Week Six

I cannot begin to describe how amazing this last week has been for the both of us and for the Tennis Federation of Cambodia. We showed up in Qatar, Doha at the bottom of the rankings because we have no Davis Cup history and left finishing at the top, undefeated with a promotion to Group III next year! History was definitely in the making this week and we are both proud and excited to be part of it. It is still hard to believe that only 5 months ago my Father wrote an e-mail to the Tennis Federation of Cambodia about us, giving us this opportunity of a lifetime that I can share with my kids someday and hopefully they share with theirs. Knowing the history of Cambodia and what they have been through and overcame was definitely a big motivator to push myself to play my hardest everyday when I stepped on the court this last week. I think it is important to know the struggles and the tribulations that have happened here to get a better picture of what this means for Cambodia. If you could have seen how some of the other countries looked at us and brushed us off because we were the last seed and it being our Davis Cup debut, you would think we did not have a shot at making Group III! We were told before leaving to Qatar that we were building the foundation for tennis in Cambodia and we believe that. If you want a sport to grow competitively you have to invest in your junior program and I think what we have accomplished this week will definitely inspire future tennis players in Cambodia to want to be competitive and hopefully someday walk in our footsteps and take it further than we have.

So, you must be wondering what we are going to do with our last 10 days here in Cambodia? Well Pun and I are trying to make our way to Siem Reap where my father lived so we can visit the ancient temple, Angkor Wat and do some exploring of this amazing country. We will most likely go back to Kep again, but mainly we just want to relax before we go back to work! Words cannot express how blessed we feel to have such amazing support back home throughout this journey. We leave here the 3^rd of May and get back on the 4^th. We are excited to come home and see everyone! Until then, take care!

Week Five

With Davis Cup just around the corner this week has been insanely busy! We got back on Tuesday from Vietnam and Wednesday we had to do a press conference for just about 150 people about our trip to Doha. It took place in a huge conference room at the biggest casino in South East Asia called NagaWorld. They happen to be one of our key sponsors in sending 4 of us to Doha. Luckily the team had been asked only 1 question, but I had to respond because our number 4 can’t speak English very well, our number 1 is shy, and Pun would have said something stupid so I saved him the trouble of saying a word. After the press conference a French designer who designed our suits for Doha had a fashion show displaying his clothing line and at the end the four of us had our turn at the catwalk displaying the suits he made and our uniforms for Davis Cup. It was an interesting experience for both of us, definitely overcame some fears of stage freight!

Friday we left Phnom Penh from NagaWorld in a huge bus to Phnom Penh National Airport. We were greeted by at the airport by school children all wishing us good luck on our journey to Doha. Our flight took off at 3pm and stopped in Bangkok for 3 hours. Our flight to Doha took about six and a half hours. It was not a bad flight when you got a mini television screen with movies to choose from. When we got to Doha it was just a bit past eleven. During the drive from the airport to the hotel you could see towering buildings in every direction. It’s nice to be riding around in organized traffic again! The view from my hotel is pretty amazing also.

Sunday Night all the countries that are participating in Davis Cup Group IV were invited for an opening ceremony dinner. During this dinner they announced which teams will be competing against each other in their pools. They announced that our first match on Monday the 16^th is against Singapore, Tuesday against Qatar, Wednesday against Myanmar, Thursday we get a break, and Friday against Jordan. There is Pool A and Pool B, consisting of 5 teams in each pool. The two top teams in each pool will then switch pools to play in the semi-finals against the other Pool. The top two teams from each pool will then progress the next year into Group III. The format will be number two singles first, number 1 singles, and then number 1 doubles. After the first singles match there will be a 10 minute waiting period and then the second singles match will take place, followed by doubles 30 minutes after the second singles match. If you would like to look at the schedule you can check it out at the Davis Cup link I have posted at the bottom.

I think the quickest way to update everyone on our status is through Facebook, so if you want to keep track on our progress, be on the lookout! Hope everyone is doing great, can't wait to come back and see every ones faces! 

