The day before the big storm!!! We enjoyed a late dinner at a place called Taxi!
Today was the day of which the wheelchair competition started but before I continue I want to congratulate Maria Kirilenko (part of our team) for reaching the finals of the women’s doubles here in Australia and it was her birthday yesterday! She also won her mixed doubles match and is into the semis!
Esther had her warm-up today on court 4 at 10 am till 10:30 and her match was 2nd after 11! At 10:30 I received a text from Mats that Caro wanted start at 10:30 rather than the planned 11 am start for her hit on her off day!
We have been keeping the practices indoors on the days off to keep her focused and save her from losing energy! Today was a short hit just to warm up the body and work on the timing after her 2:30 hour match from yesterday!
After the hit it was time for Esther to go on court and she was in a good state of mind and really felt good about the match! The score was 6-0 6-0 against her doubles partner Sharon Walraven!
During her match John Newcombe came out to watch as well! She really was pleased about her performance and that does not happen too often!
After the match and eating some lunch, I went to watch one of our talented junior players that have attended 2 of our camps and is coached by Martin Sinner (a former ATP pro from Germany). She beat Lauren Davis 6-0 6-3 today and showed great progress! Her name is Genie Bouchard, and she is from Canada, but you have to keep an eye on her as she is an up and comer!
Later on Mats and I had a personal workout in the players gym! We finally are getting and making some time for ourselves. Our health is key to be able to maintain a high standard of our service to our players! Sometimes it is tough because we cannot always do all the things we want to do but priorities have to be set!
On our departure from the club we organized the schedule for the next day! Esther Vergeer playing 1st at 11 (warm-up at 9:30 on show court 2) then Caroline Wozniaki warming up at 11 for her semi final not before 1:30 start on center court!
Tonight we had a nice chat with my big brother Peter Lundgren (coach of S Wrawrinka) who is leaving tomorrow!
Now sitting at Federation Square and watching the Australia Day concert and fireworks!
Tomorrow is show time and I am looking forward to another great challenge!
Topics: Caroline Wozniacki, Esther Vergeer, mats merkle, sven groeneveld