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 Photographer: Ray Giubilo
Date: 25 Sep 2007 |  Photographer: Ray Giubilo
Date: 25 Sep 2007 |  Photographer: Ray Giubilo
Date: 25 Sep 2007 |  Photographer: Ray Giubilo
Date: 27 Sep 2007 |  Photographer: Ray Giubilo
Date: 27 Sep 2007 | |
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| 26 Sep 2007 - Reggio Emilia, Italy |  Related Audio |
| Canada and Croatia blog from the Junior Fed Cup and Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals |
 The Canadian team blog about their favourite music (MP3 format)
Marin Draganja interviews Dino Marcan (MP3 format)
TUESDAY AUDIO BLOG - Croatia's Dino Marcan interviews Marin Draganja (MP3 format)
An Interview with Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas finalists Canada (MP3 format)
The Croatian team chats about their favourite music (MP3 format)
Canada Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas team chat about fashion (MP3 format)
The Canadian team blog about their favourite music (MP3 format)
Croatia talk about their favourite foods (MP3 format)
Croatia Junior Davis Cup team farewell blog (MP3 format)
 
If you cannot play the audio on your computer, then you can update your media player by following one of the links above.
SUNDAY
Click on the audio attached to hear Croatia's final blog.
THURSDAY
CROATIA
Well, I have to say that Thursday has been a crazy day in lots of ways. At the start of the day we knew that Japan had to beat the Czech Republic and we had to beat Argentina for us to go through to the semi-finals but nobody knew what a dramatic day it was going to be.
I started playing at 10am when we took on Argentina and I started the match very well. I won the first set against my opponent but only after he came back from 1-4 down but things got even tougher after that. We played two points and it rained, which meant we had to come off court for an hour and a half. When we returned my opponent was a bit fresher than me and he won the second set so we went into what turned out to be a very close decider. He had three match-points against me at 4-5 in the third set and it was so tight that my team-mate, Marin, could not even watch. He had to go back to the locker room because he knew he had to play the next match. I fought and from then on it came down to a few balls here and there and eventually he won it 8-6. It was a long match, a tough match and we both played excellently but luck was on his side. That is hard to take but that is sport.
At that point, the Czech Republic were leading Japan and we were losing and we thought that everything was over. Marin came on court and won his first set, by which time the Japan had got it back to one-all against the Czech Republic. We knew that if Japan won their doubles that we could still make the semi-finals but we did not expect that to happen because the Czechs beat us and they are a very good team. While Marin was playing, the rest of us were running between the courts, trying to keep up with the scores between Japan and the Czech Republic. All we can say is thanks Japan because they managed it. Marin won his match and we had to play doubles. We started the match knowing that we could make the semi-finals but by this time the rain, which had been falling all day, started to get harder and harder. We had to wait before we could start because only Centre Court has lights and France and Chinese Tapei were still playing their match but we never did get on court.
It kept raining so we have to go through it all again tomorrow! The most disappointing thing for me is that I cannot go to the players’ party because I was really looking forward to it but I guess I would rather have a place in the semi-finals than go. At least there is a farewell party on Sunday and hopefully that can be a celebration as well.
It was a day of shock and of miracles and now I’m exhausted. I think I will sleep like a baby.
Listen to Croatia's views on music and what fashions the Canada girls team are liking this year. Click on the audio link.
CANADA - Katerina Pallivets
It’s the player party tonight and we’re all pretty excited. I went to the one in Prostejov when I played the under-14 team event there last year and I think because everyone was a bit younger everyone was a bit scared to go on the dancefloor. Eventually everyone started coming out to dance – first the guys, then the girls. The guys like to get out there and show off their moves. I think it will be the same tonight.
The ITF is giving a prize for the first one up on the dancefloor at the party but I don’t think that I will win it. In fact I’ll probably have to be dragged there by my team-mates. I think Khristina will be up first, then me and then Gabby will come on and do her moves, which are pretty interesting – mind you, it’s been a while since I’ve seen them because she doesn’t dance that often. A bit of techno music usually gets me dancing as long as it has got people singing on it. There is a song I really like at the moment by David Guetta , it’s called ‘Love is Gone’. If the DJ plays that then I will definitely dance. I haven’t seen anyone dancing yet so it’s hard to say who the best dancers will be but I think our coach Sonya Jayseelan has some pretty good moves.
Different countries behave in different ways at these parties. The Spanish players dance well and they are not afraid, neither are the South Americans so they will be ready to get out there. The Italians are a bit crazy so I think they might well win that prize.
