| Barry Blogging from Spain |
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| Sunday, 20 July 2008 22:23 |
 It was a really quick turnaround after working at Wimbledon for 2 weeks. After an early Monday morning flight, I joined Anna, Steffi and Dave who were already in Sunny Spain. When I arrived at Madrid train station the ticket office was shut down for 2 hours. Seemingly the whole country had come to standstill after celebrating Nadal’s victory the night before. It was such a privilege to commentate on the final and how the rivalry is evolving to be up there as one of the greatest in sport.
Valladolid was the 1st tournament of 5 in Spain for Anna and Steffi and crucial to start the post grass court season with a good week. Steffi reached the quarter finals in the singles, winning an epic in round 2 with a tie-break in the 3rd set after saving numerous match points. It was a disappointing singles performance from Anna, losing in the 2nd round, however the girls did reach the doubles final.
The $25,000 event was my first abroad since becoming the official ambassador for the MCTA and I found it a valuable learning experience to see the standard of tournament that the girls are striving to by pass and move on to the next level. My knowledge that I’ve gained from 10 years on the pro tour and now working for Sky Sports as a commentator for 6 years will benefit the academy. David coached me for many years and is one of the best in the business. We both believe we can bounce ideas off each other which will help the MCTA.
The second week of competition was in Badajoz, a 4 hour car journey from Valladolid. In my 10 years of travelling on the tour I’ve never witnessed a place that was as hot as this city in Spain. Even at 10.30 at night the temperature was still above 30c, which made playing tough but definitely a more pleasurable experience than the golfers have been encountering this week at the British Open golf at Royal Birkdale. The 10 days I was in Spain the girls worked very hard in practice. Steffi and Anna both working on being aggressive and committing to every shot with a purpose, but the results were particularly disappointing in Badajoz giving their form in practice. I returned on Thursday to England with David returning to La Coruna for the third event. My advice to anyone in tennis is keep working hard and your fortunes will turn for the better. We hope this will ring true with the girls next week. |
