, I had a spritzer (or two) as well!

Great win for Andy after a tricky start against Marin Cilic and now he has 2 days off before the final. Did you see that round the net shot in the last game? Unbelievable. That will get a lot of air play for sure! And the behind the head winner in the second set? Haha. I also loved the point where he ended up running out of the court and up the players tunnel!



Andy hitting the ball on the run around the net post

There was a bit of a distraction for me during the match when one of my Aussie friends pointed out the actor who played Melbourne gangster Alfonse Gangitano in Underbelly was seated pretty close to us. Underbelly is a TV-series about Melbournes’ underworld and I love it. I gotta be careful what I tell you now as the Herald Sun is picking up on some of my blogs!

When we got to the site around 18:45pm, the player area was deserted. The only other people in there were Liezel Huber, Cara Black, their husbands and coaches. They were glued to the TV screens in the far corner watching the dubs semi betweenn the Williams sisters and Stubbs/Raymond.



Andy continuing his run up the players tunnel after hitting a point



And then returning to the court

They play the winner (the Williams) in tomorrows final at 3pm on the Rod Laver Arena. Cara/Liezel are the No.1 doubles team in the world but lost to the Williams' in the semi of Wimbledon and final of US last year. They were trying to sort tactics to get the win! Easier said than done I would imagine but I think I'll go in and watch that.

Laura Robson cruised through to the last 4 of the girls’ singles by Dumping an American 6-1, 6-0 and plays one of two Czech sisters who are through to the semis, I might watch that too as I have not seen any of her singles yet.

There's not much going on the outside courts now that the tourney is coming to the final stages. Juniors, wheelies and the "oh look, they aren't dead yet" doubles. That's what Patrick Smith of The Australian newspaper calls the Legends event! So funny.



Laura Robson cruised into the semi-finals in the girls event

There is plenty going on at my hotel though, I shared a lift with Lily Allen today and her minder. She's in town for the Big Day Out and was at the tennis for the Djoko-Tsonga match.

Ricky Hatton didn't make it to Andys’ match tonight. His fiancee has food poisoning so he stayed in to look after her and "yell at the telly". He sent Andy a text to say he couldn't come and signed off with: "Just smash him". You've got to love that!



Ricky Hatton and fiancee Jennifer watched Andys quarter-final

Amazing that Justine Henin is through to the Women’s final in only her second tourney back after retiring in May 2008. She stuffed Li Na 6-1, 6-0. That's not an easy thing to do. My brother sent me a text during the match asking if the Chinese player had lost a bit of weight. I said "No idea". He reckoned she was definitely looking Li Na. Get it? I know - dreadful.

Bit of random chat about Justine. Apparently she is missing her dog Deuce and speaks to him every night on Skype! How funny is that?

That's it folks. Time to get some sleep

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-11---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 12 - At the Aussie Open 2010

29/01/2010

Sorry but this is going to be short. I’m tanking a bit.

Just got in from a fab dinner at The Botanical on Domain Road which is my favourite Melbourne restaurant and my second visit in two weeks.

Had prawn and boudin noir (kind of like black pudding but better) to start, sirloin steak and then pineapple cheesecake with thyme ice cream and toasted coconut. Phenomenal. Can hardly see my feet now, but well worth it!



Team Murray in full flight during Murrays match including The Hitman

I managed to see all of Fed-Tsonga before we went out. Pretty quick huh?

Almost as quick as Laura Robsons’ 6-3, 6-1 win over Pliskova, one of twin Czechs who made the last four in the girls singles – Laura now faces the second twin in the final. I didn't watch it as I haven’t been on site all day.

I went up Toorak Road for a manicure and pedicure and found myself getting both done at the same time by two oriental girls whilst seated on one of those massage chairs which feels like someone’s pummelling your back! It was seriously weird.

I couldn't sit still or concentrate - too much going on - so no wonder the girls kept telling me "Relax. You’re so tense". It was easier said than done.

I did a spot of shopping on Chapel Street after that. Yes, again! For sure I'm keeping the Melbourne economy afloat. Found a great jewellery store called Juju and got a few bits and pieces by Australian designers.

I felt it was an omen because of the shop name and also the assistant recognised me from last nights semi-final. How funny is that? She said she wanted to ball girl for Andy. Oh dear.

Back to the hotel for an hour or so on the sun terrace on the 6th floor. Bliss. Fell asleep and woke up looking like I was wearing a beetroot face pack. Mmmmm. Not my best look



A photo of the snappers taking a photo of Judy after the semi-final

I took this pic of the snappers trying to get a shot of me after Andys' semi. Did you know that a Croat got arrested for running on to court at the end of the match and made it right up to the umpire chair as Andy and Marin were shaking his hand. Scary that could happen when there's so many security guards around.

Got a good luck text from Anthony Hamilton, Lewis's dad ahead of the final on Sunday, which was nice.

He knows exactly what it’s like supporting your offspring in major events. Chris Hoy also texted to confirm he is coming to support on Sunday. He's on a training camp in Perth (Oz) and his team manager agreed he could take the day off. Nice one.

I will head to the tennis tomorrow to sort out Andys’ taxes. This is the only Slam where you can do your tax on site. You have to bring in all receipts relating to your Oz expenditure and you get taxed on the profit only.

At every other tourney, players get tax deducted from gross prize money regardless of expenditure incurred to take part. It’s important to get this right in Oz, coz tax is about 41%. Well that's what it was last year. Ouch.