Davis Cup Group IV Schedule:

http://www.daviscup.com/en/results/group-iv/asia-oceania/2012.aspx

Week Four

It was a short week in Cambodia, because of the two Future Tournaments taking place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We are here trying to get some practice and match play in before heading to Doha for the Davis Cup. After training three days in Cambodia, we left Thursday morning to Ho Chi Minh City by bus. The bus ride took a little over 5 hours, which was not as bad as it sounds when you got an iPhone full of music and Temple Run. For those who don’t know what Temple Run is, it’s a game app for smart phones with a character that runs and collects coins while jumping over trees, sliding under trees, and running away from monkey like creatures. Our coach is really good at it but I am starting to catch up to his record. My highest score so far is 3.3 million! I can’t figure out how to take a picture of my record using my iPhone, so I found a picture online to give you a better picture of the game that has taken up a lot of our time on this trip when we are not practicing. 

After passing the border to Vietnam you can already notice more motos on the road than in Cambodia. When we got to Ho Chi Minh City you can really notice the difference. Also the quality in drivers on the road is noticeable as well. I’m pretty sure we almost get into a car wreck everyday on our way to the practice courts. Other than traffic and no access to Facebook, Vietnam is not as bad as people have been telling me.

So the first week of the Future Tournament I was 7^th on the waiting list to get into qualifying and Pun was 2^nd on the list. The 1^st and 3^rd on the waiting list got into the qualifying draw and the 4^th and 5^th on the list didn’t sign in so I got bumped up to 2^nd on the list the day before qualifying, but still no one else pulled out so I did not get in. A little disappointed because it would have been nice to get some tournament experience but the players that did not make it to qualifying or lost first round, hang out at these tournaments to keep practicing so it will still be a good opportunity for me to get some good match play in still. Our Federation traded wild cards with Vietnams Federation so Pun made it automatically to the main draw. This is pretty exciting for him because he went to Brazil after college for multiple Future Tournaments trying to make into the main draw and sometimes would not be able to get into the tournaments for qualifying rounds. So he has a good chance to get ATP points here which will make it easier to get into other tournaments in the future. He’s got a tough first round, playing a guy ranked 710 in the world, but he should be okay because he’s been hitting extremely well lately.

If you would like to keep up with how Pun is doing this week I have posted the link to the tournament draw sheet at the bottom of this page. Next week’s tournament Pun is 7^th on the waiting list and I am 10^th. Again, I think it’s a pretty slim chance to get in because more ranked players are coming in for the second week than the first, but I am still thinking positive that I will get my shot in qualifying. Our main focus is Davis Cup right now, so this is just a bonus to be here. I am still practicing while in Vietnam and playing well, so things are looking good for Doha. Even though we have a camera now, we still forget to snap a few pics for everyone to see. I apologize! We both miss family and friends a lot, hope everything is going well back home!

Link to Vietnam Future 1 Draw:

http://itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men's-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100026290

Week Three

We have Sunday off here so the General Secretary took us karting at the local race track where he owns a couple 2 stroke karts that are extremely  fast. After testing out one of those 2 stroke engine karts I decided to stick to the go-karts that were more family friendly. We spent a couple hours in the evening there racing the kids and adults. It was definitely a great way to spend the day off here in Phnom Penh.

Third week here has been the toughest so far. After a nice Sunday break, Monday came along and kicked our ass. Our head coach got back Sunday night so Monday was a long day for training. The tennis part of training here is focused on directionals. Its hard to go into detail but it’s a high percentage, low risk game style that allows you to play more natural without thinking too much about the next shot. We have been given a book here to read called Coaching Tennis by Chuck Kriese, which explains it all. Very interesting read. We have been playing tennis our whole lives and still  are learning new things! We spent a lot of time conditioning this week in the gym and at the Olympic Stadium track. We ran a timed mile on Wednesday and sprinted four 400 meters. Pun ran a 5:46 mile and I ran a 6:50 mile, which is probably my best time! We won’t talk about how sprinting went. In the gym we do a little bit of weights, body weight work outs, and a lot of core.

