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 Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Hiromasa Mano
Date: 12 Oct 2006 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 21 Jan 2007 |
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| 20 Jan 2007 - Melbourne, Australia - Urszula Radwanska and Greg Jones | |
| Jones and Radwanska blog from the Australian Open |
As the 2007 season gets underway on the ITF Junior Circuit, Greg Jones and Urszula Radwanska have offered to give some insight into the life of a players at the year's first Grand Slam...
Saturday
I'm afraid this is my final blog guys. I'm spending a couple more days in Melbourne then am heading back up to Sydney for a rest. I've had a great time blogging for you all this week and want to thank a few people: First I want to thank everyone who has logged on a read the blog. It is great to know that we have support from tennis fans all over the world who are interested in how we all get on in the Grand Slams. I also want to thank James, from the ITF, who has worked with me all week and has made the blog possible. Then, of course I have to thank all my supporters here in Australia. I think they were instrumental in helping three Aussie boys get into the quarterfinals and I hope they will help Brydon go all the way when he plays in his final later on.
So, thanks again for reading and keep an eye out for me in the draws of the rest of the junior Grand Slams this year.
Urszula Radwanska
Hello everyone. Unfortunately this will be my final blog aswell. I played in the girls' doubles final yesterday with Julia but, even though we won the first set, we couldn't hold on and got beaten in three. We were pretty disappointed but they other girls did play pretty well.
Now I am going to fly back to Poland for a few days than am going to England to play a couple of ITF Womens' Circuit tournaments there. I have lots of tennis to play in the net few week so I hope it all goes well.
I also would like to thank eveyone for reading this blog and all the people who have made this week so enjoyable. I think I will play ITF Juniors for the rest of the year so wish me luck in that.
Thursday
Greg Jones
Today I got taught a lesson by my good friend Mr Klein. We played our semifinal match on Show Court 3 and I got off to a pretty slow start. I'd gone through the usual sleep-breakfast-sleep routine and had a hit on Court 3 before the match so as to get used to the court. Unfortunately, when it came to the match I was 4-0 down within the blink of an eye and was reeling. After I lost the first set I pulled my head in and started to improve my game. The second set was pretty much just a servathon. He didn't get a single break point but I couldn't break him either so it came down to the tiebreak. I made a few execution errors and that was it - out of the tournament.
I should, at this point, commend Brydon on his performance. He has done a lot of work recently to improve the mental side of his game and it has made a real difference, which is great for Aussie tennis.
Now I've cooled down after the initial disappointment. To start with I just wanted to kill people, but that has passed. Now I'm going to go and support JP (John-Patrick Smith) in his quarterfinal match and of course I'll be back tomorrow to get behind Brydon in the semis. My role has changed significantly from player to supporter, so I'm going to enjoy myself. I'm hanging around for a few days' holiday so, have no fear, I'll be back for another blog tomorrow.
One more thing: my tip for the title - Fernando Gonzalez.
Urszula Radwanska
Hi everyone. Unfortunately I am the second blogger who got knocked out today. I lost my semifinal match against Ksenia Milevskaya, 63 63. I think I played ok but she played even better and there was nothing I could do. She started well and was more aggressive and that made a difference.
Luckily I just won my doubles semifinal with Julia, so it is not the end of the world. We had another win in two sets - we have not lost a set in the doubles this tournament - so feel confident for the final. The other semifinal is on court at the moment so we don't know who we're playing. I think it will be a good match whoever we play.
So, tonight I am going to a barbecue with my family at the home of one of my dad's friends. He is a Polish friend who now lives in Melbourne. I think it will be nice to do something a bit different and I really love barbecues.
So tomorrow play starts only at three o'clock, so I have almost a whole day to myself. I will have a practice at some time and also want to go to the Garnier tent for some hair styling. There is a kind of salon on site where evryone queues up and get a makeover. I looks like a lot of fun so I think I will go.
I will be back tomorrow to let you know if I am a Grand Slam champion...
Wednesday
Urszula Radwanska
Hi everyone. I'm sorry I didn't blog yesterday, I went back to the hotel after my doubles match and couldn't get on a computer. So, I have two days to update:
Yesterday morning I played second match against Courtney Clayton. I started off playing not so good but managed to win 76 60. I was 53 up in the first and wasted some set points but I think overall I played ok. After the match I had lunch and went to see the physio - I hurt my wrist in a match a few days ago so I have to keep it taped up during matches.
After that I played doubles with my partner Julia Cohen. This is the first tournament we have played together but I think we play well. We have differrent styles - I play quite aggressive and Julia is pretty consistent with not so many mistakes.