Would also like to watch Andy practice, see the Men’s dubs final and the juniors. It will be a busy old day. Go Laura!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-12---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010/

Day 13 - At the Aussie Open 2010

I've just finished watching the men's doubles final, a 3 set win for the Bros v Nestor/Zimonjic. it was a really good match and well worth staying on for.

The Rod Laver Arena was disappointingly only about a third full as most disappeared after the Serena-Justine battle. Those who stayed got a real treat. No sign of Henri Leconte in the Channel 7 commentary box for this one though, he pretended to fall asleep during a doubles quarter a few nights ago, apparently he's been banished because his comments upset the Bryans who have won in Melbourne 5 times now.



I did commentary for 5 live on the women's final which was fun and saw Serena claim a 12th Slam singles title to add to the doubles crown she picked off with Venus the previous day, it was fun to see them after the match celebrating in the player area with their entourage!

I had quite a busy day actually, as went in to watch Andy practice with Miles at 1. Jez and Izzle (Andy Ireland) were in matching outfits which was quite naff. Jez came in to "send down some rockets" from behind the service line because Miles has a sore back. And finally Izzle (who plays no sport, let alone tennis) took a few pan handle serves from the net to really test Andy. That's a joke by the way. He struggled to connect and is gutted to find that his efforts are now being shared by the world on Sky Sports! So funny.



I went to watch the Quadfather (Peter Norfolk) in his wheelie final on Margaret Court Arena. He was up against Yank David Wagner aka the Jolly Wagman but only by me! He was a set and 2-1 up when I arrived at much the same time as Roger Draper appeared. Not sure which one of us put him off but from 3-1 up he went 5-3 down but managed to break back and force a tie break. Here's my commentary of the tie break...

Forehandh cross-court winner Wagman. 0-1. Out come four backhand slice rippers from Norfolk. 4-1. forehand winner Wagman 4-2 same again :( . Stop it. 4-3 double fault Norfolk. What you doing Pete? Get a grip,man. 4-4. Here comes the super slice 5-4 and another!! he LOVES that shot. 6-4. High forehand return into the back corner by Pete. The Wagmans nowhere! Yipeee 7-4. Another title for our wheelie hero! 4th Aus Open, 17th major, 41st title. Impressive.



Headed inside.Was sooooo hot out there, no wonder The Quadfather has the reddest knees you ever saw. Saw him and his coach Stewart Williamson and masseuse Ann Quinn after the match and joined them for a spot of champagne out of a paper cup. Pic attached. Very posh.

I sat in the lounge and watched the girls' final between Laura and Karolina Pliskova a long legged Czech with an impressive serve and forehand. The first set went very quickly 6-1 to the Czech and Laura was broken first game of second. It didn't look good. She broke to level at 5-5 thankfully and took it to a breaker. A couple of double faults didn't help her and she lost it 6-1, 7-6 (5).



A pity, but she's had a great Oz trip. A win over world No. 26 in Hopman Cup, quarters in women's doubles in Oz Open and a second successive girls' final. Oh and turned 16. Celebrated with dinner at Nobu I heard.

That's it for today folks. More tomorrow - if I survive!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-13---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010

Day 14 - At the Aussie Open 2010

I'm at Melbourne airport about to fly home.

I've had such a good time, the Australian Open is my favourite Slam. I've gone every year since 2006. The weather's always great (we left 8 inches of snow in Scotland) and the atmosphere at the event is so relaxed. As a players guest, you are looked after incredibly well and all the event staff are so friendly and welcoming.

I've spent the day packing - amazing how much tennis kit (and dirty laundry) can be accumulated in a fortnight. It's a nice challenge to have to try and fit the runner up trophy in the luggage!

We then went out for lunch and a bit of shopping which was quite funny. At one point we heard this screaming behind us so we turned round and there was about 8 Chinese girls running up the street after Andy. They wanted photos of course so that delayed us for a bit. I still find that fan stuff quite weird but he's totally relaxed about it.



Andy had such a good tournament, he played some amazing tennis and brought out the best in Roger on Sunday. Sweet 16 for Fed. For sure the greatest player ever. Andy was gutted but he will come back stronger. So many things he can learn from that experience and lots of areas he can still improve.

After the match, he had to do a drugs test before he could shower, eat and face the press, the last thing you want to do when you've lost a big final.

How good to have Chris Hoy come down from his Perth training camp to support Andy! He's a total gem. What an inspiration and a true gentleman.

A horrible end to the Open for journo Mark Hodgkinson who works for The Daily Telegraph. He got hit by a car in Melbourne and thrown 30m through the air on Sunday night, the driver didn't stop. Awful. Amazingly nothing was broken but he was badly scraped and bruised. We are thinking of you Mark and hoping you're not in too much pain...

I keep getting recognised at the airport and I'm not even with Andy. Those flipping cameras have a lot to answer for. As usual I get pretty pumped for a great shot or a big point and I'm not going to change. Fed and his entourage including the twins, were going through security at the same time as us. Different channel of course and they had body guards. Another world!



Thanks to everyone back home for the incredible support for Andy these last few days. It's been amazing, I've never had so many texts and emails - although I'm dreading my phone bill!

I hope you've enjoyed the blogs, It's been fun updating you!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Day-14---At-the-Aussie-Open-2010

Up and at them (far too early) at the AEGON Pro-Series in Jersey

I woke up this morning around 7am to the sound of a small white dog yapping at some squawking seagulls on the beach outside my bedroom window. I have to say I really didn't need that. Actually it was worth getting up just for the view! And the early start meant I caught Tim Henman on the BBC Breakfast sofa talking about Davis Cup and the need to invest in grass roots.

