Are you adjusting your strategy?

1. What patterns do they use with their ground strokes to set up points?
2. How do they handle pace and off-pace balls?
3. Are they predictable with where they hit under pressure?
4. Based on their grips, where are their power zones?
5. How many balls are they willing to hit before going for a winner?
6. To which side – forehand or backhand, do they move weakest?
7. Are they winning because they are better than you or are you giving away points too early in the point with unforced errors?
8. Are you using the 5 tactical priorities of match play: in play, direction, depth, spin and speed to effectively play your points or are you just hitting balls?
9. Is your opponent beginning to tire, are they injured or are they rushing to play the points?
10. Are you sticking to your game plan or have you adjusted to the flow of the match?

A good game plan will often have to be adjusted as the match is in progress.  The opponent may well change their tactics and force you to adjust yours as well. Pay attention and know why you are winning and why you are losing during the match to choose the correct strategy and tactics.

Ken DeHart

www.kendeharttennis.com
kendehart@aol.com

Photo Credits: nsaplayer

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Tennis Ball and Grape Balloons.

Playing in Serbia on the red clay, Americans John Isner and Sam Querry showed heart and where American tennis still has a great crop of young players coming along.

In their first ever Davis Cup appearance, John and Sam lost their first matches as USA players.  That had to be nervous time – can you imagine playing for your country in front of thousands of cheering fans applauding every error you make and every shot the opponent makes?

Day 2 is the Bryan Brothers vs Serbia – oops, only Bob Brian (Mike had gotten food poisoning) and John Isner playing the top doubles player in the world for Serbia, Zimonjic and singles specialist Tipsarevic.  The Americans manage to pull out an incredible win.  At set point in the tie breaker, Isner is passed on set point at the net – Zimonjic had raised his hand and called Bob Brian’s serve “out.”  The umpire declared a let for distraction and the Americans somehow manage to win that point and the tie breaker and the match later on.

Day 3 Isner and #2 in the world, Djokovic – in Serbia, thousands of exuberant fans and on red clay.  John plays well in the first set but gets broken late in the first set to go down 0-1. 2nd set, John comes back to win, 3rd set, Djokovic wins and in a tie breaker, John wins the 4th set.  Djokovic is penalize a point in the tie breaker for hitting a ball into the stands.  This is his second violation and John gets a free point to go up 3-1 in the breaker.  John holds serve after a tight tie breaker to force a 5th set.

5th set Isner – now in his 10th hour of Davis Cup competition in the last 3 days and all in matches that count is broken early in the set.  The crowd goes wild.  John stays competitive throughout the set and goes on to SAVE 5 MATCH POINTS, before netting a forehand from the ad court on return of serve.

Awesome play from John Isner who played 4 years at Georgia, won the NCAA Singles Championships before going out out on the tour.  Way to go John…  He had lost to Sam Querry last week in Memphis in the finals and then teamed with Sam to win the doubles – he and Sam are a double threat in singles and doubles.

John showed so much composure and guts in this match against the crowd and the #2 ranked and 3rd best clay court player in the world behind Federer and Nadal.  John and Sam love to play tennis and will be a part of Davis Cup for many years to come as well as the ATP Tour.  This should be a super summer for both of these tall (6 ft 9″ and 6 ft 6″) American players.

We may have lost this week but we certainly have seen we have a couple of winners in John Isner, Sam Querry – not to mention the best doubles team in the world – the 30 yr old Bryan Brothers who will soon become the team with all the worlds doubles records by the time they think of retiring.

Thanks Americans, we are proud of you,
Ken DeHart

Photo Credits: Camino Z

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Serena Williams

I got up at 3:30 am here in Charleston, SC to see THE match from down under.  My roommate was asleep, they wouldn’t let me access the TV in the bar – afraid I would drink them dry I guess.  Little did they know I don’t drink.  I went to the fitness center to watch the Ladies play on TV there – convenient, I also got to work out and watch at the same time.

The “Hour Glass of Momentum” continued its turbulent run again.  Serena came out strong, but Justine with her “new” game in her admitted second career was hitting away on everything.

