CRAIG CIGNARELLI’S DIARY OF PRO TENNIS CONTINUES FROM MEXICO , IT’S A LONG WAY TO WIMBLEDON FROM HERE

Written by: on 27th June 2014
CRAIG CIGNARELLI'S DIARY OF PRO TENNIS CONTINUES FROM MEXICO , IT'S A LONG WAY TO WIMBLEDON FROM HERE  |

The girls made the cut for this week’s tournament and qualifying starts tomorrow, although their intro to pro tennis comes with its attendant difficulties. With both men and women playing here, the warm up court is a converted basketball court with no fences and a pretty shaky net, which mean there’s a pretty good chance of getting skulled by a 90mph forehand at some point in the day and the way some of these guys chase down balls reminds one of a little kid running away from his mother at the park.

For those who’ve never seen pro scheduling, matches do not have start times, but rather, court assignments, meaning “you are the sixth match on court 4 and matches start at 10am,” and since you don’t know whether matches will take an hour or three, scheduling your warm-up is a bit like global warming – you are aware of things happening, and you think you should do something about it, but there’s a lot of people who think otherwise, and well, maybe I’ll just wait around and see. Tomorrow’s scheduled sees one player who will probably start around 5 p.m., while the other one will take the court sometime between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. For those inclined to complain about stuff like this, this is Mexico and that’s the way things run down here.

Tomorrow they play their matches. Due to this week’s practice sessions, they are playing much better, but one never knows what psychological issues will arise when thrust into a bigger pond. They will be prepared for many of them, but the human brain certainly has a will about it.

I’ve noticed a few things about the resort employees lately. Will update you in tomorrow’s blog.

Tomorrow: The Tournament Begins.

You can find Craig Cignarelli’s blog at http://bewareofdogmadotnet.wordpress.com/

 

Editors Note : Craig’s explanation of the SPIN of a tourney is sheer brilliance. Sometimes near the end of events it’s a Not Before start which are rare and cherished. Many years I’ve known plenty of coaches literally camping out at events watching their future stars as well as scouting matches and planning meals or snack times. It’s amazing when you add rain and rain delays to any event. It’s hard to explain what that does to throw you off .. FYI. Rafa likes time to take a shower pre match. Every player likes a pre match stretch. There’s dozens of nuances that goes into the kinds of days Craig faces. We here at 10sballs.com all love Craig. We just can’t imagine the road warrior eating sushi in Mexico ? Scary stuff Craig. Scarier than the little towels or beach man that sounds so familiar. What new words have you invented ? Can the girls have numbers ? Initials ? One initial ?

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