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November 30, 2008
Ashley Captures Doubles Title #2 in Spain
Hey everyone!
Sorry I couldn't let you know how yesterday went sooner, but I didn't have any internet access. Anyways, Lucia and I won the doubles final 6-2, 6-3! It's definitely good feeling winning back to back doubles titles. We played in crazy conditions, it was extremely windy and the clay would blow in your eyes and face in the middle of points. It was really cold also. I think we handled the conditions well and played smart. We pulled out some tough games by winning them on the No-Ad points. I took the return everytime on a No-Ad point and we converted all, but one. Hopefully stepping up and winning those big points will roll over into my singles. Our opponents were getting frustrated and were trying to peg my partner for nearly the entire 2nd set, they did get her once pretty hard. She handled it well and it fired us up even more. We stayed very intense and aggressive throughout the whole match which was the key to winning the tournament for us. After the match they presented us with our tropheys and had a few speeches which I couldn't really understand because they were all in spanish of course. Our tropheys are really cool and big. We also took lots of pictures.
When we were done with all the post match stuff my Dad and I tried to go get a couple souviners in town, but the stores were closed. So we hit the road and drove to Peniscola where the hotel is for my next tournament, it was about an hour drive or so. The actual tournament site is about 30mins away, but the hotel is really nice so it's definitely worth it. I have a pretty big room and a view of the beach/cove area and a castle up on the hill. Breakfast and dinner are included at the hotel which is nice. There are a ton of people staying at the hotel and a lot of stuff is open around the little town unlike the other places I've been this trip. The place I'm staying is the host hotel for these last two tournaments even though we'll be playing in different towns. I better get comfortable because it will be my home for the next two weeks.
My Dad had to get up really early this morning and drive to Barcelona because he had a flight out back to Austin. Time went by so fast when he was here, I wish he could have stayed longer, but he has to get back to work. I'm sure he's not too thrilled about getting back to deal with the crazy financial stock market. I'm glad the Dow has been up the last 5 days so it won't be as big of a mess as it could have been when he gets back to work. Anyways I'm really appreciative and glad that he was able to come over here and spend time with me. Now I'm on my own for the last two weeks...beware! haha
Now to fill you in on the rest of today which hasn't been too exciting other than it's freezing here!! I got up early and waited for the transportation bus over to the courts which I was told was at 8:15, but it turns out that it didn't leave till 9:45. There's only one bus that leaves in the morning and it returns to the hotel after all the matches are done, so I think I'll be spending more than enough time at the courts this week. Once we got to the site I had to sign in for doubles with the only person I could find who didn't already have a partner...she doesn't have a doubles ranking, but we got into main draw fine. Lucia is playing with someone else this week because she has to leave on Friday and wouldn't be able to stay even if we kept winning and made it to the finals. The rest of the day I practiced on the clay and played a practice set. I also hit on the backboard a couple times and did some fitness. We all waited for the bus to go back to the hotel around 6 and I just chilled for the rest of the night at the hotel.
The draw came out this afternoon and I play Fatima El Allami from Morocco who I played in the semi's of doubles last week. In doubles we play Hristea/Radu from Romania who I don't really know. I don't play singles until Tuesday, but I play doubles tomorrow not before 2pm. Sorry this post turned into a small novel haha...hopefully it made up for a few of the other shorter days. I hope all is well and I'll talk to you guys again tomorrow after my doubles. Adios!
Posted by Jack Newman at 1:05 PM | Comments ()
November 28, 2008
Ashley's In Another Doubles Final In Spain
Hello,
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday! Today was another victorious day here, we won our doubles 6-3, 6-0. We made improvements from yesterday and played a lot better. After our match I went back onto the practice court and worked on some more things with my Dad. I also got another fitness session in which was good. It's getting a lot colder here now, so we've had to bundle up and do our best to stay warm on and off the court. It's actually probably a good thing because it makes us move our feet more to keep warm in our matches. We are now in the finals which is scheduled to be played not before 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. We play a team from Switzerland who will probably be pretty tough, but we're feeling confident and ready to win.
