STRASBOURG, France - Breaking into the Top 20 for the first time and winning her ninth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title in Fès, Morocco are just some of Anabel Medina Garrigues' achievements this year, and she hopes to add to that this week as she blogs to us from the Internationaux de Strasbourg - a tournament she has already won three times previously.
-----
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
It was a disappointing day today. I was playing a point and hurt my back, and I had to retire from the match. I've had this problem before - twice last year. It's painful and makes your back very stiff. The good news is it usually takes three or four days of treatment and it heals, so I will be fine for Roland Garros. I'll have treatment on it until the day I play my first match there, of course.
It's too bad this happened at one of my favorite tournaments. I'm always happy to come to Strasbourg, and I'll be back next year of course. These things happen though. Hopefully it will be fine in a few days like it was the last time. I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow afternoon. I always love going back to Roland Garros.
Thank you all for reading. I'm sorry it couldn't be longer - I'll blog again soon, and hopefully then I'll finish the tournament :) It's always nice to talk to all of you. I enjoy talking about what being a player is like, what we do when we're at tournaments and all of those things. It's a fun experience for me.
Take care :)
Anabel
-----
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
It was a tough match today! I didn't play that well in the first set and Yanina was playing some really good shots - she came out with a lot of power. I was a little bit scared! I couldn't really do anything. But I focused more on the second set, playing with more spin and hitting deeper like Spanish players, like I talked about yesterday, and I kept her at the baseline more. I tried to avoid hitting any short shots. It worked. I also think she was also a little bit tired from last week.
I had to get up really early today, at 8am, because I played first up at 11. That's early for Spain! After the match I ate, came back to the hotel and watched some Grey's Anatomy, then slept for about 40 minutes. I also had some treatment from my physio and now I'm blogging. I'm going to the player party soon :)
I don't know too much about my next opponent, Kristina Barrois. It'll be the first time I ever play her. I know she's good though. She has a good serve and plays really well on hardcourts. Because it's on clay, hopefully I can win. We'll see!
I'll talk to you all again tomorrow.
Anabel
What are your favorite places to visit, in and out of Spain? - Margaret
Well the city I live in, Valencia, is the best city. But I also like visiting Madrid, and León, because that's where my boyfriend is from. It's in the north of Spain and it looks like Paris - the buildings, it's very green... everything. One place I really love to visit is Australia. When I retire I would really like to travel there and see some of the country and beaches. It's just beautiful.
-----
Monday, May 18, 2009
Hello!
Today I practiced a lot. First I practiced indoors in the morning, then twice in the afternoon with María Emilia Salerni. In between I went back to the club to eat and also slept for a bit - a typical Spanish siesta, about 30 minutes. After everything I got an hour of treatment from my physio and now I'm just watching TV at the hotel. I'm lucky they have Spanish TV here. Right now I'm watching a basketball game, the Lakers' final game of the series. There's a Spanish player in there - Pau Gasol - and I usually follow his games. There are lots of Spanish players in the NBA and in tennis and I enjoy watching them.
I couldn't watch Rafa in the final of Madrid yesterday, but I saw some of the highlights. Federer played very well. I think Nadal was a little tired from playing four hours in his semifinal with Djokovic, and the courts in Madrid are a little better for Roger: it's faster clay and higher altitude. It's a little bit like hardcourt.
I'm feeling good right now and we'll see how I do against Wickmayer tomorrow. She's coming off some good results... I'll talk to you all again tomorrow :)
Anabel
What characteristics do you think Spanish players share? - Yuki
Spanish players are very strong mentally, fighting until the last point. We also play with a lot of spin and usually have good forehands and defense, like the South Americans. This is because we usually practice on clay in Spain, and it's always sunny too, so we usually don't need to play indoors, like a lot of the other European countries do. Their players play a faster, more aggressive game, but they aren't used to playing long points like us.
What do you enjoy doing when you're not playing or practicing? - Gary
When I'm home I like to see soccer with friends - Valencia's team. I like to go out for dinner of course. When I'm at a tournament I go on the internet a lot to talk with my friends, like any player really. And shopping too. I always have my phone too. And I like listening to music, lots of kinds of music, depending on how I feel. Movies, TV... I usually like serious shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Prison Break, and Spanish shows too.
-----
Sunday, May 17, 2009
This is my first time doing the blog. I like these kinds of things and I'm really looking forward to it :) And to do it from Strasbourg is special. I've done very well here before. The people here are so friendly and it looks a lot like Paris, so every year I come here I feel very comfortable. It's also very close to Roland Garros - just two hours away by train.
I came here on Friday night. Usually I come from Rome but this year there was Madrid so I came from there, but we missed our train from Paris so we had to rent a car and it took us twice the time to get here. I didn't get in until 2:30am that night! So I went to bed at about 3am and got up so late the next day... I stayed at the hotel most of the afternoon. Today I practiced in the morning but I couldn't practice again in the afternoon because there was so much rain, it was like a tropical storm. I'm getting some work done by my physio now and then we're not sure if we'll go into the city for dinner or just eat at the hotel.
We had the draw ceremony today too. We took a boat through Strasbourg and did it at the Musée d'Art Contemporain - it was so nice. We went through a canal and the locks... I've seen things like that on TV but never did it before.
I didn't play so well in Rome and Madrid, but hopefully I'll do well this week and at Roland Garros. I've been really focusing on the clay court season to get the most points I can. My first round opponent here finished playing a tournament today, so I'll have tomorrow off and won't play her until Tuesday. But I'll write again tomorrow. Talk to you then!
Anabel
