I hope the summer has been treating you all well!! Mine has been flying by, with lots of trips and even a little tennis from time to time. I just returned to the south from a 3 week trip around the northeast, and am excited to be home.
My trip started out with a drive up from Charleston, SC to Philadelphia, PA. It was a solid 10 hour drive, which may seem like a lot, but is much shorter than the normal one I do which is to Boston (around 18 hours or so). I met up with my good friend Gabe, and spent the day catching up with him about his summer. It is not often I get to go to the northeast cities in the summer, since most of our tournaments
The next leg of the trip was up to Maine for a solid week of rest and relaxation. It was great to get away from the Southern humidity for a while, and although it rained a but in Maine, it was a beautiful week. I then traveled down to Boston for a few days of training at the Tennis and Racquet Club. This was for a few reasons, one being that I had not played since June, and the other being that I had a tournament in Newport the next weekend! After a nice few days in Boston I headed down to Newport to meet up with all the boys at the Pell Cup. It was a nice weekend, with some of the best weather I’ve seen in Newport in a long time. Unfortunately the tournament didn’t go as planned, and my partner and I ended up going home in second place.
Following the tournament I hopped back in the car to start the long drive home, but managed to make a few stops along the way. The first stop was in Tuxedo Park, NY to see my good friend and doubles partner Tim Chisholm. I had not seen Tim all summer, and felt it was a needed stop over. We had a great time catching up, and put in some solid hours on the court as well.
After Tuxedo I headed down to Washington, DC for my final stop over of the trip. The boys at Princes Court had arranged clinics which I was happy to do doing the day. It was great to see how many people turned out to hit and chat with me. That night I was treated to a great dinner and a late night session of a video game called Rock Band with some great friends.
I have now arrived back in the south, having hit every court on the east coast over the last 3 weeks. It was a great trip, and was so nice to catch up with so many people. I now have a few weeks down south to train and prepare for the first tournament of the season, the French Open. The tournament start September 21st and is being played in Paris. I will be returning to the northeast for a week or so before it starts to finish off my training, and if you are around would love to catch up with you all!
Thanks again to all of the clubs and members who were nice enough to spend some time with me over the last few weeks. I will do my best to keep you all updated in the coming weeks.