Serena has such strength to muscle the shots, stay so low and handle a variety of shots from any opponent. Justine has such amazing timing and agility that she can almost match Serena’s power.  Serena starts off the match serving well and would eventually finish that way as well.

Justine, with her new approach to tennis is in the games but she chooses to no longer play defense and is developing the game she feels she needs to win the one she wants — Wimbledon.  Justine has 5 or more break chances in the first set on Serena’s serve. She moves inside the baseline and goes big on the 2nd serves and did not make most of them.

Serena wins the first set and looks like she will win the match in straight sets – but wait, momentum is about to switch again.  Justine runs off 15 straight points to win the second set.  She continues to go for winners on second shots after hitting up the middle on first balls to neutralize Serena’s angles.  She is laser sharp on her shots.

Bathroom break for Serena and out they go for the 1st 3 set final in a major in several years.  Serena comes out still a little flat and falls behind on her serve.  Justine is still going for the big returns and fails to break – mistake.  Serena holds but Justine will break the next game with glimpses of her second set tenacity.

Unfortunately, she gets a little tight and the toss gets too low and she is broken by Serena.  She will go on to be broken 2 more times as Serena takes momentum away from her and serves for the match with 2 aces and a final point that pulls Justine off the court and Serena hits into the open court to win her 5th major down under to tie with Margaret Court and bring her total Grand Slam titles to 12 and tie Billie Jean King in that category.

Serena plays 12 matches in the 2 week event and wins the singles and doubles titles.  Pretty amazing – not since John McEnroe have we seen a player be so strong in both events – or even play both events.

Justine — off for 20 months and in just her second tournament has reached the finals of the first two tournaments she plays — playing a new style of tennis.  She won the hearts of the fans and is more gracious and collected in her acceptance speech to the crowd than Serena.

What can we take away from this event?

1. The hour glass of momentum will always be there – it is just who can recognize it  & control it at the right time.  Be aware of it as you play your matches.
2. Your will to win is stronger than you game to win in most cases.  It is OK to want to win strongly!!
3. How many of us will work to improve our game (you are never too old to add to your game – at 62 I have continued to improve my game)?
4. How many of us will risk losing to make the changes permanent in our game – Justine?
5. Get in shape to play the game – you can win with fitness (see Al Juodikis for his fitness program for you).

Love to play and you will always be a winner – play only to win and you will only be a score keeper.

See Serena Williams narrate her win against Justine Henin.

It snowed here in Charleston this morning.  I am off to attend another session on Quick Start Tennis for kids and adults – more ideas for you when I return to SJSRC on Sunday.

Photo Credits: Bas Van Uyen

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Andy Roddick

Andy’s match was a sports psych’s dream.  Andy played a deliberate style early in the match but the 20 year old opponent is very smooth and athletic with a dream backhand.  It appeared early on that Andy was not serving his best.  He had been well around the 70% mark and lots of free points coming into the match.  His arm today seemed a little dead.

Sure enough, he called for the trainer who did some deep tissue work to loosen it up.  The players are limited as to how many times they can be treated for the  same injury, so at some point, Andy had to decide if he could continue or retire.  Questions to consider include: can I finish the match, will I further damage my shoulder, how will it affect me in my next tournament in San Jose – the SAP Open? Much to his credit, he changed tactics and stayed in the set.

As we have all experienced when playing an injured player, it can affect our game as well. We mentally start wondering if he can finish or attempt to change our game to see if we can take advantage of the injury.  That will usually affect the non-injured player more than the injured player – and it did.  When we quit worrying how we are playing and just hit – we do well and that is what Andy begin to do – hit the ball flatter and put the opponent on his heels.

Andy worked his way through the 3rd and 4th set. The pain killers he had been given seemed to numb the pain and he began to serve stronger as he went along. Whey – it’s 2 sets each now and the next change is about to occur.  At 2 all in sets now, Andy takes a deep sigh of relieve and goes back to his old style of play, more spin and less aggressive.  Cilic realizes it is now or never and  begins to come out of his shell.  Andy has 40-love on his opponents serve in the first game of the 5th set and lets is get away.  Now Cilic breathes a sigh of relief.  Andy is upset, letting it get away like that but does not go on the attack again.  He reverts to the way he played the 1st and 2nd set and Cilic is too fast and has too good of hands.  He handles Andy’s spinner shots and puts him on the run again.