Jamie, his doubles partner Jonny Marray and I had arrived at my friend's cottage in the darkness (huge thanks to the tournament transport man for taking us - we would never have found it on our own!) so we had no idea it was so close to the sea. It was only 5 miles from the tennis centre and pretty much straight along the coast road but it took about 20 minutes as there are major speed restrictions on every road here.

We have really landed on our feet though. The cottage is gorgeous and Charlotte, who has kindly let us stay there, had left a homemade chicken curry in the fridge. Awesome. She is an amazing cook and her daughter is a bit of a celebrity chef - Harry Eastwood - she's written two cracking books "Cook you thin" - great if you want to lose weight and "Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache" - great if u don't want to lose weight. Actually the Red Velvet one is all about baking cakes using seriously weird ingredients like carrots, beetroots, courgettes and aubergines; believe me they sound terrible but they taste phenomenal.

We watched Married Single Other on TV which is a programme I love - Jamie was on the same team as Ralf little in a celebrity vs. the army football match at Wembley recently.

But enough of the name dropping and back to the tennis centre. It is my first visit to Les Ores which is absolutely gorgeous. The complex has a 9 hole golf course - I spotted Chris Eaton and Dan Evans on the links yesterday afternoon (I'm told Eaton’s pretty good but that could be just a rumour) - a fitness centre, sports shop, bar/restaurant and beauticians on site as well as the 2 indoor tennis halls, each with 4 courts.

However it is sad to hear that one hall is going to be wiped out for 5 a side football pretty soon. It’s so difficult to make tennis centres sustainable if there's not a membership to back it up.

It is perhaps not surprising that this venue is popular with the players as there are enough courts to host men’s and women’s events at the same time, chalets to house players on site as well as being two minutes from the airport and five minutes from St Helier. Oh and not forgetting the golf course and a good gym.

I took some time to go and watch a bit of tennis on an overcrowded balcony. These events are always busy for the first few days when qualification overlaps with main draw. I saw a bit of Josh Milton qualifying by beating Neil Pauffley in a very close match and then caught the third set of Oliver Golding losing to an ex-junior Wimbledon champion Roman Valent of France, who quit the game for 3 years or so and is now making a comeback.

Following the boys’ matches I went and had a little look at Ruth Seaborne, Anna Smith, Tara Moore and of course watched Jamie practice with Jonny.



There is great support from the players from the LTA staff including Greg Rusedski, who was one of about eight here to help the players including new recruit James Auckland who is being mentored by Louis Cayer to assist with the doubles players.

It was also great to see all the local kids on ball boy and girl duty and there are some pretty decent players here too including Jan Hernych and Nicholas Mahut who are both ex top 50 ranked players!

It is all set up to be a good week for tennis on the island and there will be more from me tomorrow!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Up-and-at-them-far-too-early-at-the-AEGON-Pro-Series-in-Jersey

Late night excitement in Les Ormes

It was a late night at Les Ormes on Tuesday so I was happy that the yappy dog didn't make an appearance till after 8am today! Jamie and Johnny got off court at 10.15pm after a marathon doubles against Sam Groth and Josh Goodall. It was a real roller-coaster and caused me near heart failure when a 9-5 lead in the champions tie break, became 9-9.

That's the trouble with this doubles scoring system - sudden death at deuce in each game and a first to 10 points breaker instead of a third set. It all means that matches can turn on a couple of points. The boys stayed positive though and eventually came through 15-13.


Jamie and Johnny warming up for their match against Sam Groth and Josh Goodall

Eventually I headed back to the cottage where I was delighted to find Charlotte’s homemade spaghetti bolognaise in the fridge! According to Jamie it was "Unbelievable Jeff!" I think that comes from the football pundit Chris Kamara.

It was a mixed day for the Brits yesterday. Goodall, Dan Evans and James Ward all went out in the first round but there was a great win for big Dominic Inglot who justified his wild card in beating Croatian seed Rocco Karanusic in straight sets.

There was also a good win from Dan Smethurst who took out the Spaniard Adrian Menendez-MacEiras in three sets. In the women’s qualifying Naomi Broady went out as well to a solid Dutch baseliner in Richel Hogenkamp although she did have the better outfit.

I'm really loving this venue and reckon it would be a fabulous setting for an international junior event, given that there's 8 indoor courts, chalets on site, a golf course and a pool plus it’s a short lob from the airport and a deep lob from France! How inspiring for the island kids to see some of Europe’s best 14U players? Maybe even an invitational team competition so that Channel Islands could take part.

Talking of inspiring - when I was watching Jamie practice yesterday, Laurynas Grigelis, now a Lithuanian hero after winning that fifth Davis Cup rubber In Lithuania, came in to warm up behind the courts. He spent a full half hour working with elastics and stretching.


Laurynas Grigelis gets the elastics out before his hit. Sorry its so dark!

His coach was there and assisted with elastic work but not a word passed between the two of them as they just got on with it. When you get up close Grigelis looks about 15 but there's a focus and intensity about the way he works that makes me think we will see a lot more of him in the future.

Jamie was practising on the same court as the Indian player Harsh (yes, really) Mankad, whose coach is called Happy and Happy has a brother called Lucky. Seriously! And no, there's not a Sneezy, Sleepy, Doc, Bashful and Dopey back home! I asked, much to Jamie’s embarrassment.

