Photo by Francisco Resendiz
Hello again. Austin here.
Woke up today and went straight to the tennis garden. First up, I went to support Ruben Bemelmans, from Belgium, where I joined the 10sBalls.com crew – Lovey, Pancho and X. Always nice to have a great crew in your corner.
After watching a set or so, I raced over to catch a friend of mine in the heat of a match. Fellow Californian, Nicolas Meister who I played tournaments with in Turkey and Asia last year.
He had won a three set battle the day before, saving two match points, and pulling it off 10-8 in a third set tiebreaker! Unfortunately his opponent today, the young and up coming Dominic Thiem, was firing laser guided missiles from both wings painting lines! His one handed backhand was a showstopper and just too much to handle. Thiem took the match in a competitive straight sets win.
Made me think of all this talk about the one hander going out of style and not keeping up with today’s tennis. I think all the talk is just banter. Take a look at the latest grand slam winner, Wawrinka! He’s got one of the best backhands I have ever seen or had the pleasure to hit against. I remember the ball bouncing up and over my head when he wanted to put a little extra on it! The tennis world is lucky he doesn’t have two backhands!
Although it’s not as coming as it used to be, there will always be someone ready and willing to go the extra mile to have a “Highlight Reel Worthy One Hander”
Ruben Bemelmans, by Francisco Resendiz
Anyway got a little side tracked there :). After the match I headed to the physio room. The ATP brought in two doctors for a performance and injury prevention screening. The doctors have a good look at each player, find out where the problem areas are and where they are more prone to injury. They gave us exercises and different stretching techniques to strengthen the areas and prevent injury.
The doctors gave me a few things to work on for my shoulders and are developing a full recovery program for my hip. Same program they use for many tennis players and athletes recovering from similar surgeries to mine. They where very helpful. I can’t wait to get working on it, the right way!
I then headed to the gym for a light workout to do some of the exercises they gave for the moment while they put together my full program.
It is tough being surrounded by tennis courts and not being able to play. However I got a good piece of advice from a long time friend, Dusan Vemic, who told me;
“Better to start a month later then one day too early.”
I remember watching him play when I was ten years old here at Indian Wells with his famous one, two combo serve and drop shot play.
After watching a few more matches I met up for dinner with The Bowers for BBQ steaks and potatoes. Talked about the good old days, when I used to live next door to them, had some laughs about my dad’s classic one liners. I also shared some of his more creative ones that have come up during our time away!
That about caps off my day. Till next time
Austin
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, austin karosi, BNP Paribas Open, Dominic Thiem, Dusan Vemic, Indian Wells, Pancho Resendiz, Ruben Bemelmans, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis Garden, Tennis News, Xavier Malisse
BNP Paribas, Indian Wells From Austin Karosi “POV”- http://t.co/2THVMC6w6p #BNPParibasOpen #IndianWells #Tennis #update