I had a bye today, but practiced twice with one of the Aussies, Tony, a lefty who is in the 40s. I hit with him and 2 other guys, an Aussie, Manuel, who is in the 45s and a Czech player. It was challenging but fun.

The balls here are US Open hard (heavy duty) balls. All here tournaments here have used a Wilson branded ball, but all here have been different types.

They are very strict here about clearing the courts after the allotted practice time of 7:45-8:45….even though no matches began before 10 today. Tomorrow matches start at 9 and I am scheduled for 10:30 at the Leonstein courts near by. I went there today and saw Fred drilling of he USA win a 70s match under hot conditions. He is playing on a German team based in Berlin and had time between team matches for tournaments. That’s Fred below in action (iPhone!).

I also saw Heide Orth and Toni Novack today, and Toni and I met for dinner. She plays the top seed in the60s tomorrow. Heide is the top seed in the 70s.

I hit a second time at 5 at some courts about a mile from my hotel, and feel well prepared for my match tomorrow. It was quite wam today, sunny and 90ish…

Some photos below of he Leonstein cts.