Hi there,

Well, after such a big Sunday when Ilija qualified, it was off to Melbourne Park to get his accreditation which allows him to access the players area and changing room facilities. This in itself is a fantastic experience for a lot of juniors because they are rubbing shoulders with many of their idols and get to see them in a more personal light.

After looking at some junior matches that afternoon, the weather became a little overcast. So we came home and the wait was on to see what time Ilija would play the following day. He had been drawn against the Australian No.1 and No.5 seed Greg Jones. And so we waited and waited and waited some more, eventually Ilija having to go to bed about 10ish not knowing what time he would play as they didn’t release the schedule till 11.15pm.

Monday came and in we went to the tennis, we had a practice court booked at 10.30am at Melbourne Park and he was third on after 10am on court 19. Expecting to play early afternoon around 1.00 he was called to go on court just after midday as the previous two matches were very one sided affairs. There was a relatively large crowd in the stands and it was a very high standard and competitive match.

Ilija made Jones work hard for the victory and although he may have felt that he could have taken some chances early and been a little more aggressive when the opportunities arose, overall it was a pleasing performance. The way he handled his first Grand Slam match was also very pleasing. He wasn’t at all deterred by the crowds, nor the occasion, losing the match 6-2, 6-3.

It is nice to be able to look over some detailed stats of the match afterwards (they have IBM employees at the side of each court taking stats on each match) which break down winners, unforced errors etc in a set-by-set analysis. Makes for some interesting reading and I guess that the stats never lie!!!

Yesterday we went into the tennis again to watch some matches and see Jones play again (incidentally he won 6-2, 6-2). We also watched Federer warm up for his quarterfinal match against Robredo. I have always known he is a laid back kind of guy but to see him warm up in the manner in which he did is quite incredible, he never really pushed beyond 50%. Messed around a little, hit some chopper forehands (actually a lot of chopper forehands) rolled over a few serves and thank you mother for the rabbits, that will do!!!! The warm up of a guy who is simply brimming with confidence at the moment, and a pre-match routine that works for him, although I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone I coach.

Ilija and I have been having some battle royales in chess over recent weeks. Unfortunately I can report that he is absolutely 100% giving me a pasting to the point now of him refusing to play with me because as he states “you are a bunny.” Fair enough, but these words may come back to haunt him as I polish up my chess skills behind his back!!!!

We will train this week then we are off to Gosford, about an hour from Sydney for a money tournament next week. I will keep you updated, we have a nice little road trip up there - about an 8 hour drive which should be fun.

All the best from the Australian Open,

Hampo and Ilija