I had to take care of a few hotel and flight reservations tonight, it wasn't too much of a hassel though. My Dad is leaving on Sunday, so I have to get organized since I'll be over here by myself for the rest of the time...that should be interesting ha. We went back to the Chinese restaurant again tonight because it was so good. I think we're going to watch a DVD now. I don't know how much longer I can take watching the Discovery Channel in Spanish or CNN stories over and over again so I need to change it up. Wish us luck for tomorrow! Buenos Noches!
Posted by Jack Newman at 3:08 PM | Comments ()
November 27, 2008
Ashley's Thanksgiving in Spain
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I hope everyone is having a great day. I am very thankful and grateful to be
here in Spain and having the opportunity to pursue my tennis career. It wouldn't
be possible without my family and friends support. I hope many of you are able
to spend some quality time with family and friends today. Today is a day when
I really wish I was home to enjoy all of the festivities. We are turkey-less over
here...we searched around town but didn't have any luck. We ended up having
steak and veggies for dinner which was pretty good, but it definitely wasn't home
cooked turkey with all the fixings! I won't be home soon enough to enjoy any
leftovers either so I guess I'll just have to wait till Christmas to have a feast of my
own. Enjoy!
Once again I'm writing way too late at night so just a quick update. We won our doubles today 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. It was an up and down match...my partner and I didn't play our best, but we stepped it up in the end. We got down 0-4 in the 3rd set breaker and fought back strong to get the W. After my match I went straight to the practice court to clean up some things with my dad and finish up with some fitness. We play the semifinals tomorrow afternoon not before 2pm against a team from Morroco. Keep wishing us luck! Talk to you tomorrow! Gobble Gobble ; )
Posted by Jack Newman at 5:15 PM | Comments ()
November 26, 2008
Ashley's Tournament #3 in Spain Continues
Good evening!
This will be brief because I have to get to bed asap. We won our doubles today 6-1, 6-2. My partner and I seem to be a good combo, we both played pretty solid and felt comfortable together I think. The tournament took the players on a guided tour to Coves de Sant Josep this afternoon. It's one of the tournament sponsors and is right next to the club. This cave tour was a little different than the one I went on in Mallorca. The type of cave and rock was a bit different. We rode on boats through the underground river the majority of the time. And we had to duck our heads quite often so we wouldn't slam into the rocks, it was a very narrow ride for the most part. It was fun and pretty cool, I took some good pictures also. We found a good chinese restaurant for dinner tonight. We were very happy about that because we've been eating at the same two places for lunch and dinner since we've been here because not much is open in this area. We play our next round of doubles tomorrow at 10:30am. Wish us luck again! Talk to you more tomorrow!
Posted by Jack Newman at 4:43 PM | Comments ()
November 25, 2008
Ashley's 1st rd of 3rd Tournament in Spain
Hi everyone!
Today was another tough match...I lost 4-6, 6-3, 2-6 in 3hrs. My opponent was a very consistent player with not a whole lot to hurt me with. I put myself in position to win the match by making 68% of my 1st serves and 90% of my returns for the entire match. We had lots of long points and I was fairly consistent myself, but possibly too patient at times. I felt like I hit quite a few winners, but didn't take enough risk in the short court often enough. I used my drop shot pretty well today and my swinging volley was average. One side of the court was tough to take balls out of the air on because of the position of the sun. My energy level decreased a little bit in the third set and my body kind of broke down which made it more difficult for me to play my best tennis. I did some things well today and thought I played pretty well overall, but once again I need to play the key points of matches better, stronger, and smarter. If anyone has any ideas about how to do that please let me know because I obviously haven't really figured it out since I've been over here. That's about it for my match, I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you guys too much.
