ISTANBUL, Turkey - Fresh off their second Premier-level title of the year in Moscow, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova come to Istanbul as one of the elite four doubles teams competing at the year-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. They're also our WTA Bloggers for the week! Read on...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hi everyone! This is Slava...
Today was our first whole day here. We had practice in the morning together then some relaxing for the rest of the day. I went with my coach, Emi, to a shopping center near the hotel (with my private driver... so great!) and we had lamb kebabs for dinner and then did some shopping. I got a new t-shirt... I like it so much. Maybe I will show you a photo tomorrow! Emi got some presents for his son who is at home in Buenos Aires. Then it was time for some dessert... Turkish Delight and some other nut and fruit sweet. I love them so much. I always ask Ipek Senoglu to bring them to me when we meet at tournaments! We bought a few kilos (they are heavy sweets!) and my coach was joking with the driver that probably we will have to go back for more tomorrow :)
(Vania)
Yes, we had a great day of practice and some relaxation. My dad went around the marina where our hotel overlooks to go fishing, but said he only saw one fish. I asked him why didn't he catch that fish, he said one fish in the whole marina is too hard to catch! The tournament organizers have been lovely and we have been receiving lots of gifts. Today we got a hand painted, hand crafted plate, yesterday chocolate covered figs (so good) and a hand made wind chime.
(back to Slava)
When we arrived yesterday I got a bouquet of flowers in my room and a welcome letter from Stacey Allaster. It was on a card that said "Anyone can be cool, but awesome takes practice". It's a quote from Lorraine Peterson and I think it's great! I loved those chocolate figs too... I agree with Vania, so good! We are really enjoying our time here in Turkey, and just want to send our condolences to those who lost loved ones in the earthquake. The players here are all wearing black ribbons to show support for the Turkish people.
(Vania)
My prayers go out to them and we hope that they may find more survivors.
(back to Slava)
Also, Vania told you about the Red Square yesterday so I am showing you some Moscow photos today. On Sunday I took Emi and Vania to do some sightseeing in Moscow. We went on the subway (picture at the top)... it's one of the oldest in the world and definitely the most beautiful! It's like a museum in there. And here are some photos of us at the Red Square too.
It's time for bed now... practice at 9am tomorrow so we wish you a good night from Istanbul!
Slava & Vania
Slava & Vania's Istanbul Blog: Monday
Send your questions in for Slava & Vania by clicking here or you can write to them on their Twitter pages (Vania here and Slava here)!
