In Lisa's Spin, her new regular blog on wtatour.com, Lisa Raymond brings us her thoughts on tennis, life and more. Here's the latest installment...
Monday, April 4, 2011
Yes, I am back!!! :-) Sorry for being M.I.A. over the course of the past few weeks. I could sit here and make excuses but there really isn't a good one so let's just leave it at that and get back to biz!
Did anyone watch the ACMAs last night? In typical fashion, I have to start my blog talking about a non-tennis related subject, today is the Country Music Awards show! :-) It's amazing how much of a country music fan I have become over the past few years. I love that all of the songs tell stories, usually about love, break-ups, and all that fun stuff in between. Last night I loved Sara Evans' performance, thought Keith Urban was beyond adorable singing yet ANOTHER ballad he wrote about his wife, and two of my other favorites, Sugarland and Lady Antebellum, took home some of the most coveted hardware. What did you think about Jennifer Nettles/Rihanna duet? A bit odd? I agree. That said, they are both such great performers that I think they were able to pull it off. Speaking of odd, what about Carrie Underwood and Steven Tyler singing together? Didn't really get that one either but they looked good and really that's all that matters at these shows isn't it???
Moving on... tennis and the clay court season!! After a month on the hardcourts the WTA travels to Marbella, Spain, and Charleston, SC. I am playing the latter and it has been a favorite stop of mine on the tour for many (many!) years. What a great town Charleston is. The tournament itself is played on Daniel Island, located 15 minutes outside of downtown Charleston. Adorable place! The talk of this small town for the week is the Family Circle Cup! It's hard to walk into a restaurant or grocery store and not have someone come up to you and ask about the tournament. The locals get into it and for this one week each April, the town is all about tennis. The event itself is great - the tournament manager, Eleanor Adams, and the crew behind the scenes make you feel so welcome. Typical southern hospitality and I absolutely love southern hospitality. I'm also a sucker for the accent and southern drawl.
Downtown Charleston is an amazing place - from the history to the architecture to the incredible restaurants, it would be tough not to love it. Hard to stay away from the pralines but I've done a good job so far. So while I have done well keeping away from the pralines, the same can't be said for the cupcakes! I found a great little cupcake bakery the other night called "Cupcake". Simple enough, eh? The Red Velvet flavor is without a doubt in the Top 5 of all cupcakes and I know cupcakes!! Of course I couldn't walk out of there with just one as I felt like he needed a friend named "Peanut Butter" :-) Extra cardio for me this week!!!
For those who have seen the doubles draw in Charleston this week and are wondering if and when I am going to address the big white elephant in the room, here it comes. I have a new doubles partner this week, one that may be a bit of a surprise to many of you. Liezel Huber and I are going to start to play some together and give it a shot. Amazing to think that after all of these years we have never played together while having played against each other countless times. The long and short of it is that, like any relationship, things happen. Some partnerships work out, others don't and you just hope you are better as a result from each experience. Like any relationship or partnership, sometimes you think things are going to be different than they turn out to be. Some partnerships look different on paper than they do on court but that isn't anyone's fault. Break-ups aren't a reflection on the dynamic between two people as individuals but strictly as doubles partners. And that's okay, that's life. You roll with the punches, hope to evolve and move on. None of us have a crystal ball and can see what the future holds. In life, you take chances, leaps of faith and hope for the best. I am excited about this opportunity and time will tell. As I have said so many times I am a huge believer in things happening for a reason, that life always seems to work itself out. Stay tuned...
Something else I was doing last week instead of writing my blog was helping my friend Rennae Stubbs celebrate her 40th birthday!! Yep, the big 4-0! A bunch of her friends got together, celebrated the day with a nice dinner in Miami and helped Rennae realize that she may be all grown up on paper but inside she is still a kid :-) Isn't 40 the new 30 anyway? Or are those of us who are approaching that age just trying to convince ourselves of that? Whatever the case, doesn't matter what the number is next to your name as long as you feel young at heart. Yeah, I don't really believe that either but it sounds good... right?
Now for some questions...
@Katseng has a question - "What is your best and worst moment on tour?" I have been very blessed to have many great moments on tour. I would have to say that finally winning the French Open doubles title (and finally complete the career doubles Grand Slam) with Sam Stosur was one of the best moments. There were times when it felt like I would never hold that trophy after losing in the finals on multiple occasions so when it did finally happen, it was pretty special. To be able to share it with my friend and partner Sam was an incredible moment. Worst moments - unfortunately there have been quite a number of those as well! Up there would be losing a round of 16 match at Wimbledon to Alexandra Stevenson after having match point. I can still see that forehand passing shot she hit past me on match point!! It would have been my first Grand Slam quarterfinal. But I would be back ;-)
@ tennisballbondi wants to know "How do doubles teams form/break up?" Interesting given the recent events in my life. As I have said before, doubles partnerships are like any relationship. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. It's never easy to "break up" with someone, but at the end of the day, it's not personal, it's business and that's how I look at it. And like any relationship, the forming of a doubles partnership is a bit like dating - you seem interested in someone, you confirm they are single and/or on the market, ask them out, and hope you live happily ever after or something like that! ;-)
Since we are in the South and I'm still experiencing a ACMA hangover, let's be a bit country today:
Sara Evans - "A Little Bit Stronger"... love her!
Keith Urban - "Without You"... love him!
Sugarland - "Little Miss"... love them!
Check out Lisa's Twitter page at http://twitter.com/lisaraymond73!