There is no match for the boys today so we are going into town then to the centre to practice. After that I'm going to the Caesarean Club to work with one of the coaches and a few juniors. It is a great club and I am really looking forward to it.

More from me tomorrow!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/An-exciting-late-night-finish-on-Day-2-in-Jersey

The latest score from Jersey - Eggs 6, papers 0

I started the day with a hosing down this morning as I got soaked walking to the Spa shop for eggs and a paper. Eggs 6, papers nil. The local shops are reliant on deliveries from the mainland and when the weather is bad and visibility poor, flights can't land on the scarily short runway at Jersey airport.


View from the cottage this morning. Wet and foggy. No wonder the papers didn't make it

Yesterday morning I went for a bit of a wander round St Helier town centre with Jamie and Jonny. We checked out Central Market and most of the shopping streets. I’m sorry to say there were no purchases for me but Jamie managed to buy a Meerkat (no, not a real one) for his girlfriend. Everything is much more expensive here - even Meerkats - than it is at home but I guess that's because the locals have more available cash due to the tax advantages?

I then had a coffee and a bacon roll in a pavement cafe before heading back to the centre to watch a bit of Mel South vs. Jade Curtis. Mel, here with dad John, came through in straight sets saving set point at 3-5 in the 2nd.

Wild card Amanda Elliot went out to a rather exotic looking leftie but Anna Smith won. She’s a solid, tidy wee player and she duffed up Cohen-Aloro, a stylish Frenchwoman with a flashy single hander who moved like "une tortue". Go on, get your French dictionary out......

I got talked in to doing an interview for Channel TV and another for BBC Radio Jersey when I was visiting the wonderful Caesarean Club on the other side of the island yesterday evening. I joined in a session with 8 green and 8 orange kids (that's the colour of the ball they use) and 3 coaches from the club then did a little Q and A.

There were some good little players and lots of great questions about tennis and some that weren't which are always the funniest. "Does Andy have a sports car?" I said "yes it’s a red thing that has 2 seats and makes a lot of noise when you switch it on". The little boy then proceeded to tell me the make, the model, the cost and the horsepower. Ha ha ha.


Some of the Caesarean juniors in their 20 year old bubble!

The Caesarean is a cracking club with 4 outdoor hard, 4 artificial grass and 2 indoor hard in a bubble that has "lasted 20 years"; perhaps just as well as we could have swum on the outdoor courts last night. John Treleven who used to work for the ITF and was a referee at Solihull juniors for years, is now the club manager and he talked me into presenting the prizes for their Bubble Leagues just as I was trying to make a swift getaway.

Well how good is this? There were 7 divisions of men’s singles, 5 divisions of women’s singles, and about 15 divisions of men’s, ladies and mixed doubles. The clubhouse was full for the prize giving and there was a lovely atmosphere for 6.30pm on a soggy Wednesday night! – a great effort. It would be great if all clubs were as proactive as this one.

Check out some photos from the prize giving evening...


Judy and the Juniors at the Caesarean club


Judy with Coaches & Juniors from the Caesarean club


Francine Rhodes and Beverley Le Marquand, Division 6 Winners with Judy


Vice-Chairman Carol McArthur and Chairman Paula Allbut, Division 1 Runners-Up, with Judy

Afterwards I headed back to pick up the boys and then home for another of Charlotte’s creations - Boeuf Bourguignon. That was the highlight of the evening. The rest was football overload!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/The-latest-score-from-Jersey---Eggs-6-papers-0

A look back at Thursday in Jersey

You must go on to You Tube and search the Battistone Brothers. One of the strangest things I ever saw in tennis was on the practice courts at Les Ormes yesterday. One of the Battistone brothers (Bryan) is playing doubles here with fellow American Ryler de Heart (how good is that name? Should be a movie star) and they were warming up next to Jamie and Johnny.

Well, not only does he have a double handle racket - picture a pair of closed garden shears with a racket head at the end - but he has the most amazing service action ever.

Now you're going to have to concentrate here (or go on you tube to see the real thing)...racket in left hand, ball in right. Tosses ball extra high with right hand, switches racket from left to right, jumps about 3 feet in the air and smacks the serve down like a slam dunk! It’s not the most consistent serve I've ever seen but it almost decapitated old Ryler a few times. They should give out hard hats to his opponents.

And whilst you’re checking out the Battistone’s on You Tube, why not visit the ACE magazine You Tube channel for behind the scenes action from around the world as well as interviews, profiles and much more.

Ken Skupski and partner Rohan Bopanna (Colin Fleming is injured) managed to negotiate their way past it to book a semis doubles spot along with Jamie and Johnny who beat Freddie Nielsen and Joe Sirianni pretty comfortably. Out went Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot who had earlier lost a marathon singles to Lee Harvey Oswald (actually, his name is Philip but the guys prefer Lee Harvey!) 7-6 in the third.

Inglot is 24 years-old and 6ft 5” with a massive serve, single handed backhand and charges the net whenever he can. He graduated from University of Virginia last year and now competes on the Tour and is doing really well. He was last GB man standing in the singles and very nearly made the quarters.


Jamie checking out next week's tournament entry list

Also through after a 7-6 in the third win, was Sergei Bubka, son of the legendary pole vaulter. He's a real pin up and scraped past Vladimir Ignatik, the 2008 Junior French Open champion, who is here with his mother. I stood beside her on the balcony for a bit of the match and she does a great line in sighing and muttering to herself in Belarusian! I bet he got what-for afterwards.

