Tomorrow we FLY

Welp--tomorrow’s the day we leave for Beijing! After several weeks of meetings and some intense tennis background reports, it’s finally time for the tournament! I’ve spent hours pouring over the ATP and WTA player’s lists, putting together and updating bios of the players coming to the China Open.

When we first arrive we’ll have time to visit the stadium and do some sight seeing before the big games begin. I’m planning on watching as many of the qualifying matches as possible before the real tournament starts. At our meeting we with Blake Starkey, the head tennis coach at MIZZOU, we were told to look out for the “drama” at the qualifiers. 

These players are intense--even more so than the big players who play in million dollar matches.  They’ve given up everything in their lives to try to make it in tennis. For some of them, the qualifying rounds at the China Open are “make it or break it”.   Losing a point here could literally change a life. I’m looking forward to tons of good tennis—plus, I can’t wait to see where my “credentials” will take me.

Tomorrow morning I fly out of St. Louis to Chicago, then all the way to Beijing. It’s crazy to think that I will be half way around the world within 24 hours! I’m all packed up and ready to go…