Indian Wells
I think the last time I wrote, we were fresh off two titles and a week of no
tennis in
Vegas. We went to Indian Wells with hopes of getting in together,
but also a
realization that it was probably not going to happen. We didn't think
we'd make the cut
and were hoping on WC from the tournament. It was actually an emotional
week as one day
we thought we had it, then Rafa asked for one
(obviously getting it), then we heard we
had the other, than Sampras wanted one (also, obviously getting it), then he
decided
against it. Then the requests came from Hewitt, Baghdatis
and Kuerten, but our good
friend Paul Annecone (part owner of the tourney)
pulled us through...
So, as I'm sure most you have seen by now, we drew Nadal/Lopez
in the first round. It's
always weird when you play a guy that you see on t.v.
every day. Then, the next thing
you know you are out there dumping volleys in the first game and watching unbelievable
forehands fly by you on break point. So, after dropping my serve to start
the match, I
decided to settle in and shake off the nerves.
Early on Rafa was serving big to me, especially down
the "T". But, as Jamie pointed out,
from where he was standing, it was impossible for him to serve wide cause Lopez
was so
far to the middle. So, as I cheated to the middle the next few serves, he
took the next
one wide. He literally hit it 130 mph directly off the back of Lopez's head!
Like I'm
talking off his head and into the 20th row! Lopez went down like he had
been shot, it
was quite funny.
We got our break back, snuck the first set out and won the match. It was
a great crowd
and maybe the most exciting match of my pro career. Unfortunately our streak
was finally
snapped the following match as we lost to Knowle/Melzer
in a 3rd set breaker.
The next week could not have been more different from the Indian Wells.
Poor weather all
week, but sure a lot of fun things going on! The week kicked off with a night
out on the
player party where we got to meet T.O. and D-Wade. Let me correct that, Duss (my coach)
went to chat with each of them. The following is an exact replica of his
chat with T.O.
Duss: T0, can you call up one of my best friends
Tony Romo, tell him I say hello.
TO: Why don't you call him?
Duss: I don't have his number,
TO: If he's one of your best friends, shouldn't you have his number?
Jamie and I were pumped to get in the draw directly this time. Our excitement
lasted
about 5 minutes until the draw came out and we drew Bjorkman/Mynri,
the number 1 team in
the world.
We played very solid for about 11 games, then we dropped serve at 5-6....and
proceeded to
lose the next 6 games as well. A rough finish, but it was good for us to
see where we
stand against one of the top teams in the world.
After Jamie had his week of Davis Cup (they won 3-0,
he won his doubles) and I had a week
in
followed by a tough loss. We are still tryign to find
our way on the clay. It can be a
good surface for us, but we haven't played all that much on it yet. It was a
rough week
as it rained every day and we were eager to get to
soon as possible. Flights were like 1000 euro,
so we decided to rent a car to drive to
"you mean, I can do this." (Jamie has no license.)
So...we took off at 8am the next morning and I swear to you that he was asleep
before we
even got out of the parking lot! It was a brutal drive, but we did make
it.
Monte Carlo
I didn't even think I was going to be playing this week, as Jamie were
certainly not
making the cut (he then signed with Andy) and I ended up being an alternate
with Benjamin
Becker. Some of you may know him as the man who ended the career of Andre
Agassi. Well,
there ended up being a withdrawal, so we did play, but lost to Nieminen/Pavel in the
first round. We still had a fun week in
driving the whole way again!) to
Check out the ATP site this week, I think Jamie and I are going to do the blog from
Also, we should have our website up and running sometime next
week....www.bootyandstretch.com It should be
fun! Check it out. The link is
http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/blog/butorac_murray.asp
Eric