Anna Smith put in another solid performance to get past Emily Webley-Smith, making her the last Brit in the women’s draw after Mel South went down in 3 to an absolute skyscraper of a girl out on court 8. There are still a few British pairings in the women’s doubles. The draw wasn't full though which is surprising and a pity nobody thought to advise the Channel Islands juniors to try and sign up or to offer them wild cards. Would have been great experience, no? That was me trying to sound like Rafa.

Catch up with the latest updates from Jersey in our News area.


Johnny's looking at flights to Johannesburg for Challenger in April. Horrifically expensive - return flight cost more than the winners prize money!

I went home when Jamie had finally finished signing ball girls autographs (ha ha) via Pizza Express and watched the Bill. I had a bet with Johnny Maz (Marray) over ‘who dunnit’. Both of us were wrong but I made him do the washing up anyway. It has to be said he does great dishes and if the tennis doesn't work out, I'd recommend him to any hotel or restaurant!

The sun is shining this morning and Jersey looks beautiful again!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/A-look-back-at-Thursday-in-Jersey

My last day in Jersey

Last day on Jersey. Jamie and Johnny are through to the doubles final after a cracking match with Nicholas Mahut and Lovro Zovko. There was a good atmosphere as the balcony was full and the bleacher seating that had been put up on the adjoining court, was pretty busy too.


Jamie and Jonny in action during their semi-finals match in Jersey

Mahut (a former top 30 player) almost knocked over the baseline judge and landed in the stand at one point as it is pretty close to the court. The crowd seemed to enjoy the match and it is definitely one for me to analyse because the quality was so high from both teams.

Luckily there is a company here videoing the matches on court 2 and court 3 which means you can hand them a memory stick after the game and they will transfer the footage for you. Perfect.

In fact quite a lot of the smaller events have live streaming now so getting footage is a lot easier than having someone sit at the back of the court or on the balcony with a video recorder. Video footage is the best coaching tool by far as not only does it allow the players to see for themselves what is happening, but you can also use slow motion to really analyse strokes, movement patterns, court positions and tactical options/selections.

It is a real pity that child protection laws have made it almost impossible to obtain footage of junior events these days as it is the most effective way for kids to learn.

I'm not sure what's going on in the rest of the tourney because I avoided the centre till about 3.30pm. (Had to go back then as the Tourney Director had summoned me for a photo with some of the ball kids - there's actually 70 in total) You get so tired just hanging about. Anna Smith is through to the women’s semi-finals and Ken Skupski is in the doubles final with Indian Rohan Bopanna.


Judy pictured with the ball boys and girls at Les Ormes

I also went into St Helier and visited Jersey Pottery then met a friend for coffee at the Royal Yacht Hotel where we ended up having a fabulous dinner last night. On the way back I stopped to take this picture of a Jersey cow who was wearing a coat. I have never seen cows in coats before - quite fetching!


Cows in coats taken from the car. Didn't want to get too close!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/My-last-day-in-Jersey

Writing from a deserted Gatwick airport

I am writing this from Gatwick airport which is pretty deserted late on a Saturday after completing the 40 minute flight from Jersey and now waiting for a connection to Edinburgh. I shared a car to the airport with Skupski and Bopanna who had beaten Jamie and Jonny in a champions tie break. I hate those things. I wish they could just play a full deciding set, especially when it’s a final and there's no time pressure on the tournament. Everybody I spoke to afterwards from the 200 or so people who turned up to watch, said the same thing.


Jamie stencils up before the final! Important to keep the sponsors happy!

Anyway Bopanna is from India and he was telling me that's him on the road now until end of Wimbledon - India is too far to go home for a few days! It made me realise how lucky the boys are to be based in London.

So the bleacher seating was pretty full for the final which was great and Channel TV had pitched up to film it. BBC Radio Jersey was there too. This event is BIG news on the island. We got seated in the far corner which looked like it could have been a decent view until a Max Branning lines judge look-alike took his seat on the baseline and obscured it somewhat. If you don't know who Max Branning is, you had better start watching Eastenders!

I left as the women’s doubles was starting - nothing personal girls - but GB was assured of a champion there as Mel South was partnering Jarmila Groth against Anna Smith and Margit Ani.

Smith had another impressive straight sets win over experienced Frenchwoman Severine Beltrame and will contest the singles final on Sunday. It was a good effort from her and her delightful French coach Eric.

The men’s final is between Czechs Jan Hernych and Ivo Minar. It’s never easy playing a compatriot and a mate. Hernych is a former top 50 player who beat Belgian Yannick Mertens in the semi while Minar needed three sets to get past Dutchman Igor Sisling – a marvellous name, pronounced Sizeling unfortunately. Sizzling is so much better.


The mayor arrived to watch the finals - nice wheels

Overall it has been a great tournament, great venue and huge effort by the tennis people in Jersey who made the event happen. From Tournament Director Hugh Raymond to the volunteer ladies on the transport desk, to coach Andrew Evans and his staff who trained and looked after 70 ball kids...and of course the tennis fans who turned up to support the players.

It makes a huge difference to play in front of a crowd and all too often this level of tournament is played in front of one man and his dog in Britain.


I gave the Jersey tournament 2 of Andy's signed caps for their best ball boy and ball girl.

You might be interested to know that it cost £110k to put on this double Challenger. The LTA makes a substantial financial commitment and then the Tournament Committee provide the remainder through sponsorship. It is no mean feat finding local sponsors in a recession!

