19 November 2004 22:34 – Luxembourg juniors

Hi,

I have just got back from Luxembourg where I played in a grade 1 ITF junior tournament. This was very successful as I have never won a match in either at a grade1 or a junior match in Europe! I made it to the third round where I lost to the number 4 seed. I also made it to the semi-final of the doubles.

Hope you are all well.

Chris

23 October 2004 11:26 – Training at the LTA

hi,

At the moment I am training full time at Queens with a squad of another three players of my age and am really enjoying it, even though I have to commute up there every day, it is worth it.

I have recently been playing futures tournaments which are adult tournaments and with these, am aiming to get a men’s world ranking. I also played in the under 18 grand prix and I lost in the final to one of the players I train with.

This weekend I am going up to Nottingham to compete in a ATP satellite which is the first in a series of 4 tournaments giving me more opportunities to get a men’s world ranking.

After this series I will have a couple of weeks training and then I go to Miami to compete in three junior tournaments, one of which is the orange bowl.

I will keep you up to date…thanks again for your support.

Chris!!!

12 September 2004 20:50 – US Open Junior Qualifying

hello,

I’ve recently got back from the U.S.A where I played two tournaments. The first was in New Jersey and was a grade 3 itf were I was seeded 5 for the tournament. I won my first two rounds taking me in to the quarters where I lost to an American player. This was disappointing for me as I had high expectations 4 this tournament.

Then I travelled to New York where, even though I wasn’t accepted into the U.S open juniors qualifying, I decided to sign-in on site and hope that some people didn’t turn up. This worked and I was accepted into the qualifying at 8 o’clock the night before I had to play.

I played against the number 8 seed in qualifying and lost 61 76 this was such a good experience for me playing at the U.S open so next year I will go back there and make sure I make it into the main draw and hopefully as far in the tournament as possible!

I have just started, last week, training at Queens with the national squad of my age so I am very happy there. This week was a week of solid fitness so as u can imagine after 5 hours in the gym every day im in a very fragile physical state but I am sure I will love training here during the autumn and winter.
Thanks a lot for all of your support,

Chris.

01 August 2004 09:21 – News From Egypt

Hello,

I have just got back from two grade 3 tournaments in Cairo, Egypt. In the first tournament I made it to the final where I lost to the number one seed 7-5 6-2. This tournament was good experience for me as it was the first time I had played in 40 degrees Celsius and above heat!  I suffered due to the conditions in the first few matches and was cramping severely and dehydrated by the third day of the tournament. However I seemed to recover well and played a long 3 set match in the semi-finals which I won 4-6 6-4 7-5. This was a very good win for me as he was a top player in my age-group last year!

The second tournament was also a success as I made it to the semi-finals where I lost to the number one seed again. By the second match in the second tournament I was running on empty. I had a very hard draw as I had to play a player who got to the other semi-final in the first week. This was a great match which I won 7-6 3-6 6-3. I was struggling during the second set as I felt dizzy and weak…This was hardly surprising as it was 49 degrees (and my match was 12.30 to 3.30) on that day and it is completely different to anything I had ever encountered before! By the time I got to the semi-final I had nothing left in my legs and struggled! Especially as it was hotter the second week and I had 2 matches a day as I also made it to the semi-finals in the doubles with my travelling partner Jamie Feaver.

I hope that you are all well and thank you again for making this trip possible!

Thanks a lot

Chris