Black Tennis Pros

Friday, October 5, 2007

Hey everybody,

I didn't have the greatest start to the day. First of all, I woke up to my mom pounding on the door like it was the police - I thought something bad happened or maybe I slept through something and it wasn't either of those! Although I'm never really on time for anything. I only wake up on the nick of time and rush to everything - to breakfast, to the courts - and I'm normally running late. I should have packed my bag last night, too, because when I got out to the courts in the morning I realized I'd forgotten half of my outfit in the hotel room. I'll usually bring two full outfits just in case something goes wrong but all I had today was one skirt. Fortunately, I had a white, sleeveless warm-up shirt with the EleVen logo on the back so I wore that, and nobody really noticed... Pretty smooth!

My match was challenging, what can I say? My opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, got a couple of breaks but I got them back, and she got a lot of balls back too. I had to conquer a really good opponent today. She fell and twisted her ankle at one point but she got back up and everything seemed to be fine after that. And she was still tough. What was working for me today was my will to win, to just hit the ball and play every point. As a professional I should be able to do that, right?

I was thinking of going to the Imperial Palace this afternoon, but my mom told me I should go back to the hotel and that was the end of it! So I ended up not going anywhere I wanted to. I guess I could have gone if I really wanted to, but I was tired so I saw it as an opportunity to get some of my work done. What am I working on... well, I finished my swimsuit drawings yesterday and today I have been finishing up quick sketches of my children's wear ideas. Now I'm thinking about my board concepts and have started on those. I'm really getting into it.

I started a new book today and someone has already died. But, it's much better than the other book because I'm sure not everyone dies. One person dying I can deal with! It's called "The Righteous Men" by Sam Bourne. I didn't pick it for any particular reason, I just pick 'em as I see 'em and just hope for the best. I was in the airport and saw this one and decided I would try to read it.

Tonight I'm just going to keep working on this - I've been doing work for four hours now which is an improvement from me, so I'm very excited. I'm just going to take it from here. I'm not caught up, though. I slacked off a lot this week and last week in Korea so I'm going to have to punish myself on the next plane ride by doing some more. Usually I like to sleep on the plane, but not this time...

I'm flying to Bangkok on Sunday for another week in a row of tennis. Usually I injure myself or can't play this many weeks in a row for some reason, and this is just awesome for me. I've been really careful lately to not get injured. At night tomorrow we may go out, maybe find some more karaoke... my favorite song from when we went last week was definitely "Call Me" by Blondie - it's totally in my key (I sing pretty high) - but we did everything from Guns N' Roses to 4 Non Blondes to Nirvana, Tears for Fears, Ciara, just everything. My mother LOVES Nickelback so when "This Is How You Remind Me" came on she was so happy. She's a great singer, actually. Isha likes R&B. The funny part was that last week my calves were hurting but I didn't care at the karaoke, I just got up and danced, even though I'd just had an ice bath... probably not the best decision from me. But oh well. I hope we don't have too much fun tomorrow, because ultimately, I have another tournament coming up. I have to be serious and keep my energy. It will hopefully be another five matches and another final - we'll see!

I also wanted to set something straight. People have been reading the blog and have been telling me I've said this, I've said that... and in one of the first ones I said I was like one of those girls who sits with the guys and can't get a boyfriend; I just want to say I actually do have a boyfriend now and we have great times, and I am one of those girls that has a chance to get one!! People asked about eating the cow tongue too - I'm really trying not to think about that one anymore! But it's nice to know you guys are reading my blog this week - it's nice to know you guys are really feeling it.

I'm hoping to just relax tonight here, just eating some grapes (purple), really just getting rested for tomorrow morning's final. I'm playing Virginie Razzano for the title. I think she's a very good player. She played so well against me in San Diego. It'll be important for me to play aggressively, and just take it to her - that will definitely be on the agenda.

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow night!

xxx

Venus
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