I am on the couch pulling for Andy – but at 4-2 with Cilic serving, it is not up to Andy.  He has let himself get behind and it is up to the Croatian to win or lose at this point.  He serves big and pulls off the upset – his first ever major semi-final.

What can we get from the match? It is easy from the couch to see what to do and listen to the advice of the announcers.  On the court, we have all felt and done what Andy did tonight.  But his determination not to give up when others have been retiring in this event this year points to how much of a fighter Andy is – just like his Wimbledon match with Roger last summer.  14-16 in the 5th set.

Andy did a great job playing with what he had to play with.  He adjusted his game, moved in to take second serves inside the baseline and just go for shots.  It is easy when you are down – you are losing anyhow.  When we get even and realize we can now win, there is a tendency to back off and hope the other player will lose. The difference is slight, hardly noticeable to some spectators, only those of you who put yourself on the line and play league play would know the feeling.

What Andy and we experience is an article I wrote about on my blog site called the “hour glass“ effect.  Just like and hour glass, the person on top has only a few thoughts crossing their mind.  The person on the bottom of the hour glass has all the thoughts coming down on them – too fast, bad equipment, shouldn’t lose to this player and etc.  Finally with time is about to run out on them, the person on the bottom decides to – just go for it, don’t miss, go in, it doesn’t really matter – they just begin to have one thought only.  The fear is gone.  The player on top now has switched to the bottom of the hour glass and all these thoughts begin to creep in – I could win this set, game or match, never defeated this player before, my next opponent is …  it doesn’t matter, this player now has all the monsters in his mind.  The momentum has switched and the hour glass was turned over several times in this match.

Good on you to Andy.  We hope he did not injure his shoulder to badly.  He is 9 and 1 in 2010 and off to a good start.

Photo Credits: burntfilm

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Ken DeHart and Jazz Playing Tennis Balls

Today was another great day and we finally had sunshine – yeah… I took the tram to Rod Laver and was able to get in straight away.

Met with the Tennis Australia group that ran the Australian Coaches Conference and thanked them for making it such a great experience. I went to the players tunnel and saw Roger Federer off to workout in the fitness room as well as Todd Martin, Del Potro and Justine.

I went out to the outback courts to watch some others play. Robin Sonderlin who would win the first two sets then drop the next 3 – 6-4, 6-4 and 6-1 to a Spainard in 4 hour match. Think we have all been there – done that, hate that feeling. Watched James Blake beat the Frenchman – Clement, 7-5, 7-5 & 6-1. Blake recently left Dunlop and went to Wilson’s Federer frame. I talked to Kelly Jones, his new coach about James and he is in his best condition and excited to play.

Talked to Melanie Oudin from Atlanta that did so well at the US Open. She was out practicing with her coach Brian DeVilliers and working on his serve before she plays today at 4:30. Met with 2 former Association Coaches from Holland – Frank and Canada – Louie and discussed the difference between a coach and instructor as well as what makes a good coach. Stopped to talk to Li Na the #1 player from China whom I met on the flight from Sydney to Melbourne.  Her match was postponed from today to tomorrow. We discussed how it affects her planning in preparing for the next match and her eating.

Went into Laver Arena to watch Roger Federer play Igor Andreev from Russia-he hits a really heavy ball (combination of spin and speed).  He beats Roger in the first set 6-4 but Roger wins 6-2 and is up 5-4 but loses his serve and must win it in a tie breaker.  Roger turns it up another level and wins 6-0.  Rogers forehand sometimes goes on vacation – without him.  He moves and you can’t hear him move, like a Ninja in daylight.

Tonight we will see Aussie Alicia Molik vs Julie Coin.  Alicia un-retired and is doing well.  She won the first set and the Aussies are going wild, she is up 5-2 and and and loses the set and the third.  We have all been there – done that.  The Monster of “I could win this” ate her up.  She got tight and the shots lost depth and speed.  Now we are watching Tsonga play in Hisense Arena against Stakhovsky from UKR.  Better leave, it is 12:31 and I have to pack to leave in the morning after and early morning workout.

