Well Darian King and I got the job done in the doubles today 6-2 6-0.  I watched The Avengers last night so I was pumped up and ready to go to war.  I highly recommend it if you are into the whole superhero thing.  I mean who doesn't like a good superhero flick?  Somebody told me I have a similar physique as Thor.  You check him out and decide for yourself.  Ok fine, nobody said that.  It would be awesome if they did though right?  That guy is a beast.  Anyways we are on to the semifinals of doubles tomorrow.  Second round of singles will be tomorrow at 1:30pm followed by doubles not before 4:30pm.  Hopefully I can keep the momentum going.  That is about it on the updates on the business end of things.

     It was a pretty uneventful day for the most part.  I had a good hit and got a decent workout in.  I am pretty drained from all the sun today.  That is what I have come to expect here in Mexico though.  I did experience my first licuado this afternoon.  It is pretty much just a smoothie but Mexican.  The ingredients were banana, granola, and one other that I couldn't identify.  If I had to guess I would say condensed milk. I tried asking the lady exacty what it was, but once again the communication barrier proved to be too much.  I am not exactly sure I want to know what it was either.  It was being scooped out of what looked like a paint bucket.  I don't discriminate against containers though.  It tasted pretty awesome so I was a happy camper. 

      I will give you guys some more entertainment on Friday.  There will be a possible short post again tomorrow since I play singles and doubles.  I am pretty whipped at the moment though so I am going to get some much needed beauty rest.  I hope you all had a blessed day. 

All the best,

Devin

     So I survived my first full week as a blogger.  I am feeling loose as a goose and ready for week two.  Can you feel the intensity in the air right now?  I know I can.  I am ready to snap some necks and cash some checks.  Let's do this thing. 

     I had to throw in a little motivational speech in there to make sure you guys were awake.  Ok, on to the updates.  So I took the bus from Celaya to Guadalajara yesterday at 4:30pm.  First off, the bus was incredible.  The legroom was off the charts.  The seats reclined into semi-beds.  There were footrests that folded down from the seat in front of me.  Not to mention that the views were incredible since it I was on the road during the sunset.  I snapped a couple of shots that I have to share with you guys (below).  I couldn't decide which one was more awesome.  So I am just going to throw a duo of pictures at you.  All of this action came for the beautiful price of 410 pesos ($32 roughly).  The only down side is that I was forced to watch Eat, Pray, Love followed by Pretty Woman in Spanish.  I decided to watch Zoolander just afterwards on my computer to try and balance things out. 

     The facility here in Guadalajara is pretty incredible.  They held the 2011 Pan American games here so it has all sorts of different sporting setups.  I haven't gotten around to seeing any of them besides the tennis courts just yet though.  They have a pretty good-sized stadium court (below) and multiple smaller stadium seated courts.  It would be one hundred times better if people were actually here to sit in the stands.  Unfortunately in futures tournaments that is something you rarely find.  Although in Mexico you will usually find about as big of a crowd as anywhere else in the world.  They love their tennis here.  I will give them credit for that.  Anyways the setup is pretty awesome.  The one real downside is that there is no grub to be found anywhere on site.  I plan on packing my own lunch tomorrow.  Subway is just across the street from the hotel so problem solved.  It is also roughly 90 plus degrees during the day. Shade is not something that is easily found.  The sun is pretty brutal I am not going to lie.  It is not all that humid here.  It is mostly just purebred heat.  I am definitely getting a good bronzing.  I did lather on a little 100 SPF sunscreen to try and avoid getting scorched today though.  Overall this place is pretty sweet.  I can't complain.

     I start playing singles tomorrow at 12:30pm.  I play the same guy as I played first round last week.  This is pretty rare but happens every once in a while.  They make the draw by choosing two players to randomly draw chips out of an ITF official bag.  So it is purely the luck of the draw.  I am playing doubles with Darian King (BAR) again this week.  We played our first round of doubles today and won 6-4 6-3 so on to the second round on Wednesday.  That is about all the info I have for you at this point in time.  I will probably throw a shorter post in tomorrow after my singles.  I believe the comment section is up and running perfectly now.  So feel free to say hello, make fun, or just like and share with you friends.  Any of those options are cool with me.  Anyways it has been fun.  You know what they say, "Monday, fun day."  By they, I mean nobody.  For real though I am out of here.  Have a good one people. 

