Good Evening readers! Or rather good morning, depending on where you are in the world! Hopefully you’re all out there playing tennis today too! I’ve been realizing that the more I write, the more I can recount, understand, and learn more about myself in this journey. I think my memory for details has enhanced and hopefully that will help me in life on and off the court for the future. Without further delay, let’s pick up where I left off from my last update!

I landed at LAX on Sunday at about 7:45am after staying up all night in Vegas… I landed in terminal 6, and my car was parked in terminal 1. Luckily I found a shuttle that took me to terminal 1 so I wouldn’t have to walk, thank goodness! Got in my car and started driving north on the 405, jamming out to some music to keep me from falling asleep. A friend of mine named Steve Pratt, who had helped line up my media credential at Staples Center on Friday was hosting the first annual USTA Block Party Tennis Festival at the College of the Canyons tennis courts. It is located near Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita. Upon arriving, I ate some breakfast, hydrated a bit, and found a very nice scene filled with kids of all ages, tennis patrons, and booths set up with tennis art, food, gifts and trinkets, and local community services for kids. I was very surprised and thought what a unique and fun event for people of the community to enjoy. There were drill courts, fun matches set up, beginners and recreational players all coming together to form a collective tennis spirit. I was brought in to be the “pro” in the “Beat the Pro Challenge!” I love having the opportunity to play in front of people, it’s part of the reason I play the game. I didn’t go out there and blow people off the court, unless it was truly necessary and I had been dinking around too much. Plus it gave everyone a true look at a bigger ball and put them on the run. For the most part, I played to my opponent’s level. I had about 20 people on my court, kids, teens, adults, rotating after a baseline point each. Everyone was eager to play and luckily my energy lasted long enough for about an hour without break. So I’d hit to them, give them a few opportunities to make a few balls with me, then I’d move them around a bit. If they managed to hang with me that long, I’d start to get creative with drop shots, lobs, gestures during the rally or calls out to the crowd for advice (all things I learned from watching Pete, Andre, Jim and John at the Champions Series Events!). I think the bystanders on hand liked my attitude and energy and would call out to their players on the court, hoping they would beat me! And a few actually did! I made some errors here and there, applauded their winners, and overall had a great time. It was truly fun because as I looked across the net, I saw excitement and positive energy in every smile. After my little clinic, we took a picture and had a raffle. Prizes were handed out and the event was closed with everyone applauding the efforts of the people on stage. I think this event was special because it was intimate and was putting rackets into youngsters hands who had never had the opportunity to otherwise.

I left the event around 2pm, drove into Westwood where I desperately needed a pit stop. I was tired, sore, stiff… dying if I really want to make my condition seem important. But I got an In-N-Out burger and milkshake and drove up to eat it at UCLA’s tennis stadium. I parked and sat at the very top of the stadium, looking down on the famous 3 court setup where the LA Open is hosted every year. I watched as Clay Thompson and Alex Brigham came out with freshman recruit Marcos Giron and hit around a bit. I ate, stretched, and decided to head down to Westwood Sporting Goods. I totally forgot it was Sunday, so my favorite store was closed. I parked behind the store in the free parking spots, reclined my chair and proceeded to pass out for a good 2 hours. Woke up with a start and a sweaty shirt (forgot to roll down the windows), checked my phone, and decided it was reasonable to skip my dinner plans in LA with friends in order to head home for some much needed rest.

10/17

I woke up after 9 hours of sleep feeling pretty groggy. Made a few important calls before a startling text came in telling me I needed to be at Carson Tennis Center at 10am to hit with Sam Querrey. It was about 9:15 so I was thinking I was going to make it on time! Wrong. Morning traffic got the better of me and I was twenty minutes late. I felt bad about it, rushed out onto the court, tied my shoes, and without a real warm-up started rallying with my former peer and now top 25 player in the world. It was awesome, Sam remembered me from the juniors and was, as always, very nice to me. His coach David “Nainks” Nainkin was full of advice and tips, as I overheard Sam and him constantly talking about match decisions. It was a pretty good but short hit. Sam had just returned from a tournament up north in the Bay area, me having just gotten back from a whirlwind two-city two-night ordeal (I’m not a traveling professional yet so I wasn’t really accustomed to the rigors. I was maybe when I was doing this weekly in my college days at BYU, but haven’t done anything like it since!). Sam played great, my timing was a little off, but nonetheless an incredible opportunity I would happily wrecklessly speed on roadways to take haha.

After practice, I called Rick Hartman at Westwood Sporting Goods wondering if I could come up north and help out at the shop. Monday’s are usually very busy days for the store because everyone plays over the weekend and needs work done on their rackets if they want to keep playing through the week! I got the “A-Okay” because Rick was a little shorthanded and spent a good 5 hours in the store helping string rackets and deal with customers. It seems as if I haven’t been playing much tennis lately, but I feel fine about it. My next tournament is in early November so there’s no rush to be exactly spot on with my timing right now. The important thing is to remain loose, limber, and in shape. I plan on hitting the gym or track for leg workouts today and tomorrow. I also have some special news concerning my Thursday-Sunday schedule this week. If you follow my posts, I’ll reveal the special and new opportunity that’s been offered to me!

Always trying to improve,

Shubert