P.S. Richard Gasguet, France, and Youzhny on Margaret Court.  Youzhny, #20 seed, wins from 2 sets down and cramping to win in 4 hours 40 minutes and 5 sets.

Earlier today I was at the Wilson booth when Justine Henin came by to sign autographs for Wilson – huge crowd of adults and kids.  She is very patient with everyone.  More camera crews there – could hardly see her.

Took the players transport back to the hotel earlier today and rode with famous Aussie player and coach, Tony Roche, and Sophie his player who lost in qualifying but is in main draw or doubles.  He will be back in the US in March at the Indian Wells Tournament.  He gave me his cell # and I may try to get him to come to San Jose for a PTR workshop and speak at the San Jose SRC.

Wayne Elerdon, the Canadian speaker and I walk up Russell St to Lygon St and find a good Italian Restaurant with sidewalk cafe style.  Lygon St is just like Willow Glen and Los Gatos downtown with trees, sidewalk cafes and shops.  It is next to Melbourne University which I had visited earlier in my trip.

Hope you have enjoyed my updates from Australia.

My next adventure is to North Carolina at the end of the month for an Enrichment Program put on by the USTA to update 20 of us on Quick Start Tennis for young players and working with Recreational Coaches.

After that we have our NorCal USPTA Conference where Mike Barrells of England who is here with me this week with speak on PTR for Kids and Jorge Capastany from Michigan and I will present on “Drills, Coaching, Player Development & Error Detection”, the first weekend of Feb.

Feb 10th Kameron and I leave for Hilton Head, SC.  He will be my hitting partner for the PTR Nationals and week long Symposium for teaching pros on every possible aspect of teaching and coaching with 800 pros from the US and 50 plus foreign countries.

See you soon, keep it dry – I am ready to get on the court.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

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It is wet here and I have not had a chance to use my sunscreen in 7 days…..
Cool, windy and wet – am I in San Jose???

Dan Santorum and I walked in the mist, wind and chill down Russell Street to Findley St and off to Rod Laver Arena.  Thank goodness for my level A credential – there are 15,000 people attempting to get onto the grounds.  We get to walk past them and head down into the players tunnel.  The players are all walking around or warming up on the treadmill or bikes waiting to see if they will start on schedule with the rain.

Tried to get into the Stadium to watch first match of the day with Maria “S” and Russian Maria Kirienko, but huge back up to get thru the doors.  I took a walk about in the exhibitors area outside.  Stopped at the Wilson booth and talked to my Wilson Sales Reps from Australia and traded stories.  They wanted to know about San Jose SRC and what my members do daily, what they play with and how it differs from Tennis Australia. Very interested in what our juniors do and the number of hours they put in on practice weekly.  I took some pictures with me and the Wilson team to send back to Wilson in the states to show the office they were working hard.

Next it visited Global Caps which is a booth that features caps from every country in the nation with their country’s flag.  Found out the owner is from Atlanta and his partners are Matts Weilander and Michael Pernsfor.  I had lived in Atlanta so we knew all the same people, places and clubs.  His sons were both with him and his youngest in #1 in the South in the 12 even though he is only 10 and older brother, Peter. is up and coming and extremely fast on the court.  At the end he gave me 2 Aussie hats ($30 each) and we change numbers to stay in touch and I will send him 2 of my DVD’s – Monsters in the Mind and Best of Ken DeHart when I get home.

Got into the arena and saw the last of Sharapova’s loss to Kirienko from Russia – great seats courtesy of my speakers badge. Next I see Andy Murray dominate 6′ 9″ Anderson.  Amazing defensive skills with underspin, drops – then a crushing change of pace serve or forehand.

Next up is Kim Clisters who dominates with such good footwork and perves over a young Canadian, Valerie Tetreault. Kim is a favorite here because of her tenacious fighting spirit and her relationship with Leyton Hewitt in the past.

Off to the sports bookstore where I buy some odd Aussie tennis books to add to my 2,000 book collection – quite expensive books and the dollar US and Aussie are very even.

