It was already November and I was thinking about finishing the year when I saw there was one more challenger in Japan. I talked to a friend of mine and he said he had two more companion passes left so I decided to fly to Japan.
I didn't have time for working visa (that's what they require on ATP detail sheet). I went there as a tourist to play a tennis tournament. I guess that's what 99% of the players from outside Japan did as well.
I flew in Tokyo from Seattle , it was 10.5 hour flight. There were seats in business class, so I sat there. I had a great food and a good rest before arriving to Tokyo.
I didn't have time for working visa (that's what they require on ATP detail sheet). I went there as a tourist to play a tennis tournament. I guess that's what 99% of the players from outside Japan did as well.
I flew in Tokyo from Seattle , it was 10.5 hour flight. There were seats in business class, so I sat there. I had a great food and a good rest before arriving to Tokyo.
To get to Toyota city, I had to take a train to the downtown train station (1 hour ride) and then get a bullet train (shinkansen) to Nagoya (2.5 hour ride). From Nogoya, I needed to use a regular metro to Toyota city (1 hour).
By the time I did all that I was very exhausted and wanted to sleep. The time change was 17 hours ahead, and I wasnt sure anymore if I wanted to sleep or stay awake. All I knew I was dead tired and wanted to lay down. The hotel was very nice. I shared the room with another player and that kept the price reasonable (around $110 as opposed to $200).
I hit two times on Friday, once in the morning and one more time before the sign-in. The courts were very fast , something I havent played on for a long time.
I was seeded in the qualies and won two of my matches on saturday pretty easily. The qualifying match was on Sunday and I won it too in straight sets.Surprisingly, I was scheduled to play my first round on Monday right away against a Japanese Wildcard.
I lost the first set but then came back and beat him with one break in each set. My potential opponent wasnt scheduled to play on Monday , so I could watch their match the next day and hoping to play on Wednesday the second round. Unfortunately, when the schedule came out on Tuesday afternoon and I didnt see my name, I was pretty upset, because that meant a two day break between matches. I just wanted to play a match and sitting for two days killed my rhythm. I couldnt really practice either, since the organizers were only allocating only a 40 minute block for each player per day. It was also very inconvenient transportation to the practice site.
I played my second round against Danai Udomchoke. I lost in straight sets. I had one set point in the second set tiebreak but I blew it.The next day I was on the train to Tokyo to catch an afternoon flight to Seattle hoping to get a business class as well and gain 17 hours back in my life.
I arrived to Tokyo around noon and a few hours to kill. I heard something about touring buses around the downtown, so I checked it and I found a two-hour ride around the city for $20 with English headphone touring guide.
I saw all the main building and main streets of Tokyo and was even able to take a few pictures throught the windown glass.
I am posting a few of them.
After I came back from Japan , I have been home training and figuring out what to do in 2009. I learned about new rule changes and how it effects players outside top 100. Looks like ATP is trying to separate top 100 from the rest of the players by making Grand Slams worth a lot of points. Changing points for winning a 10K to 17 from 12 points sounds unfair compared to the change in the Grand Slams from 1000 to 2000 points.
Still, Im looking forward to the new year of 2009.
