Blog

Rome, Italy

Hello from Rome! After being in Finland for a couple of days, I'm feeling really good to play the upcoming tournaments. I flew here yesterday so I could get a few good practices in these conditions. I will play against a qualifier, I don't know yet who it will be because they play last round of qualification tomorrow. I'll also play doubles here with Viktor, the first match will be against Seppi and Bracciali.

I wrote earlier something about working towards one very nice thing that I was going to tell more about later. Now I can do it because everything is ready to go. There was a press conference about it on Thursday so anyway it's public now. A high quality training center, Jarkko Nieminen Tennis Academy (JNTA) will start operating in Tali, Helsinki from the summer of 2012.

I would like to thank all the people who have been working with me for it to be reality now. Great job everyone! Big thanks also to all the sponsors and everyone who has and are supporting this great thing that hopefully is here to stay. JNTA is a non-profit organization so all the support is very important for us to be able to give the juniors the opportunity to practice and to improve in very high quality conditions. It's a non-profit organization because the goal and interest of the founders is to guarantee the best possible quality for the juniors, not to do business.

JNTA was created to provide a platform for the next generations of Finnish tennis players who want to invest and achieve more in tennis and to help them in the transition from juniors to professionals. Not one player will be asked, even less, pushed to the academy. The package the academy provides is meant to be so good that juniors will want to train there. JNTA will demand a lot of its coaches and players, most important by far... a good attitude.

I'm excited that this kind of high quality training center will be in Finland, because it's very needed. It has also been the wish of some juniors and their parents. You don't have to go abroad to find the conditions needed to be able to compete successfully in this demanding, all the time growing and very international sport. I'm happy to be a part of this project which will give this opportunity to the kids who have interest in going further in tennis.

Tennis and especially Finnish tennis is close to my heart, I want to help, to try strengthen the tennis culture in the country and this is a very concrete way of doing it. Tennis has given so much to me, I have gotten so many great experiences through it and I want to give something back. I hope that Finnish kids could experience the same as I have in the future, at least with this academy there's a better chance for that. You don't have to send the top juniors abroad and hope for the best. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to get this kind of academy to Finland, to give a better chance to the kids to try to fulfill their dreams in tennis, being able to practice in very high quality conditions in Finland, being able to take care of the school and live as normal life as possible at the same time. Hopefully everyone in the academy has as much fun playing the game as I had (and still have) when I was a junior, enjoying it is what it's about in the end.

Helsinki, as the location of the academy, will help in all the international co-operation and travelling over all. I, like a few other people in the academy have a lot of international contacts, those will be very useful in the future. I hope the academy will give a boost to the whole coaching and training culture in Finland. I see this academy as a very positive thing for the Finnish tennis. If you want to improve the tennis culture in the country, you have to create something of your own and that's what has been done now by creating this academy.

In a small country like Finland it's even more important that you are able to co-operate, work together and to have the best possible knowledge and talent together. I'm confident that the juniors who come to the academy, are in very good hands. That's why I also feel so good to be part of this because I have people around who are professional, loyal, honest and positive. Every one of them also love the game as much as I do.

I have been kind of an "all around person" in this project so far, helping to put the right pieces together. As long as I play, I will work together with the coaches as much as I can, be a mentor and practice partner (to the older ones) to the players and then the future shows, what kind of role I'll have in the academy.

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Belgrade, Serbia

I beat Veic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. I had to work hard for the win but that was what I also expected. I was happy that I played better in most of the big points in that match.

Because of the rain on Thursday evening, I had to play the quarterfinal only 2 hours after finishing the match against Veic. Despite of the short break, I felt physically and mentally really ready to play another match. The outcome of that match was just not what I wanted. I ended up losing against Paire 0-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Even though I won the first set 6-0, it was quite tight set, Paire had breakpoints in all of my service games, I just won every game in the end. Then in 5-0 he just gave away the next game. It was easy to be ready for the second set because game wise the first set felt much more even what the score showed. I also knew that Paire is a dangerous player. Then he also played extremely up and down during the whole match, you never knew what was coming from him.