Tonight we go to the Presidents Party in a special area of the Rod Laver for the key tennis people in Australia – steak, potatoes, salad and wine (orange juice for me).  We leave the meeting area, which overlooks all the outdoor courts – and rain. We leave the area and they give us ice cream and we head down to the presidents box.  5 rows up behind Nadal – great seats and a great match as local Aussie Peter Luczak outplayed Rafa for the first set.  Incredible spin on the ball and so fast movement on the court.  In the tie-breaker, Nadal asserts his experience and takes control of the match with a new level of play.  You can’t imagine how it feels to be part of the energy setting that close. Jelena Dokic plays next but is totally unenthusiastic so we go back up to the presidents lounge to network with the coaches and Tennis Australia officials.

Catch a players car back to the hotel, pack for only 1  1/2 days left.  Get ready for lots of matches on Tues and will see many of the top players on outback courts.

See you soon, be home Wed  at 11 in SFO and on to the club by 1 pm.

Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional

• Review: A Terrible Splendor by Marshall Jon Fisher [/caption] "A Terrible Splendor" by Marshall Jon Fisher Review by Ken DeHart This is one of my favorite tennis books of all time for 3 reasons!!!   Here's why: A great history of tennis and the world in the 1920's-60's including World War I and II Amazing "inside" story line about......
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250 Aussie Coaches seated in Hisense Arena with the roof retracted and you get to present on the court that the top players in the world compete on…..  Great feeling. Looks like an invite back next year to speak again.  Sold all my DVD’s and had requests for more.

We listened to Bruce Elliott, top bio-mechanist in the world, speak for 3 hours on all aspects of how to serve, correct the serve and then watched him improve Melanie Oudin’s serve. She is the sweetheart from Atlanta who reached the Semi’s at the US Open.

Migel Crespo, ITF Research Officer, based in Spain talked about what to consider before you start feeding balls and how to make subtle adjustments when coaching – including learning not to talk too much.

Ray Ruffles, the famous Aussie Coach of Mark Woodbridge and Woodford, talked about the game today, where he sees it going and what he sees on the players today.

Off to the outback courts to see the players practice and some matches. 

Saw Venus hitting, spoke to the Bryan Bros, passed Andy Roddick in the hall in the players room and Djokovic walked by as well.  Dan Santorum and I were courtside to talk to Melanie Oudin and her coach, Brian DeVilliers one of our long time PTR friends.  Melanie is doing well and a very engaging young lady to talk to.

Special news as we were finishing the Coaches Conference from Craig Tiley.  Roger Federer had called him to say “We need to do something to help the people in Haiti.”

Sunday, in a never before done event on Rod Laver Arena,  Federer, Roddick, both the Williams sisters, Samantha Stosur will play exhibitions and the public will be invited to Rod Laver Arena to help raise money for the people in Haiti.  Kids will be free and adults will be charged $10.  The pros will match the monies raised by the spectators.

Watched Djokovic lose in an exhibition match to local 17 year old Aussie, Bernard Tomic in 3 sets and Verdasco defeat Tsonga at Kooyong which was the former site of the Australian Open. I was fortunate to visit the newly refurbished club last night for dinner and to admire the old time pictures of past winners and trophies.  The club started in 1879 -wow..
Did some sight seeing as well to the highest building in Melbourne and lots of local sites. Beautiful churches and very multi-cultural city – very friendly.

Later in the evening we had a speakers dinner at South Park, one of the largest malls in Aussie land. Thanks to Travis Atkinson, Manager of Coach Development and Tess.  Great time to talk business, what is new in tennis with 8 of the speakers at the conference.  Lots of topics including the newly proposed World Cup Tennis to replace Davis Cup.

Looking forward to seeing the exhibitions today and more of the city.  Will keep you posted.

It’s raining here today for first day matches – but with 2 main courts with roofs – no worries we will have tennis – unlike at the club with the rain you all are getting.

Guess I will go to the Stadium and hang with the players – tough life, but I got to do it.  Nice to have the special badge.

See you soon,

Ken DeHart

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This is my third day in Melbourne as a speaker and my first time to Australia.  It has been an awesome experience…..

Today I walked about 6 blocks from my hotel on Russell St down to the tram (trolley) which I took over to Hysense Arena.  I am the 2nd presenter today on Hysense and they have the roof open today.  My presentation is on “20 Best Games for Strategy and Tactics” and I have 6 young players who will demonstrate the drills I will do.

