There is a learning curve every time I play a new especially below the 1000 level outside the USA. The draws and times for this tournament were on one website for Sunday/Monday (itfmasterstournamentsoftware site), then on another one starting today (via itftennis.com, then click on tournaments, then masters then search for the tournament). Since that information is not on the fact sheet and no emails have been sent out to the players we had no idea where to find the order of play or that the website had changed. The factsheet that initially said the women’s 70s started on Monday and now says it does not start till Wednesday (meaning I probably do not play till Thursday…sigh)…UPDATE: I play not before noon tomorrow (my opponent had a bye); Vicki plays at the same time. I looked at the fact sheet 2 days ago but didn’t screen shot it…since then it had been changed to say play would start today in the W70s and then today it says W70s will begin tomorrow, October 28. There were definitely enough courts to play the two round of 16 matches in the W70s today but maybe that would cause an issue tomorrow.
The referee did show me this morning how to find the order of play and directed me to the Carmen Perea website which is now listed on the factsheet. Here is the link. However, the links to itftennis.com are broken (or were early this afternoon, but they could have updated them. The moral of the story is to screenshot the factsheet often and talk to the referee or Carmen to find out what is going on.
Vicki and I did get in about 50 minutes of practice in the morning. The weather here is dry and sunny but it was quite cool at 7:45 in the morning. The sun is pretty low in the sky at that time of day and this late in the year, so the visibility was a challenge. The dew point was above the low temperature for the night so the courts were damp and the balls today played like fuzzy softballs..conditions were extremely slow and the balls were very heavy as Head Tour XT balls tend to be. Not a complaint or a complement, just the facts.
Vicki did her yoga and I did my other exercises and stretching, and went back to the Carrefour for a few things (and a nice walk) while Vicky hit the pharmacy.
We had a very Spanish late lunch (we finished eating just before 4pm) of fideuĂ , a pasta and seafood dish which was invented in Gandia, preceded by a perfectly cooked roasted squid. We ate at Ripoll, about a mile from our apartment and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The atmosphere was nice, we had a sea view and the food was great…we polished off the squid and the fideuĂ . FideuĂ was invented in Gandia (where there is and annual competition to cook the best fideuĂ ). Thin noodles are sautĂ©ed in broth and cooked with fish and shellfish, then seasoned with lemon. It’s cooked in a paella pan. We finished off everything! Fortunately we had a mile+ walk back to the apartment after that.
I digested for a bit then went for a walk by the club (to finally take a photo of the outdoor gym), then down to the beach where I put my hand into the Mediterranean Sea.. the water felt pretty pleasant, maybe I should try a quick dip though I think I would get very cold walking back from a swim. The light was gorgeous and the weather in the low 70s, quite a lovely evening.
Tomorrow morning we will hit around 8am, then eat, then actually play a match, yeah!