Entry 1 - 10/20/97 "First of all I would like to thank the Corel WTA Tour for the opportunity they are giving me to, for once and for all shake off the demons that have been haunting me for almost 17 years. I did once at the age of 9, keep a diary, which was blatantly reposessed by my then tyrannic two older sisters operating in cahoots to sabotage my young and budding writing career. But in spite of this, I am back with a vengeance from the Seat Luxembourg Open. We arrived here in Luxembourg yesterday. Although it is only a 50 minute flight from Zurich, all travel days are tedious. With a wake up call at 6 am , a dreaded hour of packing, yesterday was no exception. Fortunately, both Zurich and Luxembourg hotels are only a few minutes from the airports. Today, however things were back to normal, a couple of hours of hitting, a light gym session and a 20 minute run. From there we went to the tournament site to get our accreditations and to scout out the opposition... After arranging practice for tomorrow we returned to the hotel. The day was rounded off with one of my favorite meals, Chinese, enjoyed just around the corner form the hotel. As I hear my bed calling I call it a day and bid you good night. Bonne nuit, a demain." Entry 2 - 10/21/97 The benefit of playing 4th match after 1pm is that I can wake up at 9:30 am and have a little breakfast. I practiced for an hour and then came to the tournament site to await my match. While I was waiting I had the pleasure to do a live radio interview for the Morning Express, with the infamous Matt & Scott. What an experience! My Win:Loss record here at Luxembourg last year was 0:2, but this year already, thanks to my faithful partner, Kristie Boogert, I have now improved to 1:0. I was a little bit tired this morning, because I was up till late last night writing..., but once we got on the court the adrenaline kicked in and I was fine. We won 6/2 6/2 against Meier and Freye. After my doubles match I went back to the hotel to shower and prepare myself for the players party. Which is where I am right now, and it is driving me crazy to try and concentrate here, because there is a live band, good food, drink and company, -players, tournament staff, sponsors etc., waiting. So I better go now and join the party for a while and then get a good night sleep; this reminds me that when I wake up tomorrow I'll be 26 years old! Until tomorrow, bonne nuit. Entry 3 - 10/22/97 The party last night turned out great. Everything I expected from Luxembourgeons and more. I excused myself from the party at 11:30 pm in order to return to my hotel room to be available to receive worldwide congratulations on my birthday as of midnight. Long story short, I received one! Must be the time change... I hope! The minute I walked into the breakfast room, I was happy to realise that today would be different story with congratulations pouring in from all corners of the buffet. Seeing that my match was only at 5:30 pm, I had a lot of time to prepare and relax. There was even time for my lucky lunch: "boxadillos de jamon y queso" (Baby Bell cheese, thank you Raquel) I am relieved to say that the cheese came through for me in a very tight three set match against Silvia Farina (6/2 3/6 6/3). Well, I am off to the hotel for a small celebration and eat my cake that I received, on court from the Luxembourg Seat Open. Obviously, it won't be a late night seeing that tomorrow is business as usual - but then again, you only turn 26 once in a lifetime...Tomorrow I will join my partner K.B. in another doubled duel against Schneider & Lindstedt at 1pm. Bonne Nuit, a demain. P.S. Before I forget, I better stick to Kristie for pre-match warm-ups (8:1) Good Job K.B.!! Entry 4 - 10/24/97 What are the days-after-birthdays for?: To sleep in, wake up feeling refreshed, grateful and in general, just loving life. However, at 6:30 am, I was not ready for this curve ball. (Go Marlins!!) Some lazy-bones happened to be my neighbour last night. Why lazy you ask ? I HATE SNOOZE BUTTONS ON ALARM CLOCKS!! Look, I fully respect the fact that some people have to be up and about at weird hours, but continuously tormenting your hotel neighbour with 45 minutes worth of snooze-alarm-snooze-alarm-snooze... get the picture? My feeble attempt to end the torment by banging on the interleading door only fueled the fire... snooze-alarm-snooze-alarm...! Trying to identify the fugitives at breakfast turned out fruitless. He,she or they are still at large. Considering the above it would be totally unnecessary to elaborate on the rest of my day. Hopefully tomorrow will hold better fortunes. Bonne nuit, a demain. P.S. Sorry K.B. Entry 5 - 10/25/97 To all the faithful surfers of the Corel WTA Tour Web site, my sincere apologies for my no-show yesterday. I got tied up in one of those typical indoor tournament scenarios. I was scheduled to play second in the night session. The match before me between Sabine Appelmans and Barbara Paulus went the full distance with Paulus eventually winning 6/2 in the third set. Miriam Oremans and I thought that was a long match. Little did we know what was in store for us. The marathon that ensued produced very entertaining tennis for the appreciating supporters of the Seat Open. I was delighted to win 7/5 6/7 6/4 after 2 1/2 hours. I woke up feeling very good considering the late night. After I finished dinner at around 12:30 am I went straight to bed, but was not surprised to find that the adrenaline rush from the late match would not let me go to rest. Today's match was heading the same way when I split sets with Katerina Studenikova. Luckily the third set went my way and I ended up winning 6/2 3/6 6/0. In the other semi-final Barbara Paulus overcame a hearty attempt by my French tutor, Anne-Gaelle Sidot to win her place in tomorrow's Battle for the Seat. After an autograph session at the Seat Booth in the Tournament Village, I returned to the hotel to enjoy a very relaxing evening. It was nice to have dinner at a reasonable hour. Bonne nuit, a demain. P.S. Only the third win without the KB warm up this trip. Beware Vinnie, Kristie is on her way home!!! |