From the second set on Paire used his chances better, over all he improved his game from the first set and at the same time, I couldn't raise my level of playing. Even though I almost won the match, in the end I was only two points from winning that, my quality of the game wasn't high enough during the whole match. In the last games, Paire played better, especially he served well in the big points.

Now I'm already back home. I decided to not to go to Madrid. Belgrade was a third tournament in a row and by playing Madrid I would have had too long streak of tournaments. I really want to play Rome because I have played well there a couple of times so I don't want to miss that one. Madrid is a big tournament and I would like to prepare extra well for the bigger ones and now I would have arrived there quite late, not have much time to get used to the altitude (and blue clay).

I knew that I will skip one of these tournaments before French Open and now it made most sense to skip Madrid week. Now I can prepare really well for Rome and be fresh for the upcoming weeks, the main goal of the clay court swing will be obviously in Roland Garros.

Belgrade, Serbia

It started to rain heavy in the evening and the rain still hasn't stopped so we have to continue tomorrow at noon. Score is 5-3, 40-15 for me and I'm serving. I try to keep up going strong tomorrow. Now I have to get some food and then go to sleep, it has been a long day. Good night!

Belgrade, Serbia

Greetings from Belgrade! I have been practicing here for a few days now, in a nice hot weather. My first match will be tomorrow, on Thursday evening because I start straight from the second round. They have 28 draw here so top 4 players are starting from the second round (I'm seeded number 3). I will play against Veic who came through the qualifying. I was watching his first main draw match against Kavcic because I knew that I'll play the winner of that match. Veic played really solid and well in that match. It won't be easy at all tomorrow, I'm prepared for a tough battle and long rallies because Veic moves really well. The center court, where I'll be playing tomorrow, is very nice. Here is the picture of it...

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Barcelona, Spain

Unfortunately I didn't have as good day in the office yesterday than on Wednesday. I lost against Lopez 6-3, 6-1. He played really well. I have played him many times and he has never played that well than yesterday. Lopez served extremely well all the time and then he kept hitting aggressive shots without missing hardly any.

The conditions were really fast because it was warm yesterday, the court was hard and the ball flew faster in the air. I like that but yesterday I would have prefered slower conditions... Lopez hit some over 230km/h first serves and 180km/h second serves so having some extra time in the returns would have been well needed. I had 7 break points which I didn't convert one (Lopez aced in three of those and in two he hit a forehand winner on the line after a good serve, in two I had good chances) and I had some game points in my own service games which I didn't take so game wise it wasn't that ugly than the score. It makes a big difference to the match if you can break a player like Lopez for example in the beginning of the sets (where I had chances).

Yesterday I felt that it could have been easily a 6-4, 6-4 match but in the end that doesn't make any difference, when you lose then you lose. Anyway, I wasn't close to win the match. I served too bad for that/Lopez played and served too good for that. He was just a better player yesterday. My next tournament will be in Belgrade next week. It's interesting to go to Serbia because I have never been there before.

Barcelona, Spain

I beat Schwank 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 today. I didn't play with the same quality from the baseline than in last three singles matches but I still could control the first set quite easy. From the beginning of the second set Schwank started to play better, especially serve better and the match got tighter. I played pretty well in my own service games but I struggled a lot with my returns. That was the main reason that I couldn't break him in the second set, Schwank also served well which didn't help to find the rhythm back in the returns. We both held our serves, then in the tie-break Schwank played more aggressive and better than me. In 1-1 in the third set I played a poor service game, Schwank played a good game after that and held his serve, I was then down 3-1. After that I really pushed and fought hard to get myself back in to the match. I started to play more aggressive, I missed less and then I won 5 out of last 6 games, that felt really good. Tomorrow I'll play against F. Lopez.

Later today we lost doubles with Robin 4-6, 6-3, 14-12. That was extremely tight and high quality match. Even though it was pity that we lost so tight match, also after having 3 match points (one in our serve), we could not have done anything much better. We also played well in the match points but so did our opponents. That match obviously could have gone either way but you can't really be disappointed when you did right things and played well all the time. Everyone played well, it's just a pity that we didn't win, mostly because it would have been nice to play more matches with Robin. We were one point away from beating one of the top teams in the world so game wise I felt that we could have been able to beat more good teams here. I'm sure that we'll get more chances to do that later.