I went back out on the courts tonight and worked on some things with my dad from my match. I also cleaned up a few things to prepare for doubles. We play our 1st round at 11:30 tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes, wish us luck! Talk to you later,
AshPosted by Jack Newman at 2:44 PM | Comments ()
November 24, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Start of Tournament #3 in Spain & update
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the delayed blog from the past few days, I haven't had internet access since Friday. My Dad arrived safely in Barcelona on Friday and I was very excited to see him. We did some sightseeing around the city and got lost half of the time by car and foot, but it was fun overall. We drove down to Vall De Uxo Saturday afternoon which turned out to be a 2-3 hour drive. When we got into the little town we found the host hotel for the tournament which turns out to be the only hotel in the town. They didn't have our reservation so we had to find another hotel outside of the town which was actually another interesting experience. It was like a truck stop, we had dinner at the cafeteria there, but it turned out to be okay. On Sunday morning we checked back at the host hotel and they found a room for us for the week so that was good, it's a bit on the small side, but not too bad. Also while we were checking in I ran into Lucia, the girl I played in the finals of doubles last week and she asked me to play doubles here so that worked out well. We headed over to the club and found out that they only have 4 clay courts. We also found out that main draw singles and doubles starts on Monday rather than the usual Tuesday start. I also signed in for doubles with Lucia, we barely made the deadline because it was at noon on Sunday instead of the usual noon on Monday deadline. Good thing we headed over to the club early. Since they were playing qualifying matches on the 4 clay courts I hit on the backboard of some squash type court for about 30mins and then jumped on a hard court for a little bit also. The courts and practice situation makes things a bit more interesting. I guess everyone who is not the 1st match on has to warm up on the hard court. Hopefully that will change once the main draw gets started.
Since there were so many rounds of qualifying matches to be played, Dad and I decided to drive to Valencia which is about 40km away to find a clay court to practice on. We searched all over the place and never found a clay court, no one we asked knew where a court was either. Tennis courts seem to be few and far between here. I've never seen so many squash and paddle tennis courts before, they seem to be everywhere, too bad it's the wrong sport! So after that pretty much worthless adventure around Valencia we ended up just heading back to the sight and waited for the matches to finish. We shared a court for about an hour before it got too dark, I had a good hit though. Almost everything here is closed on Sundays, but luckily the restaurant next to our hotel was open so we had a nice dinner there.
Now moving onto today...I got to sleep in a little bit this morning. I haven't been sleeping too well lately, maybe it's from all the traveling and changing cities, hotels, beds, etc. Anyways, we loaded up on breakfast items and snacks at the grocery store for the next few days. I had lots of laundry that needed to be washed, we found a place in town, but they said they only did dry cleaning. But they were nice enough to take care of it for me. I'm looking forward to clean clothes on Wednesday, I know it sounds ridiculous, but traveling with dirty clothes on the road is a pain. I've noticed that my Spanish is no bueno since we've been in this new town, very few people understand or know more than a couple words of English. We were fortunate that most people in Barcelona and Mallorca knew atleast some English. I seem to understand it fairly well, but speaking it is another obstacle. We had lunch at the club and waited to practice on a clay court in the afternoon. We finally got on half a court, but we only had it for 45mins. In the middle of our practice it started pouring so we had to get off for a few mins, but we didn't want to wait so we just hit in the rain. Then all of a sudden it started hailing! It was like a little snow flurry, it didn't last very long though. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was pretty weird. After our time was up on the clay I hit a little more on the backboard. We waited for the schedule to come out and found out that I play 1st up at 10am against (2)Cagla Buyukakcay from Turkey. We're the #1 seeds in doubles, but we don't play our 1st round until Wednesday. I'm looking forward to starting up my 3rd tournament tomorrow morning and continuing to improve my level of play on the clay. I'll update you guys again tomorrow after my match. Bye!
Posted by Jack Newman at 3:42 PM | Comments ()
November 20, 2008
Ashley Weinhold Spain Update
Hola!
It's been a few days since I last updated you guys. Coach Cristina and I did some sightseeing last weekend during our last two days in Mallorca. We saw some unbelievable views from the tops of mountains overlooking the Meditteranean Sea. I took lots of pictures! We spent our last night in Palma, the capital and did plenty of walking around all over the city, it was a bit ridiculous actually. We have some good stories from it though. I've been in Barcelona training at the Sanchez-Casal Academy since Tuesday. We've been drilling in the mornings for 2 1/2 hours and playing sets in the afternoons. I've been learing a few new things in regards to footwork and positioning that I will continue to work on here and back home. Coach Cristina left yesterday morning to go back to Austin and my dad just arrived today which I'm excited about. Dad and I will drive to my next tournament in Vallduxo on Saturday. I'm not sure how long the drive is, but it shouldn't be too far. I'm in the main draw, so I will start next Tuesday. I have to go do my fitness and weights now so I'll catch up with you guys a little bit later.