In the evening yesterday I went out for some Italian food in the Melbourne centre. I love pizza, lasagne and everything like that. I think Italian is definately my favourite kind of food. It's really nice to go out into the city because when you play tennis all the time it can be difficult. If you win a tournament it is nice but it means there is no chance to have a look around.
Today I played my match against Tamira Paszek and I won again. I'm very happy with the way I played. Tamira reached the second round of the pro Slam here last week and is a strong player. I won 63 63 but it was closer than it sounds. Every game had deuce, advantage, deuce, advantage...
After that me and Julia won our third round doubles match, which is great because I am now in the quarterfinals of singles and doubles. Now I will go back to the hotel, relax and hopefully go back out into the city for dinner. Wish me luck tomorrow, I have to play Milevskaya in singles and also have more doubles...
Greg Jones
Hi everyone. Last night I went out for dinner on the sounth bank of the Yarra with a few of the Aussie guys. Because we have accreditation from the Aus Open we get free travel on the trams into the city. Unfortunately, last night me and Joel Lindner forgot to take our accreditation with us and got booked on the tram for not having a ticket. We got hit with a $150 fine each, which made us pretty mad. I haven't told my mum about it yet but reckon she'll probably have a go at me for being stupid!
Anyway, today I got up for a long, hot, late breakfast then went back to bed for a sleep. Then I came on site and had a hit with Brendan McKenzie before my match in the afternoon. As we're getting toward the later rounds, lots of the guys have gone home, so before my match I had lunch on my own and focused on the task ahead. A few of us watched Brydon and JP's (John-Patrick Smith) matches and were stoked that they both won. This is a pretty good tournament for us Aussie boys so far.
I would now like to give a special mention to all my supporters, who were great all through my match and I think helped me on my way to victory. My mum, grandma and dad were all there, as well as lots of family friends from Sydney and Melbourne. One of them had made headbands with my nicknames on them for all the fans to wear. They said thing like "Greggy Legs", "Jonesey" and "Darling" (that last one was mum!). It was great to see tham all having fun out there and it really helped me get over the disappointment of losing the second set.
I have no gossip for you really. Everyone in the locker room today has been talking about the upsets in the boys' draw. Lots of seeds were knocked out today, so it's open for a few people to go on and challenge for the title.
Now I'm going to head back to the hotel and relax, maybe have a swim. Then we'll go out for some food and maybe go to the Galactic Circus, which is a games arcade at the casino. Tomorrow I play my quarterfinal against Brydon, which should be tough...
Tuesday
Greg Jones
Today I am a very happy man. I just got off court from my second round singles match, which I won 62 62. I'm very happy with the way I played. I managed to come up with everything I needed for a good victory, so you can't get much better than that. I found out yesterday that I would be playing for the first time on Show Court 2, so I was pretty excited. I felt good right from the start and was hitting the ball really well. two breaks on each set - job done.
Before the match it was just the usual routine of eating some lunch, applying sun block and stretching. I also lstened to some music on my iPod. Before matches I really like to listed to quite heavy music to get myself pumped up. I'm a pretty relaxed person and that's not always the best thing on court. The music helps me focus and work me up for the fight.
Other than that, today I had a nice lie in, but only until about 9.30. The annoying thing about staying in hotels at tournaments is that you have to get up before breakfast closes. Sometimes I find it necessary to head back to bed after the first meal of the day. Not today though. I came on site and had a hit with Brydon Klein and Isaac Frost. I was a great session because we messed around a bit and had lots fo fun.
Anyway, now I'm going to have a shower and head back to the hotel. Then maybe me and a few of the Aussies will go out for dinner in the city...
Monday
Greg Jones
G'day everyone. Today has been a pretty good day. I had a nice long lie in and experienced the easy life, then came in and had a practice at around 12. Then I played my match against Ilya Vucic, which I won 62 63. It was a good solid first round performance and i'm happy with the way I played.
Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse after that cos me and Brydon played some terrible tennis in our doubles match and ended up losing 76 75. We both felt pretty frustrated about the way we played.
Since then I've just been sitting in the player lounge and chilling with my mate Don (Stephen Donald). He did the blog at Wimbledon last year so I promised him I'd give him a mention. We've been sitting around, listening to music and trying to cheer up our friend Natasa, who's been feeling a bit sad today. We spent a while trying to run up the walls, like in the video to the song by David Guetta vs The Egg, but didn't have much luck.
So now I'm probably just going to head back to the hotel and take it easy some more, matbe play some computer games. That's a great way to relax and take your mind off the tournament. Most of us have laptops we can link together and play against each other, so we might do that for a while. Then I guess I'll get up tomorrow and do it all again. I'll keep you updated...
