The past two days I have been practicing on the red clay in Mallorca at Global Tennis near Palma de Mallorca, but really a million miles away, in a suburban area. There are farms nearby with almonds and olives. Some juniors train year round there and do home schooling in between practice sessions, while local juniors train after school. And the kids work really hard on the courts, lots of 2/1 sessions.

Yesterday it was really windy, and I was jet lagged, so I trained just once, for 90 minutes. Red clay is a different beast from hard courts..more core, more quads needed. It was a lot of fun hitting there and watching the juniors train. Today the weather was better and jet lane not so tough. I trained for 90 minutes twice on a beautiful day…it felt a lot like California’s autumn weather.

The first tournament I am playing begins Sunday in Font de Sa Cala on the other side of the island. The draws aren’t out yet but it looks like I will be the #5 seed in the 60s this week. The tournament the following week is for 65-90. Both are ITF MT1000 tournaments (same level as the USTA national Clay and Hard Courts).

The weather tomorrow looks rainy in the morning…training is planned for the morning, but if it doesn’t work out it is market day in Binissalem. And the afternoon looks to be nice. I’m off to Font de sa Cala tomorrow and for the rest of my stay. It’s a nice drive over and I pass through some pretty villages on the way.