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