After starting this year in Australia, I decided to come back to Mexico at the end of January to compete in 2 future events 15K in Monterrey and Mexico city. After Mexico city I'm supposed to fly to Belarus for Davis Cup tie.
The weather in Monterrey is nice. I'm staying in Novotel hotel which is very close to the tournament site. I'm rooming this week with my friend Joel Kincaid. He lost in the qualies but decided to stay for a few days to train. So far, we are both having a good time.
The hotel is full of police/military guards so I'm not sure if this area is very safe. In the evenings I stay in the room, order room service dinner and watch Australian Open on TV.
I'm playing my first round singles and doubles on Tuesday.
Tuesday:
I won my first round against a very talented player from Venezuela. I beat him 75 63. It wasn't easy to play because the balls were flying a lot in the warm conditions of Monterrey. You also have to take into consideration a little bit of altitude.
Tomorrow I'm playing against a Mexican player Tiburon Ramirez.
Wednesday:
My match was scheduled for 12 pm during the warmest part of the day. I won the toss and chose to start on the side that doesn't have the sun because during the morning warm up I played on the sunny side.
Cesar chose return. We were holding serves till 4:4 when he broke me with a few good passing shots. He held his serve on the next game and the first set was his.
The second set was very intense and went into the tie breaker. I won it 7:5.
The third set was the same scenario till 3:3 when I broke him at 15 and held at love. At 3:5 Cesar serving , I broke him after 2 deuces. I won 4:6 7:6 6:3.
Thursday:
I had a singles day off but still had to play doubles semifinal. My doubles partner was returning very well and we best the other team pretty easily.
Friday:
I played against a Brazilian tennis player. I have never seen him before , so it was a little bit of challenge trying to figure out how to beat him.
I played well on my serve and toon some chances on his serve because he was missing a lot of rally shots.
I won 64 64 and felt very good to make the semifinal. I had a little bit of time to rest and had to get ready for the doubles final.
In the final we faced the American tram Britton/Krajicek. The served very well and didn't make any mistakes at the net. They also put a lot of pressure on our second serves and that made the difference in the match, which we lost in 2 sets.
Saturday:
My semifinal of singles was scheduled for 11 am. It was a pretty cold day. I came to the club a little bit earlier to warm up because I didn't have anyone who was going to warm me up. I found a local pro who agreed to hit with me for 20 minutes. It was better than warming up against the wall.
I came out strong and didn't get broken the entire match.
I won 63 62.
Sunday:
Looks very rainy and the match is delayed by 2 hours because it was raining at night and there is no sun and no wind. It takes a long time for courts to dry.
I'm trying to stay warm by drinking warm tea and wearing warm clothes.
It's 3 pm on Sunday of the final and still raining. I wonder if the final will be moved to Monday??
Monday:
The final was scheduled for 11 am again but it was still raining in the morning.
Finally, we started at 12:30.
I tried to warm up before the match but I came out on the court a little bit rushed and not 100% ready.
I got broken in the first game but broke back right away.
I player more solid and served higher percentage.
I won 62 63. There were not too many people in the club and there was no real award ceremony.
After the final I went online to book my flight to Mexico city, club Berimbau, where I would compete in the next tournament. I was scheduled to play my first round on Tuesday.
