Vera's Moscow Blog 10/20/09 - 俄網 Tennis

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Well today was the first day I had a chance to sleep in! Because this is a
men's and women's combined tournament the courts are pretty booked up, and
for the first few days I was practicing very early in the morning, usually as
early as 8am. But today I was able to sleep until 10 or so. It was nice!

My match wasn't scheduled until night time, so I took it pretty easy during
the day. I read a few magazines, the newspaper... nothing special in the
morning. I was supposed to practice at 4:15pm but the first match took so
long I knew I wouldn't play my match at the scheduled time, so I switched the
practice court to 6pm. Jelena's match went to three sets as well. But I'm
experienced enough to know you just have to be patient and relax, and
sometimes you have to stay up a little later than you would like :)

I won my match against Olaru, 62 62, but the score doesn't really mean the
match was easy. Ioana is a tough opponent, a young player with a good future
ahead of her, and I think my experience helped me win that one. I'm happy to
win my first match. I'm thankful to all the spectators who stayed up so late!

I took a very quick shower and just got back from the car ride back to the
hotel. It's after midnight! My physio is here and will probably give me 30-40
minutes of treatment for my foot, then I'll go to bed. It's never easy to
fall asleep right away when you play so late, but I'll put a movie in and
hopefully it'll happen...

Actually I started that comedy movie last night but fell asleep halfway
through it! Maybe tonight I'll start where I left off and it'll help me go to
sleep again :) Then I can finish it tomorrow. It's actually pretty good. The
quality isn't so great, it's not a Hollywood movie, it's Russian - but it's
funny. I like the light ones sometimes.

I'm practicing later in the afternoon tomorrow so hopefully I can sleep in
again and follow the normal routines! Now time for some questions...

Vera

What are your favorite things to do in Moscow? Mathieu, France
I just like walking outside, roaming around the city... It's nice to be in
Moscow where everyone speaks Russian. I love some of the restaurants where
you can have food you'll never see anywhere else. It's just a beautiful city.

Jennifer Capriati's last match came against you... did you enjoy playing her
and do you miss her? Richard, UK
She was a great player, a big plus for women's tennis. It's unfortunate when
players have to finish their careers because of injury, and I hope that
doesn't happen to her. It was always exciting to watch her play and to play
against her. I'm not sure if she'll come back... I just don't know.

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