Posted by Jack Newman at 7:48 AM | Comments ()
November 14, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 15 & 16 + Championship
Hola!
The last 48 hours has been quite interesting. Yesterday we had big storms in the morning and our power and water went out around 11am. It didn't come back on until around 8:30pm and it gets dark here by 6pm. Supposedly lightening struck the big power lines and knocked out everything on the entire Island. Only a few places in town and around the island had power still. We had no idea how long it was going to be out, we were starting to think a day or two at one point, but luckily it was only 11 hours... which was plenty long enough without light or water. Cristina and I found a store that had light in Porto Cristo and bought lots of candles for the night, but we didn't really even have to use them since it came back on. We're prepared if it happens again though! That's why I didn't write a blog last night...beacuse of the power situation and my computer being dead. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you about our dinner. We ate at one of the few places that was open...it was decorated in teddy bears! They were pinned up all over the walls and on the tables, big and small. It was definitely interesting, but the food turned out to be great and they were really friendly. I had lots of delicious ribs. There were a lot of firsts today...no power or water for a long time and eating at a restaurant where we thought we were at Build-A-Bear haha. It was entertaining all around though.
Now, to update you on my matches yesterday. We were suppose to follow a singles match, but because of the rain they changed the scheudle around without us knowing. I got a knock on my door around 2pm while I was reading my book and nearly about to take a nap. I was told that we were suppose to be on court and start playing, so I had to rush to get changed and hurry to the court. We weren't able to jog around, stretch or warm up according to the umpire because he wanted to get the match started asap. So that was an interesting start to our match...luckily we were more prepared and ready than our opponents and beat them 6-1, 6-3.
We played our semifinal match about 45mins later. It was 6-2, 6-6 in the 2nd set and we had to stop because it was too dark and resume play the next day. We really should have stopped probably 4 games prior, but the ref refused. So we came back today and played around noon. We lost the 2nd set tiebreaker pretty badly 3-7, our confidence took a little hit as well. We were playing a bit timid and weren't really playing well on the same points. After a shaky start for the 3rd set 10 point tiebreaker we fought back and won 11-9...it can't get much closer than that...I was just relieved it was over!
Then we played the finals less than 45mins later and took the 1st set 6-3, but we found ourselves heading for another 3rd set tiebreaker to decide the championship. We lost the 2nd set 5-7 and it was all square. It was a close tiebreaker all the way, but we pulled through and came up with the victory 10-8! It was freezing all day and pretty windy in our final match and it fittingly started raining the last couple games of the match. We won just in time as it started pouring the second I hit the winning drop shot. We all rushed inside after we shook hands. We received flowers and a plaque/frame as well as our prize money (which isn't very much at 10ks and especially in doubles). We took some pictures with everyone and that was it. I'm glad we captured the title and got some hardware as well. It's always a nice feeling finishing off the week a winner, whether it's singles, doubles or both(I wish it turned out that way this week)!
It's just about dinner time now...I think we're going to go out and try to find some good pizza somewhere. I'm starving since I missed lunch while we were playing our doubles matches. It's still raining and has gotten even colder. Our flight isn't until Monday, so we'll probably be doing some sightseeing over the weekend. I'll be in Barcelona for a few days next week training. My 3rd tournament will be the following week near Valencia. I'll keep you guys posted...have a great weekend! Adios!
Posted by Jack Newman at 2:04 PM | Comments ()
November 12, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 14
Hello everyone,
Unfortunately I came up short today in another 3 setter. I lost 6-3, 4-6, 2-6. I basically had the match on my racquet being up a set and 4-2, but I didn't close it out. It's hard to write about this one today because I know that I nearly had the match and should have won. Especially after yesterday's match I was feeling good and was really wanting to bring the same mentality into today's match. I was thinking that I had found a new gear or level in my game, but it didn't come out today and I'm pretty disappointed in myself for letting that happen. One of the worst things to me is having regrets after a loss and that's a little bit of what I'm feeling right now. There are some things I wish I could have done better and been more confident in today. I felt like my serve let me down enormously throughout the entire match. My high heavies weren't penetrating enough today and I was trying to be a little too patient with my forehand at times. I also didn't use my swinging volley to my advantage like I did yesterday. My dropshot and short slice backhand was winning me some points and I should have used it more. I felt like the momentum shifted back and forth during the match. I didn't win some of the big games to give me a greater lead and a little more cushion. I was trying to step it up, but just couldn't put the pieces together.
