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...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Hello stranger!
Let's cut to the chase and talk a little tennis to start! It's almost mid-August and we are now in the third week of the US Open Series. The women are in Toronto for the first of two consecutive Premier events. The Rogers Cup this week followed by the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The first two tournaments of the Series were held on the west coast in Stanford and San Diego respectively. While these are smaller events, they are very important in terms of their contribution to the US Open Series and the quest for first place. For those of you who don't know, this is how the US Open Series works - every week during the Series players accumulate points based on their performance - for each round won, points are awarded and accumulate each week leading into the US Open. At the end of the Series, whoever has the most points heading into the US Open is eligible for a $1 million dollar bonus if they are to win the Open. Even if he/she doesn't win the Open, they still are eligible for bonuses as are the second and third place point leaders as well. I would say that $1 million bonus is a nice little incentive! :-) Heading into the Rogers Cup, Aga is leading the women and Mardy Fish leads the men. And who is leading the doubles? Oh, wait a minute, that's right, there is no equivalent Series or incentive for the doubles players. Almost forgot... Anyway, a lot can change over the next couple of weeks as there are a few multimillion dollar events, packed player fields, and lots of points on the line. This should make for some interesting tennis leading into New York! Who is your pick to win????
Onward... let's now talk about something each and everyone of us has - a birthday. How each one of us chooses to celebrate the day may differ but there is no denying the inevitable - the anniversary of our date of birth and the marking of turning another year older. Some people look forward to birthdays with excitement and can't wait for the day to get here. Others dread the occasion, wishing the 24 hours to hurry by before having to acknowledge the new number next to their name. Well, tomorrow... August 10th, my day arrives. Yes, I am a Leo, which may or may not surprise some of you. Loyal, strong-willed, and generous are traits common amongst individuals born under this star sign, all of which I would say are accurate descriptors or yours truly. Attention-seeking, over-bearing and arrogant are other traits often used to describe Leos but thankfully (I should say hopefully!) none of these characteristics are true of me.
This year, like most of my birthdays over the course of the past 20 years, I will be away from home. Having spent so many birthdays on the road the day has morphed into just another blip on the calendar. The one difference is that I have an excuse to treat myself for an entire day and I am certainly looking forward to that! How old am I going to be? 38! Yep, that's just a short putt away from 40, but I have to tell you the whole age thing doesn't really phase me. Other than travelling with an entire pharmacy filled with anti-age serums and wrinkle creams, nothing much has changed in the past few years. They say age is a state of mind and I believe that. I am happy, healthy (knock on wood!), in a good place in my life, and still doing what I love to do. I am one of the lucky ones and I know it, and that is one thing I will definitely be celebrating on Wednesday.
So what will I be doing on my big day other than playing tennis? Toronto is a city I don't know very well so I have been researching some things online. For me, treating myself isn't about buying the latest Chloe bag or a new pair of JBrand jeans (oops, I did that LAST Wednesday!), it's all about finding the best burger in town and enjoying every last bite! I don't eat many cheeseburgers these days but when August 10th rolls around, all bets are off! Now a good burger must be accompanied by even better fries, and followed, of course, by one of my many sweet indulgences, a cupcake. I have a list of places that grows by the hour given the weather so now it comes down to narrowing the list and making the final selection - Johnny Hamburgers, Apache Burger, or Burger Shack. My cupcake list is even longer (see, it isn't just me that is obsessed with cupcakes!) - The Cupcake Shop, DLish Cupcakes, Cutiepie Cupcakes. Decisions, decisions!!!! I might enlist the help of a few of my twitter friends out there to help me make the choice! I am open to any suggestions so tweet away!! One thing I know for sure is that by day's end not only will I will be one year older but a pound or two heavier as well! :-) This is one time a year I won't mind...
Q & A time :-)
@sethpamperin has two questions - "If you could change one thing about your tennis what would it be and why?" I would have to say that I really wish I would have gotten fitter a lot earlier in my career. When I was playing singles, I REALLY wish I would have spent more time in the gym and eaten healthier. I can honestly say that at 38 I am the fittest I have ever been and I wish I would have realized how important that was eight to 10 years ago.
"What's the best part about playing doubles with Liezel Huber?" Well now that depends if she is reading this blog or not? JUST KIDDING!! It's actually pretty amazing that the two of us have never played together until earlier this year given that we have both been doubles-only players for so long. What Liezel brings to the court each day is an intensity and incredible will to win. She has a great work ethic and shows up for practice every day wanting to get better. An added bonus is just how organized she is. I thought I was a bit OCD - she puts me to shame!! Always one step ahead of me. While I had been thinking that perhaps we should book an indoor court for Tuesday's early morning practice as rain was in the forecast, Liezel had already organized an indoor practice court as well as transport there and back. One step ahead as always...
@Emmettgreen12 wants to know "What is the one thing you want from your tennis career that you don't have?" Great question... If there is one thing left, one goal that I would love to achieve before I put down the racquets, it would have to be an Olympic medal. I have won Grand Slams, the career Grand Slam in doubles, year-end WTA Championships, achieved the No.1 ranking in the world, been team of the year, Hopman Cup winner, etc... but the one thing missing from my trophy case is a medal. That would be an incredible way to end my career and surely keeps me as motivated and driven as ever!
@LianneLGM askes "With whom do you have the most fun off the court with and what do you do?" Now wouldn't you all love to know! :-) There are three individuals that I can't seem to spend enough time with - my nieces - Natty and Aimee are twins who just turned five (a couple more Leos!) and Jules who is 8 years old. My sister and her family live only 10 minutes away from me so when I am home, I try to see them as much as possible. I love having sleepovers, staying up late and eating too much candy! Of course I get in trouble when mom finds out but that's what aunts are for, right?! Anything and everything from dancing in the car (hope mom doesn't read this now!) to taking them for ice cream to just snuggling on the couch together watching Wizards of Waverly Place, I love every minute I spend with them.
@SharonNY "What are your plans after tennis?" With each year that I continue to play, the more I am asked that question. I would love to stay involved in tennis in some capacity. Coaching and travelling isn't really something I would want to do. I love kids and if I do stay involved in tennis on the coaching side, it would be with little kids. You know, the ones who are still too afraid to talk back :-) Or maybe I'll do something totally different like start my own concierge service or open up a candy store. God knows I have enough experience in both!
These are a few songs I have been listening to, obsessing over, or just stumbled upon and wanted to share...
1. "If I Die Young" - Band Perry... love this song and this line: "Send me away to the words of a love song..."
2. "Kiss me Slowly" - Parachute... stumbled on this one but of course, got suckered in.
3. "Give Me Everything" - Pitbull... who doesn't love working out to this song!
4. "Just Stay Here Tonight" - Augustana... something about this song that stuck with me. Love the chorus.
5. "Gotta Be Wrong Sometimes" - O.A.R... "We got more than a lifetime to make it all feel right. So don't apologize. You gotta be wrong sometime..."
Check out Lisa's Twitter page at http://twitter.com/#!/lisaraymond73!