It’s been fun to hang out with the other teams from around the world this week. We have been getting to know the Australian Junior Fed Cup team and chatting to them a lot and the girls from Thailand are also really nice. I remember some of the faces from Prostejov so it is good to catch up with them, although it’s not always easy to meet up because the round robin matches have been split over three clubs in Reggio Emilia so I will have to wait until the party before I can spend time with the people I know who are playing at the other clubs. We don’t get a lot of time for socializing here because we’re busy playing matches all day and when you get back to the hotel all you want to do is sleep!
Outside of tournaments a lot of the players swap email addresses and keep in touch with email, via instant messaging online and through websites like Facebook, so if you know someone you can keep in touch. When you move up an age group you meet a lot of new people because not everybody moves up at the same time. I was born in 92 whereas a lot of the players here were born in 91, which means I get to make a whole new set of friends - starting with the party tonight.
WEDNESDAY
CROATIA - Marin Draganja - Croatia No.1
I must say we are all feeling a bit happier than we were yesterday because our team beat Japan and Argentina beat the Czech Republic in our group. It means our destiny is in our hands because if we beat Argentina three nil on Thursday then we will go through to the semi-finals. It is amazing how quickly things can turn around.
This is a great place to be whatever is happening on the court. I have been to Italy many times before but never to Reggio Emilia. We had a quick look around the town when we went into the centre for the draw ceremony on Monday, which was held at a beautiful building in the middle of Reggio Emilia. It is a very nice town, with lots of interesting buildings and churches to look at. I always like to take notice of where I am when I travel to tournaments. I always take time to look around and take my digital camera with me everywhere to take pictures of the places I visit. Seeing new places is one of the best things about tennis. You meet a lot of different people, you go to a lot of different countries and you see a lot of different cultures.
That said, I am away from home more than I would like. I’m probably one of the few players who doesn’t really like to travel a lot and sometimes I really want to go home but I have been at home only a few days in the last two months. In lots of ways I am much happier when I am at home than when I am at tournaments. These days it’s easy to stay in touch with my friends and family – we have email and SMS and phones but I must say my cellphone bill is too big and I must do something about it! I also feel like I have good friends with me here because I get on so well with the other guys in my team. It’s very important. Sometimes it can be very lonely to be a tennis player but having friends with me makes it easier and that is the best thing about playing team competition – you never feel like you are playing alone.
It definitely helps having a captain with us too. Our captain Mladen Toncic is very good with us and we are pretty well behaved for him. His role is to keep players calm and prepared for matches and he is also on court with us too, even though sometimes it can be pretty annoying when somebody is telling you what to do and what not to do when you are playing. It is a good thing though because it helps you learn so I always try to listen to him.
So now we must prepare for our final group match against Argentina and, hopefully a place in the semi-finals.
See you tomorrow,
Marin
CANADA - Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada No.1
On today’s blog I thought I would tell you about the day I got to hit with Martina Hingis.
I spent six months training at the Saddlebrook Academy in Florida, where a lot of the top professional players come to play. Andy Roddick and James Blake both trained at Saddlebrook while I was there – and no, I didn’t try returning Roddick’s serve! – but in Spring this year I spent three hours on court with Hingis, a five-time grand slam champion. It was a really great hitting experience. She was so sweet and nice and friendly and we did a lot of great drills. She is really a pleasure to be around and you can learn a lot from her personality and the way she plays tennis.
She never misses. I stayed with her okay but it made me realise how consistent you have to be at that level and how deep players hit. The depth of her ball was incredible and I learned a lot just from being out there with her. I was really nervous at the beginning and then I kind of settled down a bit and I didn’t miss too much which hopefully made it a good experience for her too. The fact that she was so nice helped a lot because after a while you can forget that you are out there with someone who has won five grand slam titles and realise that she is just a normal person like anyone else.
That was definitely the highlight of my time at Saddlebrook but it was a good experience overall. Apart from the training I got there, it also got me used to being away from home, which is something you have to deal with as a tennis player. I like travelling though – Paris is my favourite place because it’s so beautiful. I love sightseeing at places like the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysees but most of all I think it has a great atmosphere. I think I like the busyness of city life more than country life so it suits my personality. My other favourite place is Poland, which is where my family is from. My grandparents live a couple of hours outside of Warsaw and I visit them as often as I can. I can even manage a little bit of Polish – I don’t speak that much but I understand almost everything and I do try and speak it a bit when I go to Poland.
It’s been interesting to come to Reggio Emilia. I had never been to Italy before so I did not really know what to expect, though of course I have seen Italy on films and TV shows. It is a beautiful town though, with lots of interesting apartment buildings. I love that style of living.
See you tomorrow!