I'd love to see a promotion team to support and promote tennis on the island alongside these events. Activities such as clinics for players and ball kids, workshops for coaches and parents, Q and A sessions with some of the competitors and some club/school visits by players and LTA staff could all contribute to improving the event in the future.

You can't underestimate how inspiring that stuff is for local tennis enthusiasts. It would also serve to publicise the event and get even more spectators along.

Well that's it from me until my next trip.....over and out!

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Writing-from-a-deserted-Gatwick-airport-

Behind the scenes blog from the Adidas promo shoot

Well this was a first for me, a helicopter ride to Loughborough from Fairoaks airfield near Chobham for an Adidas promotional shoot!


Have got my eyes shut for obvious reasons

Richard, our pilot, was ex-Army Search and Rescue, which made me feel quite safe although I still opted for the back seat. Andy sat up front asking questions the whole way.

The journey took 40 minutes as opposed to 3 hours in the car. What a difference when there’s no traffic whatsoever and you can fly in a straight line at a speed of around 140mph, although you really didn’t feel like you were moving fast at all.

I was amazed at the number of private tennis courts as we flew across Surrey - Bracknell and Henley in particular. The views were fab as we passed over Silverstone, Ascot and John Paul Getty’s mansion and landed in a farm about 4 miles from Loughborough.


Terra firma!

There was a bit of a welcoming committee waiting for us (actually it was just the farm owners and some of their friends) so Andy did some pictures and signed some stuff before we got in to the car and headed over to the University.

Sponsored athletes have a number of these appearance days to fulfil throughout the year and it is often quite tricky planning them in advance because schedules can change for various reasons. This one had been in the diary for a while because it involved a great deal of forward planning and a huge crew of people. Adidas were putting together quite a few pieces of promotional video, audio and stills for forthcoming ads so the day was quite varied. It started with wardrobe and then make up.


Note Treacle (Matt Little) in the back ground trying to nick the hair gel

The first part was on the indoor courts which were deserted because the students were on vacation. Then it was back to the Burleigh Court (campus hotel) where one of the car parks had been converted in to the Adi Tour area. It’s a kind of inflatable tent which they take round the country to events and exhibitions. Victoria Pendleton (Olympic gold cyclist) came in to do the Tour with Andy.

They were filmed trying out all 6 stations of the Tour which are all designed to encourage people to test their speed, strength or skill against an Adidas-sponsored athlete. So you pick up a personalised ticket with a bar code on it when you enter, swipe it at each station so your results are logged and test yourself against the likes of Chris Hoy, Kevin Pietersen, Danny Cipriani and Christina Ohuruogu - I think I liked the sprint one best.

So picture this. You swipe the bar code and Christina Ohuruogu starts talking to you on the screen. "Get in the blocks, get ready to go etc" So you get in the blocks at the start of a 5m piece of tartan track. Hunker down and Danny Cipriani appears on the wall right beside you (an image, right? not the real him) and you race against him. Sprint through the finish line and your time is logged. Each station takes no more than 30 seconds so there is no hanging about.

There’s also the chance to get your own foot scan so that if you are keen to buy the right sports shoes for your feet, you can get the perfect match. Foot scans of all the Adidas athletes were on the wall - think Chris Hoy had the broadest!



There was quite a bit of hanging about outside as they were setting up the introductory piece at the entrance to the Adi Tour and it was baltic. Luckily someone had pre-empted the cold and brought along a hot water bottle to keep hands warm!

It was time for lunch when that was done. Adidas had brought in a catering company called Red Chutney which served you from a converted lorry in the car park. I had a brilliant coq au vin and apple crumble which I ate in a converted bus. So cool.


School dinners?

After lunch we were driven to a farm in Charley Lane where they filmed some pictures of Andy running up a country road. It was really interesting to see how they put that together with the camera crew on a little quad bike in front of him so they could get close ups. I don’t think I could be bothered making a feature film, must take forever to get the right shots.

Next up was a stop off at a house close to the tennis centre. That caused great excitement with the neighbours because there were vans everywhere - you would not believe how many people were involved in making this day work. Over 20 for sure. And they have to do it all again the next day with Jonny Wilkinson and Jessica Ennis.

At this bit, Andy had to run through the house with the kids running after him. Oscar material! I disappeared off to Costa for a latte and a piece of chocolate crunch cake.

Last stop was back at the tennis centre where they presented Andy with a green loud hailer and asked him to shout as loud and fast as he could "peanut butter, water melon" over and over. I asked why (obviously) and was told that the shapes your mouth makes saying these 4 words covers every shape your mouth ever has to make during speech so they can use this creatively...mmm


"Water melon peanut butter". Not easy to do without laughing when there’s about 8 people hovering around you!

Finally we got finished with a few still shots in the National Netball Centre on the University campus. It was 6.15pm so it was a long day and there was a small matter of the Barcelona v Arsenal footy match on TV at 7.45 which I was desperate to get back for. Not.

Back to the helicopter. Beam us up........



http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Behind-the-scenes-blog-from-the-Adidas-promo-shoot

Monday morning at the Monte Carlo Masters

I am scribbling this from the terrace of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel which sits right on the ocean at the foot of the cliff into which the tennis club was built! It is one of two tournament hotels which are a short but challenging uphill walk to the courts. The views are unbelievable and the sun is shining too. It makes a change from yesterday which was freezing cold and unbelievably windy.