Pun and I have been breaking strings here like crazy, so we have to take a tuk tuk to the racquet shop that takes about 20 minutes there and back. The other day we found an old drop weight stringer in the Federation office, took it back along with all the tools to our hotel room. Now we don’t have to make the long trips and deal with the crazy traffic here in the city! We are staying at the Cambodian Country Club (training site for The Tennis Federation of Cambodia). They have a equestrian training center, soccer field, weight room, badminton courts, basketball court,  and a swimming pool. In front of our hotel is the Equestrian Federation training center, so we see horses every morning. I like all sorts of animals so usually pet them before we eat breakfast. We see a lot of frogs and geckos here, especially at night when the bugs come out. If you don't keep your door shut here, critters will find there way into your rooms. I'm pretty sure we have two geckos living in our bathroom. Its a very interesting and different life over here!

We have not ventured out in the city lately because we've been busy with training, but we were told of this restaurant that serves really good Khmer food and they serve Cambodian athletes for free. The name of the restaurant is called Alibaba. I know the name doesn't sound Cambodian, but they serve really good Khmer food! Pun and I have been there a couple times when we have the energy to leave the Country Club. We went out with the team this week to a Thai restaurant behind our coach’s place, which also has really good food as well. It’s been nice to finally go out and enjoy local foods here without having stomach aches after. We found a shopping center downtown called Sorya, which has been a good hang out spot when we get days off. The prices here are affordable so we will definitely have to get another suitcase for the gifts we have bought people back home.

This next coming week should be interesting because we are going to Vietnam and try to get into qualifying for two Future tournaments in Ho Chi Minh City. Our chances of getting into qualifying rounds are pretty slim because we are high on the waiting list and we don’t have points, but we are hoping to get into at least one of them. It’ll be nice to get some match play in before heading to Doha. Going to Vietnam also means visiting the country my mother is from, pretty sweet! Pun bought a digital camera at the mall so we are able to load them faster onto the computer, so expect a lot of pictures for next week’s blog. Hope everyone is doing well back home!

Week Two

Our first weekend in Cambodia took us to a coastal town called Kep, which was interesting because it’s where the mountain meets the sea. They did not have white sand and clear water, but rather dirt beaches and murky water. The view was still amazing and even though the beaches were not what we had expected, there was a zen feeling from the environment. We stayed at a beach house owned by the Secretary General himself and the view from his backyard by the pool out towards the sea was pretty amazing. It’s definitely a place I would like to spend more time after tennis is over. Then Saturday came and we all headed out towards Rabbit Island which was 15 minutes out from his place. Rabbit Island is definitely the place you want hang out and chill if you’re ever near Kep. Kenny, Pun, and Rithi (Secretary General) took his boat out and I got to take a jet ski! My first time was pretty interesting because after awhile my right arm got pretty tired and I started swerving to the right, but it was still a blast. Rabbit Island is what you would imagine if you were thinking about a tropical getaway with white sand and clear ocean water. The lack of cords to download pictures from our camera is holding us back from sharing these great moments and places on this trip, but I’ve been snapping pictures here and there from my phone.

The last day in Kep we went to visit the local orphanage/school to hang out with the kids, hit some tennis, and give them school supplies. The tennis courts were just concrete slab made for basketball with faded boundary lines and two decent nets for two mini courts. The racquets they had were not even half as good as the first racquet I owned when I started tennis. This was a pretty deep moment for me, seeing what little that had to work with. We grab some of the racquets laying on ground that was in poor condition and starting rallying with the kids. You would not believe the talent some of these kids possess! Given the opportunity, there is no doubt in my mind that they will one day represent Cambodia. Pun and I are not just here to play tennis, we’re here to help this federation grow and let people know this country is serious about this sport. If we’re able to do this I think that grants, sponsors, and donations will come in and hopefully give kids at orphanages all around an opportunity through tennis like we we’re given growing up. We got done hitting with the kids, handed them out school supplies. Some thanked us in French some in Cambodia. When we get back, Pun and I are definitely going to look into getting tennis equipment for those aspiring talented tennis players and school supplies for those smart children.

