A decent week of tennis

A tennis player’s life can be quite a mixed bag of ups and downs, highs and lows. You have to be prepared for virtually anything.

A tennis player’s life can be quite a mixed bag of ups and downs, highs and lows. You have to be prepared for virtually anything. But the circuit can still spring a surprise or two, as I found out last Friday.

I reached London en route to Istanbul only to discover that the tournament officials had bungled with my visa for Turkey. The Airlines officers refused to allow me to board for Istanbul though requests from tournament committee men. I had to miss my connecting flight and took refuge at a friend’s place at London.

After 24 hours of hectic string-pulling by the tournament team, and with 20 minutes to departure time, and with me ready to skip the week of tennis, the phone rang. I was whisked away through the fast lanes, barely making the flight.

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Of course, they gave me a delayed start to help me recuperate, and I think I have had a reasonable time so far in the tournament. I got a win under my belt on clay before bowing out in 3 sets in the pre-quarter finals in singles and have made it to the semi-finals of the doubles so far (at the time of going to press).

The few wins under my belt at Istanbul have done a world of good to my confidence of playing on clay before the French Open.

Istanbul is a unique and remarkable city and the sight-seeing tours charted out by the tournament officials have been memorable. The players’ party was organised on a ship and we sailed up towards the Black Sea.

The press conference was held on an ancient historical structure in the middle of the sea and I played mini-tennis on the little island with Myskina, Groenefeld and the Turkish wild card to mark the opening of the year’s biggest tennis tournament in Turkey.

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There is a heady mix of the east and the west in Istanbul and the cuisine is wonderful, too. However, the quality of courts has been most distressing, especially considering that we have to be extra-vigilant at avoiding injuries in the week leading up to Roland Garros.

All the courts are under-prepared and it is almost like playing tennis on the beach! The WTA officials have had a tough time trying to make the courts safe enough and have seriously recommended a change of venue for the tournament next year.

(PMG/Globosport)

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