It has been a pretty good couple of days here in Sacramento.  I won my second round of singles on Thursday against Denis Lajola (USA) 6-2 6-2.  I played a pretty solid match overall.  It was a big improvement from the level of tennis in the first round so I was pretty happy with that.  Today, in the quarterfinals, I went up against Philip Bester (CAN) who is a friend of mine.  We trained and roomed together at IMG academies in Bradenton, FL from when I was fourteen to roughly seventeen and a half.  Needless to say we are pretty familiar with each other's game and have played in the past a couple of times.  I lost to him both times that we previously played but in pretty close matches.  It was a strange match overall.  It was just a couple of points here and there to decide each set.  I was lucky enough to come up big on a couple of points in the third set to take the match 6-4 2-6 6-3.  I will face Nicolas Meister (USA) in the semifinals tomorrow at 1:00PM.  The only time we have played was 7-6 in the third (barely squeezed it out) so I look forward to a tough battle.  

     Thursday's doubles match was not a pretty showing by any means but Jordan Cox and I were lucky to squeeze it out in the third set tiebreaker 2-6 6-0 10-7.  Today we went up against Phillip Simmonds (USA) and Vahid Mirzadeh (USA) in the semifinals of doubles.  They played pretty well and came up big on the deciding points when they needed to.  So they took us down 6-4 6-3.  The no-ad scoring system in doubles frustrates me like crazy.  I just want to let that be known to the world. 

     Besides all the tennis action it has been a pretty good time here in Sacramento.  The weather has been off the charts for the most part.  It is roughly eighty to ninety degrees every day with a slight breeze and no humidity.  I couldn't ask for it much better.  Our housing people took us out on the boat today as well.  There was a little bit of tubing involved along with some wakeboarding as well.  I had a pretty good time watching Greg Ouellette wakeboard for second.  There is nothing like watching a former Florida gator crash and burn.  No offense to any gator fans out there.  There always has to be some SEC trash talk involved.  You know how it is.  Jordan Cox also made a few attempts at wakeboarding but was unsuccessful.  I have faith that he will work out the kinks and get up one of these next couple of days though.  Perseverance is key in the wakeboarding game. 

     I would also like to give a shout-out to the king himself, Lebron James.  Without his dominant performance in game six last night, I am not sure I would have been able to get through my singles match today.  When Lebron steps up, I step up.  That is just the way it is.  Watching his 45-point performance last night was the most pumped I have been in my entire life to date.  That is a fact.  The guy was as coldblooded as I have ever seen in my life.  I was watching a little bit of the replay tonight just to reminisce on how unreal it actually was.  He is a machine and a hero.  End of story. 

     Anyways it has been real as usual.  That is all of the information I have for you today.  I hope that you all enjoyed the blog.  I will post again either tomorrow or Sunday.  Thanks for reading along.  Be blessed. 

All the best,

DB

     It is finally tournament time again.  I have had a couple weeks of good preparation so I am ready to try and do some damage here in Sacramento, CA.  I open up tomorrow at 10:00AM against Eric James Johnson of the USA.  I have not heard much about him so I am not really sure what to expect, but I look forward to getting after it.  I am playing doubles with my brosef Jordan Cox this week.  We play our first match tomorrow not before 1:00PM.  So I will play my singles match.  Then grab a quick bite for lunch.  Then get straight on my doubles grind.  It is that simple.  There is no time for shenanigans tomorrow (big word right? patting myself on the back as we speak).  I am looking forward to a good days work. 

     I am really blessed to have an awesome housing setup this week.  I housed with the same family last year and they are a great crew.  I wasn't about to let some other jokers from the tournament get this place.  So I called dibs on them about a month before the tournament.  I am basically coming into the tournament feeling like I have already won.  Jordan Cox and Greg Ouellette are staying in the house as well so I should have some pretty good updates throughout the week on the going-ons here. 

     The housing has a small lake in the back of the house with a trampoline tube.  This tube wasn't around last year so it was the first thing I noticed when we pulled in.  I said, "Is that a trampoline in the water?" but what I really meant was, "Is this going to be the greatest week of my life?"  Needless to say, after all our practices were finished up on Sunday, we jumped.   And we jumped hard.  I wish I could describe the awesomeness levels in words, but to be frank, it just isn't possible.  There were plenty of diving catches being made into the water.  There were also plenty of failed attempts, which were way more entertaining.  I will have to post some pictures of the lake on Wednesday.  It is a thing of beauty.  You are going to like what you see.  I guarantee it.

     On a more serious note, I look forward to keeping you guys posted on everything this week.  I always try my best to bring my A+ blog game during tournament time.  Stay alert and ready because I am bringing the heat this week.  It is going to be a fun one.  I will hopefully have some good news for you guys on the Wednesday post.  I am off to get some much-needed rest for match time tomorrow.  I hope you all have spectacular weeks.  Thanks for stopping in. 

All the best,

D-Train