Urszula Radwanska
Hello. I'm afraid I'm going to have to do a short blog today because I'm rushing to get a lift back to the hotel. Anyway, last night I ate just with my sister while my parents went out to a Chinese restaurant. My dad loves all kinds of eastern food and I think he would eat sushi for every meal if my mum would let him. But I don't like it so we decided not to go.
So today I hit at two o'clock with Agnieszka. We practice together a lot and it's really good for me. The last time we played a match against each other was more than two years ago and I lost, but it was close, 64 76. I think she still plays better at the moment but hopefully I'll catch her up in a year or two. After that I went to play my doubles match. My partner is Julia Cohen from America and we started the match playing really badly. We went 3-0 down but managed to come back and win 63 62.
After the match I had another hit but I'm afraid I have to go now. I'll be playing the second round tomorrow so I'll be back to let you knwo how I get on.
Sunday
Urszula Radwanska
Hello again. So, last night I went back to the hotel and spend the evening relaxing before the tournament. I'm sharing a room with my sister and we stayed in and watched a film. Today I got up at 7am and had breakfast, then came to practice at 9am. Usually my whole family comes to the training sessions but today, because it is Sunday, they all stayed in bed and it was just me and Agnieszka.
After practice I went to watch a Polish player, Lukasz Kubot, playing in the men's doubles, and he won in straight sets. Then i waited in the player lounge until my match started. I had a tough match against Tyra Calderwood. She served very well and I only managed to break her in the 12th game to win the first set. The second set was also really close but I played well and managed to win.
After my match I went with Greg and the ITF photographer to take some pictures for this blog. It started raining quite hard while we were out there but I think we got some good photographs. Now, if the rain stops, I'm going to go and watch my Polish friend Katarzyna Piter playing in her first match. Then back to the hotel for some dinner.
Greg Jones
Hi, I'm Greg Jones and I'm from Sydney, Australia. I spent Christmas and New Year at home and then came to Melbourne to play the junior events. In Traralgon I had a couple of good matches but unfortunately lost in the third round. Then I went to Nottinghill and had a great tournament there and made it to the final. We had a pretty interesting week in Nottinghill - on two days we had long heat delays, then the next two days we couldn't play because of the rain. Pretty unusual.
I also got a wildcard into the qualifying for the Australian Open. I lost to an Italian guy called Simone Bolelli 13-11 in the final set, which was the longest match of this year's qualifying draw. I also played Main Draw doubles with my mate Brydon Klein but we didn't make it past round one. It's a great experience playing with everyone on the pro tour. I got a big crowd for both matches and afterwards spend ages catching up with old tennis friends and speaking to lots of fans.
After that the rain came and the finals of the Nottinghill junior tournament were delayed. Yesterday I was on site from 8 in the morning until 5.30 in the evening and didn't manage to get started. Me and a few of the other players just spend the whole day sitting around and playing cards. They abandoned play at around six and we came to Melbourne Park to play the finals indoors. It was pretty strange changing to indoor courts but we had a really close match. Unfortunately I lost 57 64 to world number 2 Jonathan Eysseric. Although it's been a tough week with a lot of curve balls, I've had a lot of really good experiences.
So, today I have a rest day. I'm just going to go and watch Stephen Donald's match. He's a set up against third seed Roman Jebavy so i'm keen to get out there. Then I'll head over to see the end of the qualifying matches (they were delayed aswell because of the rain). Then I'll probably have a hit.
I'll be playing my first round match tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on...
Saturday
Urszula Radwanska
Hello everyone. My name is Urzula Radwanska from Poland. I arrived in Australia after New Year and went to Hobart in Tasmania to watch my sister, Agnieszka, playing in the WTA tournament. I was there with my whole family - Agnieszka, my mum and my dad, who is also my coach. I practised a lot there and got to hit with some of the pros, like Chakvetadze and Krajicek. Unfortunately Agnieszka had an injury and lost in the qualifying but did manage to reach the second round of the Open last week.
We flew to Melbourne the day before qualifying started. Unfortunately I was only 7th on the alternates list so I didn't get to play, so I've spent the last few days training in the gym and going shopping. Melbourne has some really good shops and I've bought some nice new clothes.
We just had the player meeting to get information about the tournament. This is my first time in Australia and it's very exciting. I have a pretty tough draw though. In the first round I have to play Tyra Calderwood from Australia. I played her before at Wimbledon and I won but she's a good player and it will be hard in front of an Australian crowd.
I don't know when I'll get to play my first match though. It's been bad weather since I arrived in Australia and has been raining in Melbourne for the last two days. I'll let you know tomorrow how it's going...
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