A Day in the Life of an Academy Player

Written by: Hayley Hranicky-Galitzer on 2nd July 2010

A Day in the Life of an Academy Player |

6:30 am
I wake up to Umbrella by Rihanna. Thanks to the iPhone belonging to my roommate, Sam, we wake up every morning to music.

7:00 am
Breakfast is buffet style. I’m having eggs, toast, turkey sausage, pineapple, and melon. Have to have fuel for the day!

8:00 am
Warm up with a light jog and dynamic stretching.

8:15 am
One of the pros gives a talk about the importance of having character on the court. John Isner is used as the example after his Wimbledon battle.

8:25 am
Warm up with my tennis group, which is the same throughout the week. The morning session of tennis is underway. Thanks to the help of our pro on court, we drill until 10:45. We do any drill you can possibly think of. Stuff to help with footwork and strokes.

10:45 am
Fitness. My favorite part of the day! After a long morning session, fitness is even tougher because I am pre-fatigued. Today we did footwork stuff in the ladder and sprinting.

11:15 am
Lunch! Just kidding, this is my favorite part of the day. On the menu is chicken, sweet potato fries, salad bar, and tortellini. After lots of work, lunch tastes oh so good.

12:00 pm
Return to the room for a much needed rest and relaxation. My roommates and I joke around in the common room.

1:00 pm
Same warm up as the morning.

1:10 pm
Match play. We are transported by bus to other courts because there are not enough at the sight. I played a pretty good match, and I got to implement some of the things I worked on in the morning session. I win 6-0, 6-2.

3:00 pm
Transported back to the original site.

3:10 pm
I grab a basket of balls for serving. I’m working on my kick serve, so even though I’m tired from a long day, I make time at the end of my day to practice it. A pro on another court gives me a few pointers and my serve is improving!

4:15 pm
Home at last! I basically fall over on my bed. After a little time and a conversation with my roommate, Alycia, I take a shower. After that I do my stretching; don’t want to be sore tomorrow!

5:00 pm
I go to the courts to have a really light hit with Alycia. We end up just talking and then heading back to the room an hour later.

7:00 pm
Dinner is Hawaiian themed! Fruit, fried rice, and fish.

7:30 pm
We go to the grocery store for some extra food for the room. Late night snacks anyone? I just get Powerade and water, but my roommates get bunches of other stuff like chips, cookies, and pudding.

9:00 pm
We just chill out. I read a magazine and catch up on some of the Wimbledon action on TV.

10:00 pm
Lights out. Have to be rested for another long day!

Topics: Buffet Style, Common Room, Footwork, Ihome, Iphone, Jog, John Isner, Little Time, Match Play, Melon, Morning Session, Music 7, Pineapple, Room 1, Roommate, Roommates, Salad Bar, Sweet Potato Fries, Tennis Group, Tortellini, Turkey Sausage