Starting off after playing in Peru and junior & u23 Canadian nationals i had some time before i went to China for training. That time was primarly spent working on fitness and as much on court stuff as i could. I wanted to make sure i would be fit enough to train in Asia. Right before China i had to play the US Open which is a grand prix gold tournament. I was in qualifications again this year but there was only 16 spots in qualifiers. I played an opponent from Brazil and he got the better of me, he played very well and won that match. So coming off of that i was more than happy to be jetting off to Asia for training. I spent a total of 2 and a half days in LA (technically Orange County) and then flew back to Calgary. I then spent 13 hours in Calgary before flying to Hong Kong and then into Nanning China which took me around 28 hours with stopovers and waits in Vancouver and Hong Kong. When I got into my room it was around 11:30pm and I was to train 8am the next day.
2011 Canadian Junior and u23 Nationals, Team Alberta
2011 US Open Grand Prix Gold, during my men's singles match
I will write a completely separate blog entry about China and that will come later. Right now is more about the summer as a whole.
So I spent a whole month and a bit in China training and then started my flight back to Canada. That required spending a night in Hong Kong and then flying out to Vancouver then Calgary the following day. I can officially say that the 11 and a half hour flights from Asia are killer on my body. The fact that I was there for so long, all the traveling, and the amount of training that I did there simply destroyed my body.
2011 Training in China with the GuangXi Provincial Team
When I arrived back in Canada I was only to spend 8 days in Calgary but 3 of those would be playing in the Alberta open which is part of the national circuit. In hindsight that was a bad idea I had some alright games. My body had no idea what was happening and simply didn't want to move or listen to my mind. After playing the tournament and finishing Saturday afternoon with a loss in singles and doubles to the eventual winners I was leaving again Sunday night/Monday morning at 1am.
This time I would be flying down to Barbados for the 2011 CAREBACO international. This was tough with everything that I had gone through recently all the traveling and tired body. I did not take a proper rest after China to allow my body to recuperate and be happy with me again.
Flying into Barbados was good and I can't be mad with the tournament, its rough to have to play 1st and 2nd seeds in my draws but those are challenges that I welcome. In singles I played an older player and was not able to find my bearings, the stadium felt foreign and I did not feel comfortable hitting in there at all. Height of the venue was an issue with me as I messed with my timing. But these are not excuses at all. I am happy with how I played and learned from the expirence. Doubles and mixed were alright, tough matches and 1st time playing with either partner so there was an adjustment period.
I was in Barbados for 7 days more or less but was occupied with the tournament for 4 and a half of those days. Come Friday night though thats when my fun began. I enjoyed the nightlife in Barbados and it was a fun expirence and something long overdue. Just to relax and hang out with friends both old and new. The Beach had been taunting me all week and finally I dove into its beautiful blue waters, I did however go for a run on the beach every morning just to make sure I had some exercise.
After finishing in Barbados I made my way over to Trinidad which was just an hour flight away. I was to finally have my 1st vacation in a long long time. I spent a total of 8 days in Trinidad and it was a nice relaxing time. The heat was killer though and I was happy when it was a low of +23 degrees for the night.
That was the summer of 2011 in a nut shell; those were the major trips that I took this summer. There were a lot of weekends and time that I spent in other parts of Canada and the USA. A weekend to 5 days in Vancouver, a week in Montreal, Boston, and surrounding areas. Now that September is more than half way done focus has been on training and school as well as work. The next big tournament will be Miami Pan Am International in November. That’s all for now but I will have more posts about China as well as other things happening. I learned a lot, experienced a lot, and felt great about everything that happened regardless of the outcome.