Alright, enough about that depressing news...moving on! I was suppose to play doubles this afternoon, but another big storm came through and drenched the courts. We will now play 2nd up after 9:30 tomorrow. Wish us luck! Hasta luego!
Posted by Jack Newman at 1:14 PM | Comments ()
November 11, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 13
Hola,
I am proud to report a win today. I took down the #3 seed, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. I got off to a slow and shaky start in the 1st set. But I found my range on my shots, increased my energy level, had a postive attitude, and showed more emotion than usual. After the first set I thought to myself that I wasn't going to let the same thing that happened last week happen again. So I stepped it up and stuck with a strategy I found that worked. The last two sets were a battle with long physical points and I pulled it out. I hope to carry over the same attitude, intensity, and energy level I found today when I was down into my future matches from the start.
Tomorrow I will play singles and doubles. I play Cristina-Mandlina Stancu 2nd up after 10am. Then I play doubles after suitable rest, not before 2pm according to the schedule. I will keep you guys posted. Adios!
Posted by Jack Newman at 2:38 PM | Comments ()
November 10, 2008
Ashley's Start of Tournament #2 in Spain, Day 12
Hola,
This will be brief...The 2nd $10k in Mallorca starts tomorrow, I play (3)Irene Rehberger-Bescos from Spain 3rd up after 9am. I am the #1 seed in doubles with Catarina Ferreira from Portugal. We got a first round bye and will play on Wednesday. I'm feeling pretty good and looking forward to playing tomorrow. My computer is about to run out of battery and it's nearly time for bed. I'll give you guys another report tomorrow after my match. Buenos Noches!
Posted by Jack Newman at 2:48 PM | Comments ()
November 8, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 10 in Spain
Hola!
Today was just another practice day. I played a set in the morning with a German girl at a different club up in the mountains because there were no open courts at our hotel. Then in the afternoon I played two more sets with a Russian girl. It was good to get some practice sets in and work on a few things in my game to prepare me for next weeks tournament. After my 2nd practice I had a tough fitness workout as it started raining once again. Tomorrow I'll be doing pretty much the same thing and will keep searching for a doubles partner to play with next week. Coach Cristina may have to step up again, but hopefully I'll find someone so that doesn't have to happen.
From now on I'm going to be updating you guys every few days and on match days instead of everyday. I'm sure reading about my practices everyday isn't very entertaining and by the end of this trip you'll see "Ashley Weinhold's Day 30+ in Spain!" So I'll spare you unless something exciting happens or we do something fun. I'll of course let you know when my matches are and who I'm playing the night before as well as a review of each match. I'm going to go to bed early and try to get some extra sleep tonight since I didn't get much last night. I also have a cold that I'm trying to fight off at the moment that Coach Cristina kindly gave me. She's been sick since the 2nd day we got here, but she's feeling better now. That's about all. Enjoy another college football saturday that we're missing...Coach Cristina says "Hook em Horns!" Buenos Noches!
Posted by Jack Newman at 1:30 PM | Comments ()
November 7, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 9 in Spain
Hola,
Today we finally got to do some exploring around the island. One of the girls in the tournament that we made friends with let us borrow her car for the day. Before the fun started I had to get my running and weights done first. After lunch we headed to Porto Cristo which is only about 10km away, we heard they had cool caves there. We found them after winding around the little streets and attempting to follow the signs properly which was a bit of a challenge, but we made it. We had a little time to kill before the cave tour started. We followed a trail that lead us down to the water and a secluded inlet area with mountains in the background, it was beautiful. The water was many different blues and so clear I wanted to jump in, but it was a bit too chilly. We headed back to Cuevas Del Drach and started our tour along with tons of other people who were there to see them also. Inside is Martel Lake, one of the largest underground lakes in the World. The cavern was very cool and we were down there for quite awhile. Towards the end of the cave there was a large seating area where we all sat to watch and listen to a classical music concert. They performed in row boats on the water and had exceptional lighting focused in different areas of the cave. It's kind of hard to explain because it was a bit weird to us at first and we didn't even know the mini music concert was part of the tour. We also got to ride in the row boat for a few minutes, you can't go all that far on the underground lake anyways. It was pretty cool altogether. After that experience we went into the town of Porto Cristo and had a snack at a little restaurant near the water. We walked along the waterside and went to a couple little stores in the area also. The view along the water of the houses and boats was gorgeous.