There was a huge black cloud hanging over the club all day and it finally burst around 4pm and pretty much canned play for the rest of the day, including Andy’s doubles with Ross Hutchins -they are due on today (Monday) around 2.30pm local time.


Dirty great rain cloud on top of the cliff

The day started out quite nicely. Sun was out so I went for a swim before the mountain hike up to the courts.


Indoor pools pretty cool

Actually I decided to avoid the zig zag road and take the steps that have been cut into the cliff. Not the best idea I've ever had. They are almost vertical! I could hardly breathe when I got to the top. Not doing that again.

When I got to the club, there was an ambulance outside - did someone see me at the top of those steps? It turned out a ball kid had got a leg injury. I joined the accreditation queue behind a bevy of Spaniards. Yes I do mean to use the word bevy as it included ‘Deliciano’ Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. Not the worst queue I've ever been in.

It took about ten minutes more than it should have because the girls behind the accreditation desk loved the view. I wasn't complaining either. So you sit down and a tiny camera takes your picture, transfers it to a laptop and 2 minutes later, you have the pass you need to get into the amazing MC Country Club. It’s very posh and without doubt the most beautiful club I've ever been in. No wonder there's such a strong draw here.

I think there are 15 clay courts in total though some have stands built on top of them during the event. They use about 4 for matches which means there's loads of practice courts and players are not restricted to just one hour, like they are in most events. On Saturday Andy hit with Novak Djokovic and played a couple of sets. ‘Djoko’ lives in MC and has been training on the clay here since he came back from Miami.

He looked very comfortable on it after 10 days or so preparation. Clay is so different from hard courts that it takes longer to adapt to moving on the surface and to the higher bounce. Yesterday Andy hit with Ross on a half court alongside Nestor/Zimonjic for an hour and then went straight to another court for an hour of hit/sets with Tommy Robredo.

It was mobbed at the practice courts yesterday (Sunday) and particularly round Rafa’s court. There's no security here to escort players to and from practice so they can get absolutely surrounded when they arrive but more so when they leave. It is Interesting to see which "big" players are able to walk around unnoticed and therefore untroubled like Ferrero and Robredo, even Berdych.


Andy tries to leave the practice courts quietly, followed by the Grim Reaper

It was Alex Corretjas birthday yesterday and also the mandatory Player Party at the Grimaldi Forum. It is obligatory for the top guys to attend all player parties as the ATP like to be able to get pics of them away from tennis - in non tennis gear - and for them to mingle with sponsors and celebrities.

Andy was timed for the red carpet at 8pm and once inside, got a hug from Shirley Bassey, mingled a little, ate a lot and then headed back to the hotel to watch the Masters Golf!

I didn't go but I heard all about it! Anyway enough for just now. That indoor pool is calling me...

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/Monday-morning-at-the-Monte-Carlo-Masters

A trip to the Solaro Club in San Remo

No surprise that I'm the only person on the breakfast terrace this morning. It’s pretty overcast and judging from the wet patio stones, there's been rain during the night. But it’s not cold (well not by Scottish standards) and it’s a treat to have your petit dejeuner in the fresh air, n'est pas?

I came down in the lift with Papa Verdasco and Marin Cilic. Both huge guys but in different ways, if you know what I mean. And get this - the lifts have seats. How posh is that?

So yesterday was a pretty good day. I kicked off with a swim then treated myself to a latte and a piece of strawberry gateau from the amazing patisserie in the hotel foyer. Phenomenal, just like the bill. The latte was 6 euros and the cake was 8. Won't be doing that again.

Shared a car to the courts with Eric Butorac (used to be Jamie’s doubles partner) and went to watch Andy training. I bumped into Bob Brett, the coach of (Marin) Cilic and ex-coach of Boris (Becker), Goran (Ivanisevic) and (Mario) Ancic. I've known him for a long time since Jamie worked at his academy in Paris back in 2003-4.

Interestingly that Paris academy operated out of a council owned facility and was backed by Patrick Mouratoglou who went on to buy his own club and develop his own, very successful academy. Back then potential stars training there were Marcos Bhagdatis and Ivo Karlovic. Bob used to commit to about 100 days a year there.

Anyway he offered to take me to see his current base in San Remo which is about 30 minutes drive from MC. It’s called the Solaro Club and he leases the courts from the club on the weeks when he and his players train there. 7 euros an hour. Perfect. Saves on all the overheads.

He never brings more than 20 players at any one time but he encourages coaches to bring their players so he can mentor them as well. Ben Haran, the head coach at Reeds School in Cobham is one of several coaches who have turned to Bob to help them learn how to make that difficult transition from good junior to top senior.

Bob is one of the most respected and experienced coaches in the world so it makes a lot of sense to go and work alongside him. Ben recently took Andrew Bettles (one of the best British 16 year-olds) over for 5 days during which time he got to train with Cilic and said he "learned more in those 5 days than in the last 5 months".

Meanwhile, back to the MCCC. The dining tables were out on the terrace above centre court (they weren't there on Sunday because rain was forecast) so the great and good of Monaco were out in force and clattering and chattering their way through lunch during the Deliciano-Birdman match. I mean Lopez-Berdych. Easy win for Birdman. Lopez looking good but couldn't say the same for his tennis.

Went to try and find Andy before his doubles match - in the player restaurant which is in the VIP Village! Apparently they do amazing ham and cheese baguettes in there and that was the lunch order for the team! Why is it that baguettes always seem to taste better in France?