Training is every day, morning and afternoon. Conditioning on the track is two times a week. So the start of the week rolls through and we started off on the track at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. The stadium is a pretty cool and historic site in the city to visit. Our first day was not tough; we just had our 2 miles timed. Pun cruised through his 2 miles pretty quickly in 12 minutes and me in 13 minutes, which was pretty good for someone to does not like to run.  Other exercise at the stadium that we’ve done is running up and down the step around the stadium. If you haven’t seen the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh you can google it to get a better picture. We head back to the training center where we are staying and rest or a couple hours and then the afternoon we have hitting practice. We do a lot of agility and footwork drills on the court that are really intense but beneficial. We’ve been learning new hitting drills here as well that are really tough, especially in the heat and humidity. It’s been tough adjusting to the conditions here but Pun and I feel we are getting better every day.

As for coping with daily life here, things are going good. Traffic is still an adventure every time we leave the training center. We get the minor stomach aches from the food and head ache from the heat after practice, but they have a pharmacy here on site which is very helpful. Pun and I have our own dirty laundry corner! We were running out of clothes to wear after our first week so we asked the front desk at the resort where they wash and dry clothes, only to find out that they only use washers here and that clothes are dried outside. Still a lot to learn here! It’s tough when you want to see a lot of things and just relax, but we’re here to play tennis so we don’t get a lot of free time. We do get Sundays off so I’m hoping for an adventure of some sort. That pretty much sums up week 2 for us here, nothing too exciting going on. Hope all is going well back home! 

Week One

Greetings from Cambodia!

It’s a long way from home and communication can be tough when we’re on the road and our phones service is shut off, so I’m hoping this blog will keep everyone back home updated with our journey for the next 2 months. For everyone who doesn’t know, Pun and I have been given the opportunity to take part in the Davis Cup, representing Cambodia. Some of our competition will be Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and United Emirates.

The flight from Seattle to Seoul, Korea was a grueling 12 hours. I had bought the Hunger Games in Portland because I was told it was an easy read and read a good 10 pages before my attention was drawn to the miniature tv screen in front of me. I watched The Warrior, Despicable Me, Iron Man 2, Captain America, and two other movies I can't remember. This left about 5 hours of sleeping time the rest of the way. When we arrived in Seoul it was a relief to stretch our legs for short period of time, having to board a 5 hour plane trip less than an hour later. We got to Phnom Penh a couples minutes past 11pm, greeted by the Secretary General himself and his assistant.

My first couple of days here has been amazing so far because of how nice the weather is. I love the sun!  Just from what I’ve seen from the car ride from the airport to our place of stay, I knew that this trip is going to be a great chapter in my life. The Secretary General got both of us rooms on site at the Tennis of Federation of Cambodia training facility, which is at the Cambodian Country Club. So far I’ve seen toads and lizards roaming around! This country club has got it all from a horse ring, gym, pool, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, etc. We are sharing a room which is pretty nice, just took awhile to get the A/C going. Plug-ins is different here! Good thing mom and pops packed the converter set.

We haven’t officially started training because our coach is currently in Japan coaching a Japanese player that is really good. So official training should start next week when he comes in. I heard he is a great coach, but this just reassures me of his reputation because he is in such high demand and has also played tennis in the states too. He also turned down a higher paying offer for another job, but was dedicated to the cause of putting Cambodian tennis back on the map. Can’t wait to meet this guy! We met the #1 player for Cambodia, Kenny Bun. Real nice kid and rising star from France. We hit a little bit today for the Secretary General to get a feel of what we are bringing to the ream and after about 45 minutes I was soaked with sweat. 91 degrees doesn’t sound too hot, but if you come from Oregon this time of year then you’re in for a surprise! Later today we are doing a press conference for the Cambodian media about the exciting events to come.

It was only 5 months ago when my father e-mailed the Tennis Federation of Cambodia and now we’re actually here. I would have never guessed they would be as interested in us as they are and give us a chance to represent Cambodia in one of the most prideful event tennis has to offer. Everything is happening so fast! Both Pun and I feel really blessed to be able to have this opportunity that many don’t have a chance to experience and we want to share it with family and friends in the states. Not much has happened so far but I will try to keep blogging every week to keep friends and family updated back home.  Hope all is well, miss you guys in Oregon!

Vetu