DAY 3

So I have been trying to get into some sort of a routine here. Going to bed around 9 and getting up before 5 so far I'm 2 for 2. I try and get a workout in which I've always done but my friend Ben takes that to a whole different level. It's good for me to get my physical workout in because coaching is more of a mentally and emotionally tough job.

This morning we had about 45 minutes of warmup exercises and stretches before practice. She then hit with Nadia Petrova who I worked with a bit during my time at Bollettieri's.  At the end of the hour they played a couple of games and Jelena was down 3-2. She was whining about her legs not be quick enough right now and Kory the trainer who is also here said it's only her third day since the trip and has a plan to get her legs ready for tomorrow. They were doing some interesting footwork drills and training that I have video of that I will get out when I figure out how.

She is done for the day and is now going to rest.  I'm going to try and watch some more matches. Nadal  came on the court right after us and it's amazing to see him practice. Even the other pros stop and watch the way he goes about his business. There is something magical about that guy that makes everyone want to watch including his competitors. I was sitting next to him at lunch while talking to Beth and almost asked him to just say Hi. I will if he's closer next time,our backs were to each other.

I'm finishing up my day back at the hotel room and going to change up the schedule a bit. I left the grounds early today but not before watching Jack Sock the #1 junior American lose a match, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.  I ended up charting the third set to see how Jack would play it after tanking the last two games of the 2nd. He lost the first game of the third but then came back and held and the crowd was really behind him, but that was it. He missed everything and seemed uninspired I heard Jose Higueras the USA coach say. It's  amazing to realize everyone is just like us when it comes to tennis. No matter what the level is when you lose confidence in your game you can and will miss the easiest balls that you have made all of your life. He has a huge serve and if the guy just got it in play he was fine because Jack was falling so hard mentally. That's why it's never a good idea to give away games to end a set especially if you're losing confidence.

So when you have a bad day remember you're just like the #1 boy in the Nation-missing everything. I also liked watching all of the American coaches talking it over together after the match about what happened and what they need to do. Again the answer is quite simple like yesterday get back to work.  It was an intense meeting and you hear these type of meetings often after a bad performance. What happened? What do we need to change? How can we make sure this doesn't happen again? If it is becoming a pattern by all means make some changes, but if that bad day is an exception, take the loss and move on to tomorrow.

It's tough out here after losses I'm seeing. It seems like life is based on the wins and losses in a major way. It seemed like the Jack Sock loss affected everyone, family and coaches. That's a lot of pressure right there knowing you are responsible for your family and coaches happiness. Doesn't sound like a good thing to me.

So onto my upcoming day. Jelena plays against young American Jamie Hampton first match on the Stadium at 2pm Eastern time so check your live scoring updates.(wta/atp) i phone app. We are warming up on Stadium at 8:30-9. TV coverage doesn't start until Saturday so you won't be able to watch this one.

Last thing - as I have mentioned the back to work concept it was great to get there so early today and  seeing the players getting on the courts before all of the hoopla. Kirilenko doing foundation work with her coach basket after basket of fed ball at 8am. Hear  that Emma? Get that foundation. Good foundation leads to less bad days. Even though as I've mentioned every one will have one at some point. Hopefully it's not Jelena tomorrow morning or I'll have a bad day. Good night.

Jerry