Diary for 19^th August 2009
I was absolutely gutted last weekend when Rob and I went to play our last practice match against each for a while, an hour before we were about to go on court it started to poor down with rain :(. The bad weather stayed with us for the whole weekend and we never got a chance to get on court before he left. Not the end of the world though as he'll be back for Christmas in December, so it wont be long before we're back on court.

I'm meeting up with Mark De-mori next week to discuss a new fitness and gym programme. The one I have at the moment is good but it's becoming too comfortable and my body has adapted to all the exercises, which is what you want but if they get too comfortable then the other muscles start to get lazy and not work as much which in the long run could cause injury. So every 3 months maximum it's important to completely mix things up so that everything is working together well.
The next 3 month programme will most likely leave me a bit stiff after most workouts as this is the one time of year where there are no club matches until late October and very few tournaments until the summer, so this is a great time to put in the real hard yards so that I will be another step better and closer to my goals by the time tournament season comes round.

Brendan Malacy hopefully will be coming back from his UK trip soon. He's not following the dream of being a tennis professional anymore but he can still hit a great ball and will be playing a top state grade player when he gets back after coaching in London for the last 3 months. We always trained really hard and well with each other, so I'm looking forward to getting back on court with him soon.
Troy Hardgraves is back in town now as well. Troy was a top 500 in the world player and played German club tennis and number 1 in state grade here for a few years. I'm really looking forward to hitting with him next week as last time we played just before I left I was getting very close to beating him, so hopefully the extra 2 years of experience I have now will get me over the line this time :).

This years club tennis should be good. I will be playing number one and hopefully Tristan will be playing number 2, although he is becoming a family man now with a new born kid in the picture and also his business is going very well, so whether he will be able to keep up the training and be up for it by October is something we'll just have to hope for. He's a talented bloke, so I'm sure he'll still be with us. Todd will be number 3 and we now have Todd's 2 younger brothers coming up as well. It's funny that when I left they were 15 and getting out powered, but now Mitchell is 17 and doing exactly what I was doing when I was his age. He will be around for the summer club matches and then no doubt go off and play futures etc. So fingers crossed we have a chance to take the trophy this year :).

Mum is doing really well, and is happy :). She is planning on having enough money saved up to come out for my 21st and Jenny's 24th this October, so that'll be great to see her again. Jenny and I worked out that it's been 3 years since we've all been together, so I cant wait for that!

Diary for 5^th August 2009
After getting over a not so nice cold which stuck around for just over a week, I had an easy week of training to get back into it with out straining anything by just doing 45 - hour long hits, and a lot of stretching and core strength work rather than long runs and weights. Sometimes being ill has it's advantages, makes you really appreciate being fit and healthy and also after having that relaxing week of stretching and nothing else freshens you up well.
After not really playing that much and missing a pennant match from being ill, I was a little bit cold going into the semi-finals of pennants this weekend. We were playing East Freemantle who we've beaten the last 2 times but it's always been a close day. Tristan, my boss and number 2 on the team had a baby boy last week and couldn't play as he's obviously got a few other things on his mind at the moment. So the team was Craig at number 4, Mitchell (my doubles partner Todd's younger brother) at number 3, Rob at number 2 and myself at number 1. We had all 4 courts available so we all played at the same time. I was playing Lance Heins who I beat last time 7.6 - 7.5. Unfortunately I didn't cross the line this time and after just 1 simple break in each set and with him serving really well, I lost 6.3 - 6.3 :(.
Rob won his in straight sets, Mitchell won his in straight sets and Craig lost his in 3. So the score going into the doubles was 2-2. Everybody was feeling a bit tired as the sun was really strong that day and nobody gets a long rest time as we all finished around the same time so we just went straight on for doubles. Rob and I played their number one team and got of to a great start by winning the first set 7.5 after 3 return winners and Rob closed off a volley at the net to get a break to love to win the set. The second set didn't go as well, we dropped our serve early in the second and found it hard to break back which resulted in the second set going to them 6.4. Meanwhile on the other court Craig and Mitchell have lost their doubles in straight so Rob and I really needed to win the match to have a chance to move into the final. The third set went to a tie-break, which seemed fitting as everyone was playing their best tennis. Rob had really saved us earlier in the set when we were 2 break points down and he came up with 3 aces in a row to set up a game point. We got off to the worse start ever in the tie-break when I hit a first serve down the T, which gave Rob a really easy smash and he missed it wide! I think this put the nerve's up everyone as it became obvious that it was a tight part of the match and that any mistake like that could cost you from getting the team into the final after a whole season of tough matches every weekend. I took my hat off to Rob for the next point, unfazed by the horrific smash, he put his head down and made the return then ripped a shot down the middle of the court which forced Lance to miss and got us the mini break back :). After a few quick volley's, big serve's and sharp returns we had a match point at 9-8 but with them serving. Rob made the return and both of us rushed the net looking for a weak reply, Lance nudged the ball down the line trying to pass me but I reached for a forehand volley and put it back in play, I was now right out the court and while recovering to cover the big gap down the middle, Tom (lance's partner) hit the ball right at me, I could of swore it was going in the net so I sort of relaxed not expecting to have to hit it, but it crept over and I just didn't expect it and missed a volley right next to the net! I couldn't believe I did it and I had this horrible feeling that if we loose it's going to be all my fault and that one little volley would have cost the team a spot in the final. No time to dwell on the could have been and would could happen, the only thing you can do is try and focus on the now, so Rob and I got ready to return at 9-9. I had been returning well all match and was just waiting for the serve to be in my hitting range, he went for a T serve to my backhand but didn't get it wide enough and it went right in my backhand hitting zone, I picked a spot cross court and hit a hard flat return winner to give us a match point on my serve. My arm was feeling a bit heavy but just told Rob I was serving down the T and to get ready to cross and cut off the return. I served one of my best serve's right down the T and sure enough Rob crossed to hit another smash exactly like the one he missed on the first point, but this time there was no doubt and he put it away for a winner! :)
After all that hard work and intensity from everyone it went down to games as we were even with 3 matches each and even sets. After double and triple checking we had 74 games and they won with 75 games :(. We couldn't believe it. Never mind, we all did our best and summer pennants will be around soon, so we'll have to do better then!

Rob is leaving to go to American College on Sunday. As sad as it is to loose a good training partner, team mate and great friend, I'm sure he'll really enjoy it and he'll be back in December for a while. So we've arranged our last 5 set practice match on the clay this weekend. It seemed to have worked out well because if we had won the semi-final we would have had to play the final this Saturday and wouldn't have time to play a last match against each other before he left, so it all worked out for the best :). No doubt it will be a great grind and I'll try and get someone to take some picture's of it to put on here.

Training has been going well, I'm right back into full steam and getting 100% fit and strong with no injuries for the summer tournament season.

Darren Tandy who was my coach last time I was in Australia, has continued to be a massive support and help to me since I've been back. Even though he is no longer coaching, he still has great tennis connections and is also a very smart man with all the off court stuff. His "words of wisdom" have probably saved me a lot of time, money and effort, and all the little tricks of the trade he has taught me will stick with me forever.

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