It was good to play doubles after the singles because I had chance to improve my returns from singles (one more good thing was that Nestor is also a leftie like Lopez). I ended up returned really well in doubles, from the beginning to the end. I also served well so I try to continue like that tomorrow. Anyway, today was a good day in the office. Hopefully tomorrow will be another good one.

Barcelona, Spain

I beat Marti 6-4, 6-1 yesterday. I played a solid and good match. I stayed aggressive enough and that's why I was able to control the match so well. I was happy the way I decided the points myself most the time. Marti moved well, he was fast and his ground strokes were solid so I really had to take control of the points so I don't end up running back and forth myself. I'm also happy that I could follow my game plan all the time. After the singles I did fitness in the gym and then I enjoyed a good dinner in a Thai restaurant.

Today I played doubles with Robin and we got a nice start to the tournament by winning the match against Gimeno-Traver and Montanes 5-7, 6-3, 10-4. We controlled the first set as well by leading it 5-2, but then we played a few sloppy games and lost the set. Luckily we could take the momentum back in the beginning in the second set and this time we kept it to the end. Other than those 3 poor games in the first set, we played well. Our next match is already tomorrow, against Nestor and Mirnyi. Before that I play singles against Schwank. I'm looking forward to the double duty.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

I lost against Nadal 6-4, 6-3. I didn't play as well as against Stepanek, the biggest difference was in my serve and returns. On Monday I returned really well and hit a lot of heavy first and second serves with a good percentage. That didn't really happen on Wednesday. Especially in the end of the Stepanek match I served many aggressive serves in.

Even though some parts of the game didn't go as well as in the first match, it still wasn't a bad match at all. There were parts I played well and controlled the points. I felt that my good basic game was enough to challenge Nadal and the game was pretty even. Then when I played well I could even control the points. I'm just not happy with the way I gave away the first game of the match, Nadal got it too easy, he didn't have to do anything for that. After that I hung in well in the set and finally had very good chances to get to 5-5. I also had a moment in the second set where I didn't follow my game plan and did some errors that cost too much.

Over all Monte Carlo was a very positive week for me. After the poor US trip I felt that game wise I'm back on track again. I played close to a perfect match and one good match where I felt I could challenge Nadal on clay, much more than I have done in the last meetings. Even though it was a good match, I'm a little disappointed because my game was in such a good form in Monte Carlo that I felt I had more tools to hurt Nadal's game even more. Anyway, the level of the match would have been enough to beat some other guys. I just try to keep playing well now.

On Wednesday evening I went to the players' party, the best by far among the tournament parties. There's good food but what makes it best is that the players are acting on the stage. It's always about making fun of each other, a lot of inside jokes etc. It's so funny because players are also the ones watching the show so everyone gets the jokes. I was in two different acts, playing myself in the other one.

Now I'm already in Barcelona, I came here to practice yesterday morning. The draw came out today, I'll play singles against Marti. What I've heard, he is one of the most promising younger Spanish talents so for sure he can play well. I'll play also doubles here with Robin (Haase), we'll play against Gimeno-Traver and Montanes.

I'm looking forward to another good week in a beautiful place. The tennis club is one of my favorite ones and I also really like the city. I went to see a soccer match in the evening. It was actually THE soccer match, Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. It was nice to experience that live. Here are some pictures from the tennis club and one from "El Classico"...

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Monte Carlo, Monaco

I beat Stepanek 6-3, 7-6(3) yesterday. It was probably my best clay court season opener ever. It felt like I would have played on clay for 6 months already. I have played well in the practices here so I was pretty confident going to this match even though it's never easy to play against Stepanek.

After my back was fixed in Finland, I have felt gamewise similar like in January and in February so I felt confident again, even though I hadn't played many matches lately. This year has just shown very strongly that when I have been 100% fit, I have mostly played well and if there has been something missing on the fitness side, I have not succeeded at all in the matches.

I have been more relaxed and I have tried to do right things better and more solid than before. So mentally and tactically I feel that I have been doing the right things almost all the time this year but my level of playing has been more hand in hand with my fitness stage, more than before. So that's why I feel very confident when I'm 100% healthy, I just have to pay a lot of attention that I'm able to be in that situation, rest enough, get more treatment etc.

