[KIM]Kim's Diary--Happy about the way I played
Happy about the way I played 04-11-2006
I won my match today and am now into the semifinals. I feel really good about
the way I played. I was seeing the ball and moving a lot better.
I was doing those things for a few games here and there in my previous matches
this week, but today, I played well throughout the whole two sets. I just
didn't let her back into the game. Actually, my serve was my biggest advantage;
I was hitting it well and got a lot of free points.
I was told afterwards I haven't lost this few games in a match on the Tour
since here in the semifinals last year, which is nice but I don't think about
those things. It's hard for me to compare between matches from the past; it's
difficult enough for me to compare matches from the week before! But I can tell
when I'm playing my best tennis, and that's a feeling I had today. Now it's a
matter of maintaining that feeling, that you feel you can do anything you
want with the ball. That feeling can go away quickly too; I still feel I'm not
playing my most perfect tennis.
It was a bit of a late night last night. There was the late match, a massage
after that, then I hung out with family and friends afterwards, had some
drinks (no alcohol!), and just some fun talks. I slept in until about 9:15 or
9:30 this morning, then kept to the same routines today, like going to the
bakery, feeding the dogs; I finally called Neil from the Times (who I was
supposed to call yesterday, but slept through). Other than that I just rested,
checked my e-mails... that's about it. I did do some online shopping with
Caroline like I mentioned I would - we ordered cool stuff for going to
Australia in January, like some summer clothes.
Caroline is one of a few people who'll be coming with me to Australia. My
sister Elke (see picture!) will also make the trip, as will my hitting partner,
Wim. I've been training with Wim since I was eight or nine years old. He's one
or two years older than me, and is just a really nice guy, loves tennis, and
he's a very good coach. He teaches in Belgium. I enjoy his company. It's nice
to travel with friends and family, not only to celebrate the wins but also to
just have fun off the court. That's definitely the case with Wim and it's
always great to have this kind of company when you're so far away from home.
Brian has a game tonight, but I won't be able to see it, because it's going
on at the moment! Before I walked into my post-match press I got a message on
my phone, from my friends that are there, that they're down by four points in
the third quarter, 52-48. Apparently, it's a tough game physically, and they're
fighting a lot. It's a bit late for me to go there because it's a 30-minute
drive, so I'll just wait to hear about it when he gets home, and catch some of
the highlights on TV.
Brian is also really into in music. He has a band, The Garbage Men. Right now
they're working on their first CD and it's going very well. We have a music
room at home, and he's in there a lot, writing songs, lyrics, music, trying
everything on the guitar; I think it's great. It's something he really enjoys,
and he's good at it. Over the last six months I can hear how much he has
improved. They have four or five songs recorded but the CD is not ready to come
out yet. He's the guitarist in the band - he does some singing, too, but he's
not the lead singer.
People have been asking about our wedding, and I tell them we're still thinking
about everything. We have some ideas as to when and where but we haven't made
any decisions yet. I'll have to think about it more when the off-season comes
because you just have more time together to discuss things. It isn't going to
be easy, with one family from America and one from Belgium, so we need to take
a lot of things into consideration! There's always little things to think about.
And, I want to be involved. I won't need a wedding planner; I like to do a lot
of things myself, I enjoy organizing things. My sister and my bridesmaids will
help me out too, hopefully!
So back to the tournament, it was a little bit surprising today, seeing
Schiavone and Ivanovic both lose. I saw a bit of those matches on TV. Schiavone
always does well in Belgium, making the finals last year. But nothing really
changes for me; those losses just mean that there are other players out there
playing well. It doesn't make things easier for me at all. Next up I have
Vera Zvonareva, who is a very tough player. Very competitive, very steady,
hits it hard, a good mover... I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's
these matches I've been training for! As the tournament goes on, less and less
players are around, and things just get more intimate, more personal. It's nice.
I don't enjoy it too much when things are really noisy and stressful, I like
it better when things are calm. Also, it's a good sign if you're still around
at the end of the week!
Talk to you all tomorrow,
Kim
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