Draws are here.

It’s after 11 pm here in Hanko and the music from the party below me is making my room shake! But winter is coming…last few weeks here before everyone disappears till next June.

I warmed up early as usual with Peter and Rosemary (who both had doubles and mixed scheduled), then played Gisela Wittkamp at 11:30 and won…we had a few good points though. After lunch (and after Peter and Rosemary’s mixed match), we played the doubles final against Luisa G from Portugal and Julie F from Australia. We played a good match and won 63 62. It was a fun match. Luisa had already played a tough singles final (won 60 62 but it was about two hours, lots of running) and mixed before the doubles.

The prizes were various items of clothing..for me a nice vest, a sweatshirt, polo and t-shirt. Plus medals (much more portable than glass trophies!).

This was a nice and relaxed tournament.

• Player dinner on Wednesday night with veggies, salmon, potatoes, various salads, and some sort of fruit and custard dessert. It was at the casino (which is not a casino but a restaurant/events location) overlooking the water, and right next to the tennis club
• The courts were good and prior to the 10am start there were ample practice courts
• The restaurant at the club had a good pasta/sandwich/salad menu which was reasonable, plus drinks.
• Most places in Hanko could be reached by bike
• Every participant received a nice Aspics t-shirt and a nice shoe bag (Finns don’t wear outdoor shoes indoors normally)
• The locker rooms were adequate
• For the first few days of the tournament there was a physiotherapist giving massage…free for 20 minutes per day per person
• We used ATP dunlop balls and each match was allocated 4 new balls. Practice balls were ample and free of charge
• There was a racquet stringer on site, 18 euros (labor only)
• The venue is about 2 hours by car or 2.5 to 3 hours by train and bus on the weekends (during the week there’s a direct bus, but it only runs M-F. The cost is under 15 euros each way
• Book early because there are limited numbers of hotels in Hanko (pop. 8000); there are some B & Bs and airbnb options too.
• Weather was in the low 70s to upper 60s all week. Very pleasant playing conditions

And that’s a wrap on this week’s tournament. Next up, Bad Breisig, Germany (near Koblenz and Cologne).