The VIP village

Then nipped in to watch a bit of Kohlschreiber- Belluci on court 2 as Andy plays the winner tomorrow and then moved to the opposite side of the stand for the doubles. It was like our own private section which was kind of cool.

So the boys managed to get the win over Cermak-Mertinak who finished last year at 5 in the world I think. Now they face the Bryans! Should be fun. Hope they don't try any of that chest bumping because Ross could be world No.1 at sweating and he's always soaking wet! Gross.


Rossco about the serve a rocket in his doubles match with Andy

I went back to the hotel to swim again and Andy went off to do press, hoping that he would be allowed to focus on the clay season and not on the Davis Cup captain announcement. David Nalbandian was in the pool with a very natty pair of bright orange shorts. But then Treacle (Matt Little) and Miles appeared - straight into the jacuzzi. Major water displacement. Time for a sharp exit.

Went out for dinner at Sasskafe and had great prawns. Mmmmmm. Finished off with some birthday ice cream cake for Alex Corretja. Biggest candles you ever saw and they were musical too.


Alex Corretja's birthday cake

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/A-trip-to-the-Solaro-Club-in-San-Remo

Leaving on a jet plane...

Well what can I say? Its 6am and I'm on my way to Nice airport for an Easyjet flight to Geneva and then on to Edinburgh. Mercedes are one of the tournament sponsors here in Monte Carlo and so the courtesy cars are either black or white with leather seats. Classy!

It’s a pity I'm going to miss Andy’s match but at least I saw him play doubles, watched a lot of practice and had some fun dinners.


Andy on the practice court. I couldn't get near it - too many fans, so I stood on the steps above!

I forgot to mention that we bumped into Ivan Ljubicic on our way to the restaurant on Monday evening. He was standing outside his apartment block chatting to some old bloke and when we stopped to say hello, it turned out the old bloke was Wojtek Fibak, a former top 5 player from Poland in the 70s.

Needless to say Andy had never heard of him (way before his time) but I had. That was my playing era. Fibak was loving it that I remembered him and I told him I had once met him at a tournament in Barcelona Club de Campo in the late 70s. I told him I had just lost my match to Mariana Simionescu (Bjorn Borg’s then fiancee) and was queuing next to him at the paella buffet.

What I didn't tell him was that when I moved in front of him (ladies first and all that) he said "That’s right, you go first. You are a better player than me!" I have never forgotten that. Never did know if he was being funny, sarcastic or just plain grumpy.

Last night we went back to the Japanese restaurant next to the hotel. Decided to give it another shot after Saturday’s disaster which saw us arrive at 8.30pm and not get our main courses till 10.15pm. Even then they forgot several dishes and we ended up querying the bill and refusing to pay the service charge.

I have to say the food was fantastic when it did come and tonight the management bent over backwards to make everything perfect. Can't say I'm a fan of sushi, unlike everyone in the team. Raw fish rolled in bits of black bin bag and dunked in rice. No thanks. Beef Teryaki for me. Awesome.

There was some quality dinner table chat about the election including an unprompted soliloquy from Treacle about the economy which ended up with a unanimous vote for Treacle to be the next Prime Minister. Food eaten! Bill divvied up and the boys were out of there in a shot. Chelsea v Bolton on the telly.

Yesterday was quite long and uneventful. Andy hit at noon for an hour and a half with Ross then went to the gym to do some movement exercises. I went to check out the Ecole de Tennis programme at MCCC - 188 euros for kids born 1997 or younger - then walked through the media corridor (25 cabins looking suspiciously like porta loos overlooking Court Central) to watch a few games of Verdasco v Benneteau but it was very one-sided so I decided to wander into town.


Court Central at Monte Carlo Country Club. Crazy views huh? That's the ocean behind the court.

Bad timing. Got to Place des Moulins at 2.15pm to discover the shops were shut till 3pm. I'd forgotten the French do that very civilised 2-hour lunch thing.

There are some great shops here. I don't think Monte Carlo has been hit by the recession somehow. I didn't buy anything except an apple and a bag of Kinder SchokoBons, oh and a Daily Telegraph.

Found a lovely Salon du thé and had a coffee with Prince Albert. Ok ok - not really him but every business has a picture of the Monaco Royal family in it and my tea room had a life size Albert right beside my table.


View over the top of tournament site. Club has kids playground. The Clubhouse is to the right and the white tents are the tennis equipment suppliers stands and tourney shops.

Watched a bit of tennis on TV with Andy when I got back. Saw the Birdman destroy Dicky (Richard) Gasquet and Jo Willy (diamonds in both ears) Tsonga outlasting Nicolas Almagro. The French LOVE Jo Willy. He was bouncing all over the court when he won.

Check out the ATP website on Thursday for pictures of the second Player party. This one is only for players and involves some of them doing turns. Sorry to say Miles, Ross and Treacle have been signed up to take part in a sketch about the Challenger event in Ukraine. At least one of them will be in women’s clothing. Oh dear. Glad I'm going home.

I had to get back for a meeting tomorrow with the First Minister about my tennis club project and about the possibility of bringing an ATP Tour event to Scotland in the future. I’ve never been to Holyrood before so I'm quite looking forward to it. Alex Salmond is a big tennis fan so I'm hoping he's going to be pumped to make things happen.

One useless fact about Monaco before I sign off - it is smaller than Hyde Park.

Au revoir.

http://www.lta.org.uk/Parents/Judys-Blog/On-my-way-home