What a Day!

The day was overcast and no wind....perfect playing conditions. I was on first match. I knew when I walked on the court I was ready to play. We had been scouting our opponents, plus talked to our 50's team who had played last year against some of these same girls. We stayed on serve then I broke and went on to win the first set 6-3. Our points were long, but I was patient and determined and very pumped. I lost my serve early and went down a break 0-2 in the second then went on to win the next 4 games. She broke and held to get to 4-4. Then we both held for 5-5, then on to 6 all. The tiebreaker was tight through 3 all, then I played some great points and went on to win 7-3 in the tiebreaker. Mary stayed on the court with me and was great! I was so unbelievably pumped up as were my teammates! It was a great win, and a point I knew our team badly needed. Fran started her singles after mine. The girls she played is a former tour player. She was so good. She could drop shot from anywhere, and her strokes were so smooth and effortless. She won the first set 6-1 before Fran could do anything. The second set went a little better, as the girl started making more errors. Unfortunately on this day the girl was too much and won the second 6-4. That made us tied for the match with doubles to be played to determine the winner. The two girls for France that played singles also played doubles. We thought Mary and Susan would be our best bet. They were both fresh, rested and ready to go. Once again the first set was so quick, we lost 6-1. With Fran on their court to coach, they made some adjustments, the momentum turned and we won the second set 7-5. The third set of doubles would decide the match. Talk about nerve wracking!!!! After a 10 minute break, the third set started and Susan lost a tough, long game on her serve. It seemed after that things went down hill for us. The other team picked it up and we ended up losing the third set 6-3 and the overall match 2-1. It was a tough loss. But on this day the French team was better than we were. So now, tomorrow we play off for 3 & 4. We'll either play Great Britain or the Netherlands. They were just starting their matches when we finished, so we're not sure yet who it will be. Doesn't matter. We're all ready to go out and play our hearts out again tomorrow! This whole experience is so awesome!

The players dinner last night was fun. It was on the beach at sunset on the Mediterreanean. Does it get any better than that? Yes it does.....Mary Daily and I talked this one chef into making us a CHEESE PIZZA!!!!! It was the best food I've had all week! I was in heaven! Pizza and "coke light" as they call it here...it was as wonderful as the sunset!