First Day and Is Raining… - January 18, 2010

Good morning from a rainy Melbourne.

So here we are first day at the first Grand Slam of the year and is it soaking wet!

This usually happened only during Wimbledon, however in the last few years Paris and now Melbourne seem to have inherited the nasty weather as well…. maybe they laughed too much at the Brits and now is their time to endure it…. nevertheless we must continue to remain focused.

This is very hard to do when unexpected elements like the weather kick in and disturb the plans one had made for the day. Thankfully we don’t have a match today so is not so bad, still it is important we play today as Shahar had a day off yesterday.

This of course is something that happens in tennis and like all the other areas one must be ready to cope with it. To remain focused Shahar will spend some time in the gym with her trainer. As her psychologist has joined us here for the Open she will also use the time to chat with him and go over some of the things that she needs to still work on or just practice so that she is able to better implement them once the match is here.

What is very important, and many players make this mistake, is that she does not hang around the tournament site all day long, as this tends to tire the mind and the emotions unnecessarily. Is better to do what you have to do and then go back to the hotel where you can relax and focus in the task ahead.

I have to run to go and check on the courts as the sun seems to have come out.

Stay warm, stay cool, and better yet stay dry!!!!

All the best from down under.

See you tomorrow.
Pablo