Hi all,

Well, not the most ideal start to the year, but still a long way to go on this particular trip and the pair of us continue to keep our heads up and keep working hard.

Ilija qualified and lost first round in Traralgon to Goran Rozic, a Croatian player ranked 70 in the world. It certainly wasn’t Ilija’s strongest performance, but nevertheless he was unable to capitalize on a 76 20 lead, and eventually went down in three sets. He also lost in the first round of doubles meaning that the two of us are now back in Melbourne training hard for next week’s tournament, a Grade 1 in Nottinghill.

They also played a consolation event in Traralgon for first and second round losers, where players can gain valuable match practice leading into the Australian open. Unfortunately, Ilija was dealt a tough draw, coming up against Andrej Martin who is top 10 ITF and lost 63 76. Again the real positive was that he did push this guy the distance in the second and there is definitely room for improvement so I am confident that he can still do some damage over the coming tournaments if he finds the necessary form. A lot will come down to how hard he is prepared to work this week and based on today’s performance, he wants it!

We stayed about 3km from the courts in a small motel in Traralgon. One could literally step out of out back door and onto the 7th tee of the golf course so being a keen golfer myself temptation got the better of me and I had a round. Ilija hit a few shots as well. When I say a few shots I meant a few attempts at hitting one particular ball off the tee and after he eventually made contact, people were ducking on the adjacent fairway. A lot of fun though.

The weather has cooled the past few days but a heat wave is around the corner and it will warm up again on Wednesday. For Ilija the warm weather has meant he has had to apply sun cream for the first time in his life, I suppose there is a first time for everything.

Traralgon was also the first tournament which I have been involved in where the extreme heat policy has come into effect, with matches being suspended and postponed until the temperature dropped below 38 degrees.

Well, until the end of the week when I will update you on Ilija’s build up to Nottinghill, all the best.

Regards

Hampo