TUESDAY
CROATIA - Dino Marcan, Croatian No.2
I have to say it’s very exciting to be here in Reggio Emilia. We arrived three days ago from Croatia after spending three days together in Zagreb training there to get ready for the final of the Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.
I already train in Zagreb (I'm from a town called Rijeka) so it was easy for me. My team-mates Marin Draganja and Leonard Ivic – who will also be blogging for you this week – both come from Split but it’s not a long way to travel for them either. We all know each other very well and we’ve travelled together a lot because the Croatian Federation funds us to travel as a squad of individual players as well as when we are playing team events like this one. We travel a lot together and we know each other very well. We all get on, even though we have to share a room - nobody snores, thank goodness. At times we argue but it’s not so bad because we are all such good friends. We certainly laugh a lot. Leonard is like the joker in the group – we always make fun with him. He’s a very funny guy so there is always fun when he is at a tournament.
We enjoy playing events like this a lot and we’ve had a great year, beating everybody at the ITF’s European and Winter Cups we didn’t lose a match, we were Summer Cup winners and didn’t lose a match but maybe the Junior Davis Cup is a bit tougher because we lost our opening match to the Czech Republic. We’re very disappointed and because it’s Round Robin we can still progress to the semi-finals but it will be much harder now. We have confidence from knowing how well we have played this year and we will probably win our next two matches, against Japan and Argentina, but it is no longer just in our own hands because it will depend on other results. It’s not a great position but all we can do is play better and hope that other results go our way.
It’s such an honour to play for your country. Croatia a little country, just five million people, and when we have good results the whole country knows it and the whole country is proud of us. Everyone pays a lot of attention to sport in Croatia, not just tennis, and we were Davis Cup by BNP Paribas winners in 2005 with Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic and maybe people expect us to do the same in the juniors. Croatia has never won this competition – the best result is fourth place – and we’d like to change that. That makes you realise how tough it is to win. Until now we’ve had a good time at these team events but it’s getting harder and harder in a competition as strong as this one. It’s a different kind of pressure but we need to work for each other. It’s a different kind of pressure playing for your team-mates and your country but as No.2 player even if I lose the first match I know still think that we will win because Marin is such a good player and we have a good doubles team.
The best thing about coming to events like this is feeling like you are part of a team. A tennis player doesn’t get to feel that every day because it’s an individual sport. The second best thing is coming to see places all over the world, like Reggio Emilia, and getting to know people your own age from different countries.
It is going to be a tough week but a great one.
CANADA - Khristina Blajkevitch, Canada’s No.3
We got here on Saturday night. We were in Switzerland last week, playing a tournament there to try and warm up for this event and training a lot so that we could get used to the red clay.
I’m from Vancouver but in September I moved to Montreal, where Tennis Canada has opened a National Training Centre there. It means I get to train alongside one of my team-mates this week, Katerina Paliivets. Kat and I are really close and I’ve travelled with a lot with her as well as training with her so we help each other out a lot but we’re both close to Gabriela Dabrowski, the No.1 player in the team, too. We’ve known each other a couple of years and you really get to know people when you travel with them.
Vancouver is still home to me but I think I’ll get used to Montreal and I really enjoy travelling and getting to go to new places. This is my first trip to Italy and I love it. It’s really pretty here in Reggio Emilia but one of the main attractions is the food. I’ve heard that this area is known for its food and it’s really, really good. Pizza and pasta are the main foods I like but I’m trying to make myself try out new things. Here at the Circolo Tennis Reggio Emilia, where we are based for our Round Robin matches, they feed us very well and we kind of eat what we are given, which gives me a chance to eat new things and not just pizza and pasta. I’ve tried, like, 50,000 cheeses by now I think! I’m a little picky but I think there are worst people. Poor Gabby hates cheese and so she’s having a bit of a tough time her in Italy because they put cheese in everything!
To me, events like this are more relaxed than individual tournaments because I can have my team-mates around me and I can encourage them. It’s more tense in singles events because you are on your own, whereas here you are not on your own, you can take on the other team with all three of you, which takes the pressure off in some ways and puts pressure on in another way. I don’t feel pressure on myself to do well but I do feel pressure to do well for my team and for my country. This is my second year of playing ITF team events. Last year I played at the 14-and-under World Junior Tennis finals in Prostejov, which was a good experience. It was the same team and that will help us here I think because we know each other even better, we know each other’s dos and don’ts. We’re used to each other and we have fun. Our captain Sonya Jayaseelan has been travelling with us since we started but this is actually her last trip because we will be travelling with coaches based in Montreal after this event. It’s a big incentive to do well here.
We made a great start by beating Russia and we play Australia next. They are a good team but we’re not too shabby either.
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