PARIS, France - Liezel Huber has had a fantastic beginning to the new season. She and doubles partner Cara Black reached back-to-back semifinals at Gold Coast and Sydney before claiming their second Grand Slam title together at the Australian Open. Last week, they won the Open Gaz de France. Have a look back at one of the world's best doubles players' blogging experience from the beautiful city of Paris, France.
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Monday, February 12, 2007
Good Morning everyone!
It's Monday morning. A lot has happened since I wrote 24 hours ago... I am now in Antwerp!
I will backtrack and explain. We had a relaxing day yesterday leading up to the finals, did some last-minute packing, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel, warmed up for our match, ate lunch and waited for the singles to finish, so we could go on.
Both Petrova and Safarova had an excellent week. Petrova had just that bit of extra experience and it showed in the end. Safarova will have her chance for sure again. She is such a talented and smart player. It was a full house in the stadium and the crowd enjoyed every second of it!
It wasn't long before they put us on court. After we won the first set, quite a few people left. Only the die-hard fans stayed. We really appreciated that! It was still a nice atmosphere for us to win our second title in a row in! We won, 62 60.
Cara and I quickly showered afterwards, said our thank yous to everyone and jumped in the car for our trip to Antwerp. We laughed a lot in the car and before we knew it, we were in Antwerp!
My sister and her husband made it here too. We stayed up late with them and are going to meet them for breakfast. I am looking forward to a relaxing day!
All in all, we had such an enjoyable week! We love Paris and the tournament went as we had hoped, so what more can one ask for? I enjoyed writing my blog too. I appreciate all of you reading it and of course supporting women's tennis!
Thank you again and hope to see you on the road!
Kind regards,
Liezel Huber
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Saturday, February 10, 2007
Hey everyone!
What a great day! It's strange - when you aren't busy, you want to be busy... I remember being very bored on Tuesday. Now that we have been very busy I miss that free day, and that's what we had today.
Cara and I had a light practice this morning. We are still tired from our late night match and not sleeping as many hours as needed. We had some lunch at the courts and both had a massage. Now we are playing the waiting game... Waiting to play the finals tomorrow!
We plan on packing our bags tonight and taking them with us to the courts. We will leave straight after our match to the next tournament. We will be playing in Antwerp, which is only few hours by car.
I am looking forward to next week, as my sister lives a couple of hours away in Holland. She will visiting me on Monday! She is my twin sister. Her name is Monita and she is 20 minutes older than me. Usually people's first question to me is, when they find out I am one of a twin, "Does she play tennis?" I am not sure why people ask that... but they do. She does, but not competetively. And also, we are not identical twins, we are fraternal. We used to look alike, but not anymore. Anyway, I can't wait to see her on Monday (hopefully with a trophy in hand!)
I saw Safarova after her win against Henin. She was very happy of course. If she can play tomorrow like she did today, it will make for a very exciting singles final!
I am going to say bye and enjoy the rest of my off day... Not sure when I will have another...
Liezel Huber
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Friday, February 9, 2007
Good evening! Or should I say good morning! It's past midnight already and we just got back to the hotel, after having played the last match of the day.
We are all smiles! We won our semifinal, 64 60, against Jans and Voracova. It was a lot tougher than the score. We are looking forward to playing the finals on Sunday. We don't have opponents yet, as they play that match tomorrow.
We really couldn't do too much today, as we had to save our energy for our match. That left me and Cara to read our books. Instead of having lunch at the courts, we just grabbed a sandwich from the local bakery. I did some work on the computer, caught up on some news on the TV, read the USA Today and then we slowly made our way to the courts at 5pm.
The singles matches today were outstanding! Too bad someone had to lose. I just got a chance to watch Mauresmo win and caught the end of Henin's win too! Not sure of the matches of tomorrow, but I know they will have battles out there.
There really isn't anywhere to get dinner at this time of the night. So, I just ate a protein bar, some yogurt and water. I will be looking forward to breakfast. I try and stay away from the croissants. I always say that last day I am allowed to have one... There is also an unbelievable bakery around the corner. They sell fresh pastries, sweets and crepes. I stay away from there too... I have found that what I put in is what I get out. Meaning if I eat well, I will perform well and vice versa. It's not always easy on the road. You eat every meal out and can't always get to a supermarket. But you try your best. Like tonight...
I am going to be a party pooper and say good night. You can't blame me, after all it's almost four hours past my bedtime...
Night night!
Liezel Huber
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Thursday, February 8, 2007
Hey everyone!
Tomorrow is Friday. In tennis terms, it's a great sign to still be in the tournament, because it means you are in the semis or close to the finals. How exciting!
We had a good 63 61 win against a solid team today. Our next oponents are Jans and Voracova. They are young players and of course very eager, which will make for another good match. We are scheduled again for tomorrow. Maybe we will be lucky enough to play on the center court!
The most important thing I wanted to write about yesterday, I completely forgot to. Guess what? It snowed yesterday morning! Now, to most of you, that isn't very exciting, but it was to me! Growing up in South Africa I had never seen snow. Now living in Texas, we don't see snow either. So, when I get to see it, I'll never forget that day. That was yesterday! Unfortunately it meant that it was a lot colder outside... But I had an easy solution to that - I stayed indoors all day!
I talked to some players and asked for a comment for my blog. They of course think they are very funny and mostly talk nonsense. So much for that!
Cara and I are still celebrating our victory from the Australian Open. We live that exciting moment over and over again. We really enjoy each other's company on and off the court and I think that has been a big reason for our success thus far. This week we want a repeat win, but are just taking it point by point.
I collect tennis plates. Preferably, antique plates. I don't have that many, because I am selective, but I love my plates! That's one of my hobbies - surfing the web for tennis plates. I am glad to report that today I found an older one in good condition; very exciting! I look forward to displaying it with my other ones. They all go in my trophy room on pretty stands.
We are having dinner at the courts again. Not just because I am starving and it is late, but the food is healthy and tasty too. Then when we get back to the hotel, we can just relax and sleep early.
It's a big day tomorrow... semifinal day!
Until next time!
Liezel Huber