All the best,

DB

     I have good news and bad news for you guys.  I am going to start off with the bad news because I need to get it off my chest.  Plus I am a big fan of ending on a good note.  So let's jump right into it shall we?  I lost my singles today to Miquel Gallardo-Valles (MEX) 5-7 6-4 5-7.  I got broken first game of the match after playing a pretty poor game.  From there on I was putting way too much pressure on myself to get a break back.  I was making some pretty bad shot selections and was just not being nearly patient enough.  We got deep in the set and he was serving up 5-4 40-15 when I decided it was time to play.  So I won four quick points in a row and got the break back I had been looking for.  Unfortunately the next game was a disaster.  I made zero first serves and missed a couple of early balls in the rally and got broken right back at 30.  He played a pretty solid game at 6-5 to close out the set.  The second set was more of what I was looking for.  I was playing much better overall and was just more relaxed in general.  I had break chances early in the set, but I did not panic.  At 5-4 I played a really solid game and broke at love for the set.  Going into the third I was feeling pretty confident.  I played a really solid game to open up the set holding at love.  It took a pretty rough turn after that though.  I went down 5-2 double break in what seemed like no time at all.  I wasn't finished just yet though.  The next game I played really well and broke at love.  The hold came with a little bit of a struggle, but I got through it either way.  The 5-4 game was huge.  I played some clutch ball and got a break point at 30-40.  I have never been so relieved to see a double fault.  It was the first real gift of the match.  I thought to myself, "I have come this far.  This must be meant to be."   Not quite.  I played a pretty rough service game to go down 30-40.   I decided to throw him a gift-wrapped double fault in there as well just to be a nice guy.  He played a pretty solid game to hold to win the match.  Needless to say, I had plenty of opportunities.  Just wasn't good enough when I needed to be. 

     It feels good to get that off my chest.  Let's move on to the good news.  Darian King and I won the finals of the doubles today 2-6 6-4 10-4.  I was pretty sluggish in the first set due to the lengthy singles match and quick turn around.  Darian played some good ball and I was lucky to get it going in time to pull out the win.  Overall it was a pretty good week.  I wish I could have gotten through the singles today obviously, but it happens.  On to the next. 

     Tomorrow I am headed to Guadalajara, Mexico for the next tournament.  It is roughly a four-hour bus ride away.  Most of the guys left today so I will be riding solo on this journey.  Guadalajara is a much bigger city (population of roughly 1.5 million) so there should be a lot more going on.  Which means a lot more to report.  Which also means more entertainment for you all.  So be ready. I am going to keep the post today short but sweet.  I will most likely be going to sleep at 8:00 tonight so I can get a good twelve hours in before I hit the bus station up.  That is about all I have for you today.  I will post again on Monday and let you know how awesome Guadalajara is.  Don't miss out on it. 

All the best,

Devin

     Well today was a beautiful day here in Celaya, Mexico.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the ball was going in between the lines.  That last one is a key ingredient.  I won my singles 6-0 6-2 against Mauricio Astorga (MEX).  I played well and did the things I needed to do to get through.  Darian King and I also won our doubles 6-0 3-6 10-7 (super tiebreaker for the third set).  It was a pretty strange doubles match.  We came out pretty hot.  We were making every return and getting all the lucky breaks.  Then boom second set hit us like a sack of bricks.  Our opponent played a good return game at 0-1 to break.  Just like that the momentum shifted.  Momentum is a very fragile thing in tennis.  It is something you really have to take care of.  If not, then someone is always waiting to steal it from you.  We were luckily able to raise our level of play in the tiebreaker and get it done in the end.  My semifinals of singles will be at 11:00am and our doubles is not before 3:00pm.  So it will be another full day of tennis tomorrow. 

     One of the more funny things I have found at the futures here in Mexico are the practice balls (above).  In every other country that I have been to you get one new can of practice balls every day.  Here is a whole different story.  You have to give a deposit of fifty pesos in order to get four practice balls.  As you can see, the selection is stellar.  I would say fifty percent of the balls in the bucket are already popped or within two minutes of popping.  So you must choose your four very wisely.  I usually spend about five minutes shuffling through the bucket hoping to find a hidden gem somewhere.  Let me just confirm to you that it's not there.  During the matches we change balls every eleven and thirteen games.  So since I only played fourteen games, I shook hands with my opponent and the referee.  Then I jogged out to pick up the somewhat fresh balls on the court.  I threw them in my bag and went on my way.  I consider that a big win in itself.  It is the little things in life you know?

     On to the serious stuff.  This bad boy (above) aka the gym is where all the magic has been happening this week.  You should have seen the before picture.  I have pretty much left the gym in shambles.  You might notice a white piece of paper on the far treadmill.  Most likely says out of order due to over use.  You're welcome.  Seriously though.  It may not look like much, but it has everything you could possibly need minus a underwater treadmill (only joking, underwater treadmills aren't a necessity).  It is tough to really get a good work out in during the middle of a tournament.  So you have to get a little in here and there in order to stay on point with your fitness level.  I try to get some mini workout sessions in each day just to keep everything up to date.  So far it is working like a charm.  I am also a little bit superstitious (by a little I mean a lot), so if I do something one day and win.  You can expect me to do that same thing every day after until I lose.  Thus why I have had Subway for dinner every night before a match.  Like I said in my previous post. Us athletes are a strange breed. 

     Side not for the day.  Spanish speaking people really struggle with the name Devin.  I have been called David, Dave, and Davin up to this point.  It keeps me alert, that much is for sure.  I find it pretty entertaining myself.  It is always good to be called a few different names for a few weeks to keep things fresh. 

     Anyways, it is dinnertime.  I am off to Subway to get myself a foot long pechuga de pollo (grilled chicken).  There have been a few little problems with the comments section, but it should be all good now.  Some of your comments may have been lost in mix.  I promise they have not been forgotten though.  I hope everyone has had a great day and have an even better weekend.  I will post again tomorrow night after all the action is over with.  Thanks for hearing me out. 

All the best,

Davin