Then we headed back to the town where our hotel is and explored that area. We hiked up to another spot with a great view of the island from every direction and a lot of greenbelt area. By that time we were pretty wiped out from all the hiking and walking. When we got back to our hotel we had some dinner and just chilled for the rest of the night. Tomorrow I'll be practicing in the morning and playing sets in the afternoon. My next tournament is here at the same place and starts next Tuesday. Time for bed, talk to you guys later!
Posted by Jack Newman at 4:34 PM | Comments ()
November 6, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 8 in Spain
Hello Everyone,
I don't have the report I was hoping to give you guys today. It was a tough day at the office. I lost my singles 2-6, 4-6 and doubles 4-6, 3-6. I didn't play as well as I would have liked to in my singles. The girl I played was pretty good and had a very good drop shot. I was too inconsistent today and searching for answers that weren't there. I could have had a higher 1st serve %, although I hardly had any double faults. I also didn't make my way into the net soon enough or on the right balls at times. I was winning most of the points when I was moving her side to side especially on the forehand side, but I didn't stick to it enough. I just didn't win the big points that I needed to to get some extra momentum going. I'm certainly disappointed in today's loss, but I can pick out a few things to work on and improve for next week. One being, a swinging volley which I am not that confident in hitting and a shot that I will need to have and use for the coming weeks. I am going to be playing as many practice sets as I can before next week rolls around.
As far as our doubles goes, Coach Cristina and I came up short. We played probably one of the better teams in the draw and could have used a warm up match before them. Similar to the singles, we didn't win the big points that we needed to. We lost Coach Cristina's serve at 4-4 in the 1st set which was a huge game. I felt like I served well throughout the entire match and had some really good returns. Our opponents seemed to come up with big serves at times especially against Coach Cristina on the deuce side. It was a close match that we should have won and really wanted to win. It was fun and kind of a weird feeling playing with my coach. I think Coach Cristina was in the coaching mode and thinking about how to hit shots better or about how to correct some of our opponents shots at times haha. It must have been a strange feeling for her to be playing a competitive match again. I do appreciate Coach Cristina coming out of retirement for me this week, I just wish we could have won. We're going to need to do a little more practicing together if we ever do that again.
The only good news from today was that it never rained. I'm not sure what are plans are for tomorrow yet, we may do some exploring and climb one of the mountains here. I'll fill you in on everything tomorrow. Adios
AWPosted by Jack Newman at 1:29 PM | Comments ()
November 5, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 7 in Spain
Hello!
I woke up to more rain this morning. We got breakfast and waited out the rain until it started to clear around 10:30am. They put the first matches on at 11 and I was 2nd up on court 2. They only had one practice court that was playable, so I shared a court with three other girls for a quick warm up because others were waiting. After my warm up I changed into my match clothes and headed over near the courts to keep an eye on the score on my court. I was going to be playing through lunch so I had a few snack items before I played. I went on probably around 1:30 which was later then expected because the match before me went three sets.
I had a few nerves going into the match and our warm up, but I settled down quickly and won the first 8 points of the match. I had a good start and got up 3-0 then she held serve for 3-1 and I took the next 6 games after that. So I went up a set and 3-0 which was a good feeling. I think I got a little bored and threw in a few extra unnecessary errors in the next 2 games. It was all of a sudden 3-2 with me serving, but I got my act back together and won that game at love to go up 4-2. After that I cruised to the finish line winning 6-1, 6-2. I felt like I played well and consistent. I forced my opponent to miss first and had a higher energy and intensity level than her. I also served pretty well and had a fairly high 1st serve % which is a goal I have in every match I play. It's always nice to get through that 1st round match and kind of settle in and start working your way through the tournament. I am pleased with the win and ready for more.
