ESTORIL, Portugal - One of the most promising future stars in the game has largely arrived; with some breakthrough results in her first three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events, including notching her first Top 20 win over Agnieszka Radwanska en route to a third round finish at Miami two weeks ago, 15-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito has begun her path to the top. This week, she becomes the latest (and youngest) blogger, straight from the Estoril Open.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hello again!
So today I didn't do too much... I practiced this morning but it was raining today and so I didn't get to do as much as I had wanted. There are indoor clubs here but they're really booked, too. I'm sort of doing what I did yesterday - watching a bit of TV, maybe getting back to my reading... we'll stay here until next Thursday and then it's off to Fes. I haven't heard to much about the tournament - I try to avoid looking too much into it and seeing who's playing, because I don't want to worry about it. I just want to go there and play my best and see what happens. I've never been to that part of the world and am looking forward to it!
This might be my last entry, so if it is then I want to thank you all for reading and sending me your questions. I'll hopefully be doing this again soon!
Michelle :)
My daughter is five years old and plays tennis. I'm wondering what your practice schedule was like when you first started? - Regina, USA
For me it was pretty much go to school early in the morning and spend all day there, then after school I'd practice the rest of the day. I started when I was four or five years old; but I was pretty much on tennis courts since I was walking, because my older brothers were playing. As soon as I got strong enogh and old enough to play, I was trying to get the ball over the net. And my dad was a tennis fan too. When I was little of course I didn't practice too much. I do remember after school I'd come home and have something to eat then go straight to the tennis court. I was training hard from a really young age!
You mentioned grass was a good surface for you. Will you be playing the Surbiton event, which is the first official grass court tournament in the UK in May? - Jose, UK
Unfortunately, no. I don't think I have any ITF events this year. I'm really just focusing on Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events and my ranking and just trying to improve in those. I don't think I'll be playing in the juniors much either. And in the Tour events I've played I've done pretty well so far; even though I lost first round this week that's something that comes with the sport, and the only way to get more experience on the Tour is to play more tournaments.
Which player, man or woman, do you look up to in tennis? - Chris, USA
I don't know if I really look up to anyone because I'll be playing them all soon! Instead of them being my idols, they'll be my opponents. I'm just trying to focus on myself and my game and not too much on other players.
Who are your best friends on the Tour? - Phil, Australia
I don't really have any friends yet. The Tour is very individual, and a lot of the players keep to themselves or their entourages. When you go home you have your friends there, too. But some of the players are really, really nice. It's a very competitive world though! And I haven't really played that many events so I haven't had the chance to meet too many of them.
Have you been getting a lot of attention in Portugal? - Yvonne, Canada
Especially this week since I'm back here, definitely! I think the whole country is supporting me. They like what I've been doing in tennis and are really excited for me... and it's so nice to come back to such a welcome! I've had kids come up to me, and even in this store the other day (it's sort of like Walmart), this lady looked at me and asked, "Are you Michelle de Brito?" and then when I told her it was me, she asked for my autograph. It was really amazing. I don't think I'll ever get used to that!
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
It has been another long day of practicing today. I've been working on my clay court game again - lots of high balls and movement drills - and most of all I'm trying to work on my patience. That was one of the things that hurt me in my loss yesterday. On hard it's fine because I'm an aggressive player and I can hit more winners, but on clay those shots can come back. I've got to improve that for my future tournaments on clay.
I practiced about three hours and 20 minutes in the morning, then had some lunch, then had another two and a half hours of practice in the afternoon. As you can probably guess, I'm a little tired now! I'm just watching some music videos on TV - Nelly Furtado is showing her 10 favorite videos, and I do agree with her on a lot of them. I actually like her a lot, not just because of her music and her voice, but it doesn't hurt that she's Portuguese :) She's Portuguese-Canadian, actually. I've also been listening to a lot of hip-hop recently, and a bit of rap. I'll probably look for a movie soon, and if there aren't any on I'll go back to my book from yesterday.
Time for some more questions, then I'll talk to you all again tomorrow! Keep those questions coming...
If you could win one Grand Slam, which one would it be? - Fátima, Portugal
I think I would like to win Wimbledon the most. I like the surface a lot (it suits my game I think, and I've won an ITF title on it before) but the tournament has such a unique atmosphere as well.
Who is the best tennis player Portugal has had? - Hugo, Portugal
I'm not sure who the best player in history has been, but we've never had a Top 100 player... and I'm definitely hoping to be the first!
Are there any tournaments you want to play in the future? - Bill, USA
Well like I said yesterday I still have a few coming up this year, starting with Fes but also maybe French Open... I definitely want to play Estoril again and win it one year, just because it's in my home country and it's a special event for me. But it's hard to know which ones I'm going to play in the future because we make different schedules every year... obviously the Grand Slams are important to me but other than that I'd say Estoril.
