Sacramento, Calabasas Wins

Hey guys,
I am writing you after two back to back challenger doubles wins. The first was in Sacramento with Robert Kendrick, where we didnt lose a set en route to the 75,000 challenger title. Next was in Calabasas, just north of LA and I played with John Isner. We had a few easy matches and in the finals took down the defending champs Kendrick and Cecil Mammit. It was a little tough playing with 40 mph gusts and some smoke from the nearby Malibu fires.

The wins push me to 115 in the world in doubles. Hopefully I can keep things rolling and put together some good singles wins. If I am top 100 for the Australian Open I can probably get into the main draw with someone ranked around 50. So four more tournaments to go starting next Monday; Louisville, Nashville, Champaign, and Knoxville. There is an outside possibilty that I will make the trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a big challenger, but doubt that as I am ready for our 1 month offseason, booya!

PLEASE COMMENT SO I KNOW PEOPLE ARE READING!

Update from Sacramento

Hey guys,
It's Saturday evening here in Sacramento and me and Robert Kendrick have had a few good wins and tomorrow we are playing the finals of the doubles against Fruttero/Warburg. I lost singles to Kevin Kim in a night match earlier in the week. He played solid, and passed me me quite a bit even when he was 10 or 15 feet behind the baseline. I tried to mix things up but he played well, and showed why he has been in and out of the top 100 in his career.

The doubles game is clicking and with Kendo's big serve I have been aggressive at the net and taking some chances. We haven't dropped a set and today beat a real good team in Alex Kuzentsov and Ryan Sweeting 61 63. Tomorrow we play at noon and then I'll be taking a quick flight down to Burbank (an hour north of LA) and get a late workout in with coach Dustin Taylor. Hopefully I can squeeze in some dinner with my bro and sis who will be in the area.

We have had a good time this week, last Saturday we checked out a club with some friends here and it turned out to be a great time. Some great music, and an outdoor fire pit with a lot of good seating made the club a two thumbs up. 20 dollar cover was waived because we were rolling with someone who was having a party and had some pull at the club. Also there are some good restaraunts nearby the courts; one night we ate at a Morrocan place and had some hookah with the guys, followed by a pool party at our housing-not a bad life!! Last night Sweeting, Kelly (daughter of the couple we are staying with, and our personal social coordinator for the week) went to a hip wine bar and had some real good food, and a few glasses of a 2004 Pinot Grigio. I had Butternut squash ravioli, a steak sandwich and tomato caprese, all were above par for sure....tonight we are headed to a LE Cirque show at a nearby college campus and grabbing some sushi beforehand. I loove my food as you know this maaan!

Wish me and Kendo luck tomorrow! ciao

back in vegas. fall tournaments to come

Hello people,
I am back in vegas after a few tournaments. The last one was in Tulsa, Ok and me and Alex Bogomolov made the finals of dubs before falling to Rajeev and Bobby Reynolds. I wish I could have done better in singles, but lost to good friend and eventual champion Jesse Witten, so he owes me one. He is also the owner of a brand new Iphone, and he got to keep his number! what an ass!

I haven't been back to Vegas since right before team tennis in early July, so it's good to see Nick and a few of my buddies here. Everyone thinks I am crazy for living here because of all the clubs and bars etc. But really I have just been sitting around the apartment, going to the gym, the pool and probably catch a movie later or go bowling with Nick. I am so exhausted from traveling nonstop that I usually just decompress and be lazy.

I am headed to Sacramento later this week and will be there for a week. It's a pretty strong field for a challenger as Sam Querrey will be the top seed at 51 ATP. Should be good, as I like the courts there, will have great housing with a friend, and am playing doubles with Robert Kendrick. I will be meeting up with my coach Dustin and Jesse Witten and Brendad Evans, who he is also working with. From Sactown we will head down to Calbasas (45 mins north of LA) for another challenger. A real upscale community, Calabasas is a cool tournament and my brother and sis are going to come up for a bike ride through Malibu Canyon or somewhere nearby. Also my bro is gonna install some more RAM into my computer to make it faster! vamos! Also I have tons of friends in LA that can hopefully come up and watch me play or just hang out.

After Calabasas I have a few decisions, there is a tournament in the middle of nowhere canada, Rimouski is the actual name. I had an awful experience there last year, as it cost more than a grand to get there, and it was boring, freezing cold, and the courts were that of a sportcourt material, not ideal conditions! But we will see, some of my american buddies are going and it is easier than some other challengers (for the pervious reasons). Then it's on to the south, with tournament stops in Louisville, Nashville, Champaign, and Knoxville with the outside possibilty of heading to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then on to India or down under to Australia. Yes, quite a way to end a 11 month season!! But then comes a month off where I have no real plans after heading up to Portland, Or to see Davis Cup with some good friends--maybe head down to Mexico for some r and r on the beach and a few margaritas, coronas or other refrescos!

I will try to keep this thing more updated and get my coach Dustin to take some good pics in the coming weeks with his digital camera. All the best..comments are appreciated!