After my match I went to the gym for a cool down on the bike, stretched, and did my rehab exercises. Only about an hour after my match it started raining again which postponed the other matches till 5 and it forced them to cancel doubles for the day again. That may have been a good thing since Coach Cristina didn't hit one tennis ball today. We'll be fired up and ready to go tomorrow though. I'll make sure my partner hits a few balls as well. We went out to dinner again tonight, thank goodness. We found a little chinese place that was open and we were the only ones in the restaurant. It was pretty good and the chicken was normal unlike our hotel's. We walked back to the hotel in the rain and it got quite a bit colder. I guess the matches that were in progress got rained out and postponed until tomorrow.
I play Katerina Avdiyenko from Ukraine 3rd up after 9:30 tomorrow. The first match was in progress from tonight, then a whole match, then me. Coach Cristina and I are scheduled for 5th up after 9:30. We'll see what the weather does tomorrow and be prepared for anything. That's all for now. Goodnight!
Posted by Jack Newman at 1:53 PM | Comments ()
November 4, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 6 in Spain
Hey Everybody!
It was another rainy day here today. It drizzled nearly all day with some heavier rain at times that forced them to stop play for periods of time. They only got 4 matches completed because the courts just got too soft and wet to play on. We waited around all day to get a practice in. We finally hit for a little bit late this afternoon, but the courts were very soft so we couldn't doing much moving around because it would ruin the courts. But it was better than not hitting at all today. They only had the practice courts open for about 2 hrs before it got too dark anyways. Since it rained you can probably guess that we didn't do much of anything once again. I went to the gym in the morning to get a sweat in by riding the bike, doing rehab exercises and a long stretch. Other then that we just spent time in our room watching silly MTV shows that were actually quite amusing at times. We also did some more reading and took another siesta. I definitely didn't bring enough books along this trip if I keep going at this rate. You'd think I would be adjusted to the time change by now, but I find it easier to fall asleep in the middle of the day here than at night. I think that will change pretty soon though. So that was about all our exciting day consisted of, sorry I don't have more for you guys today. The schedule is not out yet for tomorrow. They will have matches to catch up on from today and many more to play, hopefully the weather will improve for us. Time to go see what's for dinner tonight...I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's pasta for the 6th day in a row! Talk to you tomorrow!
AWP.S. Go out and vote today!
Posted by Jack Newman at 11:40 AM | Comments ()
Ashley Weinhold's Day 5 in Spain
Hi again!
I started off my morning as usual. After breakfast I had to figure out what I was going to do about doubles since the deadline was at noon and I had practice at 10. I couldn't really find anyone to play with who had a doubles ranking or who didn't already have a partner. So I ended up convincing Coach Cristina to play with me. All she had to do was register online for an ipin which allows you to sign in and then play tournaments. We signed in together hoping there wouldn't be too many teams entered with high rankings so that we could get in because Coach Cristina doesn't have a ranking at the moment. Doubles is a 16 team draw, first they take teams where both players have a doubles ranking & combine it together, then ranking + no ranking, and lastly no ranking + no ranking teams. So we were better off then some teams without a rankings at all since I have a doubles ranking myself. We anxiously awaited for the draw to be made and found out that we got in! Now we have to make sure that Coach Cristina has legal tournament clothes to wear for our matches, they're unwavering with certain logos and design allowments, but I think she'll be ok. During my morning practice with a girl from China we were told that they were starting some 1st round doubles matches today instead of tomorrow and Wednesday which is usually the case. Good thing someone told us! It turns out we were put on the doubles schedule for today vs. the number 4 seeds from Spain, but it ended up pouring for the majority of the afternoon. Storms kept rolling in and the courts got flooded and they canceled matches for the day. Now we won't play our 1st round until Wednesday, so we have time to prepare a winning strategy and Coach Cristina can practice some more haha.