There are 4 cameras on and about 250 coaches.  It is like a match and today I am on.  Good energy and I make quick friends with the kids so they respond well to all the drills we do.  My jokes are good as well today and I can tell I connect with the audience well.

The weather is cool this year so far and has been a bit cloudy.  Cool weather comes in form the south and hot weather from the winds out of the north.

Got voted the best presentation of the weekend to date.  Every DVD I brought with me sold out after my presentation and they were asking for more, so I told them to go to www.kendeharttennis.com to order.  Gave everyone who bought DVD’s a copy of my “Today” card with Kam and me on the top of it.

Got to be on the court to assist Dan Santorum with his presentation on Corrective Techniques and with a top physical trainer from Australia for the youth doing exercises to prevent injuries.  Later Dan and I went over to Rod Laver Arena and went to the players area.  We saw most of the players practicing.  Said ‘Hello” to the Bryan Brothers and Fabrice Santoro and got to see Donald Young from the US play his qualifying match. We talked to a long time friend of ours, Brian DeVilliers who is the coach for young American player Melanie Oudin from Atlanta, said “hello” to Donald Young’s dad and a couple of other international coaches.

We took the players van back to the hotel.  Dan got a ticket to a Crickett match at the big stadium next door and I chose to go with Frank from Holland and Mike Barrell from England to visit Kooyong Club.  It was built in 1879 and was the site of the Australian Open for several decades until they built the new stadium in Melbourne.  We had dinner there with a couple of friends who are members (10 yr wait list to join), 52 courts – 30 grass and about 20 clay, pictures of all the great Aussie players from the past and a few hundred silver trophies.  They are having a tournament going on now as a lead up to the Australian Open.  Songa and Verdasco will play in the finals tomorrow.  Federer will be there to play a practice match as well.

What history at this club.  They just spent $132 million renovating the facility.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Coaches Conference back the Hysense Arena from 9-4:30.  We will have a 4 hour course on all aspects of the serve from Bruce Elliott, one of the top bio-mechanist in the world, a presentation from famous Australian player and coach – Ray Ruffles and Miguel Crespo on Drills, think before you feed.

I have Sunday off except for a dinner for the speakers at the conference to do some sight seeing.  Monday I have Rod Laver Arena tickets to watch first round play.

Ken DeHart

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• Aussie Land and Tennis Update #4 It is wet here and I have not had a chance to use my sunscreen in 7 days..... Cool, windy and wet - am I in San Jose??? Dan Santorum and I walked in the mist, wind and chill down Russell Street to Findley St and off to Rod......
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My first visit to Australia was awesome.

I enjoyed speaking to the 250 participants in Hisense Arena and being on the Australian Open court.  Everyone seemed to like my presentation on the “20 Best Games for Strategy and Tatics” and I sold all my 70 plus DVD’s I took with me. I now have 7 different DVD’s out there and 2 more on the way.  I also gave my “Today” handout to most everyone and access to my website for additional free information.

I walked all over Melbourne – the University, tennis bookstores looking for more books to add to my 2,000 book collection, the sidewalk cafes for lunch and dinner, taking the trolleys or Trams to Rod Laver Arena, seeing the old stadium at Kooyong with 40 grass and 20 clay courts.  I enjoyed time with Dan, Wayne, Mike and Frank as we talked and ate our way thru the week.  Other speakers Miguel and Bruce Elliott were delightful as well.

Most of all I enjoyed the staff at the conference that were delightful – Tess, Travis,  Ryan, Patrick, Belinda, Rob and more.  Very delightful and made the Conference special as well as making us feel at home.

It was incredible being in the players area and standing next to Roger Federer,  Del Potro, Justine,  Melaine Oudin, Li Na, Baghdatis and all the coaches that I got to talk to just being in that area – Kelly Jones and Brian DeVilliers.

It was great just to roam around the grounds and see all the players up close as they competed – Sonderlin, Blake, Federer, Hewitt, Serena, Roddick and all the fans walking about.  First it was in the cold and rain the last two days in the sunshine of Australia.

All the best,

Ken

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