Since it rained a lot during the afternoon, we stayed in our room most of the time. We did some more reading, caught up on emails, and watched a movie. I think Coach Cristina was about to lose her mind because she was so bored. We decided to venture out for dinner this evening because we needed a break from the cafeteria. We walked down towards the beach and ended up eating at "A Taste of Texas Steakhouse," what are the odds...A Texas Steakhouse on the beach in Spain! It was a very nice change and turned out to be good.
The singles draw and schedule came out late this afternoon. You can check out the draws online on the ITF webiste. I play a wild card from Spain, but not till Wednesday. They play some of the 1st rounds on Tuesday and the remainder on Wednesday. Looks like it's going to be another day of practice tomorrow and then a full day on Wednesday with singles and doubles. Also, thank you for any comments or questions you guys have, they are greatly appreciated. Beunos Noches!
Posted by Jack Newman at 3:25 AM | Comments ()
November 2, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 4 in Spain
Hola! Today's report will be pretty short since there was not a whole lot going on here. We did our usual wake up and breakfast routine. It rained off and on all day and some extreme winds. My first practice got rained out so I hit the gym for a little bit. After we had lunch we walked down to the town and along the beach and watched the surfers. We finally got in a nice long practice later in the afternoon, the wind made it quite interesting and it rained off and on during our hit, but luckly we didn't have to get off the courts. After practice we just came back to the room until it was time for dinner. Remember how I said there were some weird items to choose from, well tonight there was fried sting ray! I didn't touch it though.
I have a couple practices set up for tomorrow, so hopefully it won't rain again. I also need to find myself a doubles partner before noon tomorrow which is when the sign up closes. It's going to be a little difficult since I don't know anyone here and hardly any of them speak much english. We'll see how it goes. The main draw and schedule will come out tomorrow afternoon or evening as well. Lastly, sorry to all the big UT fans on the last second loss last night...Coach Kendall, congrats! ; ) Coach Cristina was bummed about it when she found out this morning. Anyways, that's about all I have for you guys today.
Adios,
Ashley Weinhold
Posted by Jack Newman at 2:10 PM | Comments ()
November 1, 2008
Ashley Weinhold's Day 3 in Spain
Hello again!
There was not much excitment today other than practice. We woke up around 8am and got breakfast upstairs in the restaurant. We eat all of our meals in the same place, it's set up similar to a cafeteria or buffet. The food isn't great and there are some weird items to choose from which makes it difficult to get proper nutrition. I'm sure glad I packed a lot of nutrition bars and protein powder to mix up shakes. After breakfast we just hung out in our room until our practice time came around which was at noon. We started off hitting on probably the worst court I've ever hit on or seen for that matter. The baseline wasn't intact, you could pick it up and move it yourself, there were massive holes all over the court and very little clay in the service boxes. No bounce was the same, so I had to be quick on my feet and adapt differently on every shot. It was also very windy which added another element to the practice. One thing Billie Jean King has expressed to me before is that "Champions Adjust." She also talks about it in her new book I'm reading at the moment, "Pressure Is A Privilege." What she means by this is to always be fully prepared and ready for anything that may happen or occur. Champions seize opportunities and are prepared to make unexpected changes. Today I felt like this was one of those instances that I think I adjusted to fairly well and made the best out of it. For the last 45 minutes of our practice the court next to us opened up so we finished up on that one which was much more playable.
Following our 1st practice of the day we grabbed some lunch. Then I took a little siesta, just adapting to what the locals do ; ) Coach Cristina and I started our 2nd practice on the nicer main courts at the hotel, but got bumped off from 2 different ones, so we headed up the road and found another player to practice with also. We hit for awhile and played out some games and points. I finished up with some on court fitness. We headed back to our room filthy with red clay all over us and cleaned up for dinner. After dinner we just relaxed by doing some reading and watched a little tv, we have 3 english speaking channels which is all news of course, it's better then nothing though! But Coach Cristina and I are missing College Football Gameday at the moment.
I'm sure tomorrow will be a very similar day. Maybe we'll get to do something in the town after our practices. There are still two days of qualifying to go and I will start main draw play on Tuesday. That's all for now, hasta luego!
Posted by Jack Newman at 2:58 PM | Comments ()
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