It has been very easy to enjoy being on the court after my back got good. I also enjoyed a lot playing yesterday, not only because I'm healthy at the moment, but also because I could play exactly the way I wanted and it was me who decided what was happening on the court. It was a high quality match, I think we both played well. If I didn't stay aggressive enough, I got problems immediately and when I played aggressive, like I did most of the times, I was the better player.

I really enjoyed playing yesterday, it was such a good feeling to be fast, hit the ball clean, lean in with the backhand, hit heavy and winner forehands, over all, be able to do many different things on the court, especially after the tough month I had in US. There I felt that I was playing with a shovel and having 20 kilos of stones in the pockets. I'm sure that I hit more winners yesterday than in the matches during those four weeks in US and at the same time I hardly missed a ball.

The first set could not have been much better from my side, it was close to perfect. Over all it was by far the most solid and best match since Rotterdam tournament. Like I said I really enjoyed every moment, even though Stepanek tried to disturb me in many different ways but I don't let that kind of stuff to have any kind of negative affect to my game. It's stupid and childish to do that and anyway not smart against me because if someone tries to piss me off on the tennis court, I end up getting some extra adrenaline and playing better. That what also happened yesterday. It's just doesn't happen often on this level that someone tries to distract the opponent with some stupid stuff. Everyone plays hard but fair on the court.

Tomorrow I'll play against tournament's last seven years' winner, Nadal. That's pretty much the ultimate challenge here in Monte Carlo where he has been unbeatable for seven years but it's also a nice challenge that I'm looking forward to. I try to keep up playing well, do the right things and then see how far it takes me. A big challenge and a big court, I like it. I practiced once tennis today and after that I did light fitness and some footwork drills in the hotel, the picture is from that...

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Monte Carlo, Monaco

My first match here will be tomorrow against Stepanek. That will be already our third meeting this year. He beat me in the second round in Brisbane and I beat him in the second round in Sydney.

I have practiced four days here and I'm feeling that I'm ready to play the match. On Friday I had an extremely good 2 hour practice session with Djokovic, we both played really well. We hit a lot of good drills and played many great points. It's always nice to test yourself against the exact bests, even in practices.

Yesterday it rained the whole day so no one practiced outdoors. I, like most of the other players, did only fitness. Today the weather was fine and I had a normal practice day again. I tried to get in to doubles with Seppi but our rankings together were not high enough.

Here is the nice view from my hotel room, somewhere in the middle is Monte-Carlo Country Club where we play the tournament.

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Monte Carlo, Monaco

Bonjour everyone! I landed to Monte Carlo and already had first practice here today. I ended up not writing anything for my blog during the days when I was in Finland... that.s what usually happens when I'm at home.

After coming back from Miami I went to get help to get my back better. After the doubles match in Delray Beach I hurt my back (by lifting my racket bag, getting old or what!?!) and since that, my body didn't work proper during the whole trip. I got treatment for it every single day there but it never got back to normal. Before the tournament in Miami, the pain was gone so I thought that I would be able to play normal and well but in the end, the result got even worse... in the end in Miami I had physically an even stronger "handbrake" on when I played and I was not able to do the simplest things on the court.

It was a long trip and I worked so hard there to put everything together in the practices and matches but nothing worked, so I was pretty empty when I came back home. After banging the head against the wall for one month, a few days rest felt really nice.

If I was amazed how I could lose almost all ability to compete on the top level in one day, I was even more amazed when everything came back after just getting the right treatment in Finland. My lower part of spine hardly moved (it blocked badly when I lifted the bag and even though I got treatment in USA, the problem stayed) and that dramatically affected a lot of my moving/playing on the court. When my back got better, I didn't notice anything unusual when I did fitness, only when I needed a lot of coordination, playing tennis.

I got more treatment in Finland but already after the first one I felt that everything was normal again, I felt like I was reborn on the court. I went to practice and after the first 5min I could tell that I'm back on track. Wow! I was obviously happy and also confused. I could not have ever imagined that this kind of back problem has such a huge effect on playing. Athletes are used to deal with the pain and I had never had a problem with my back earlier so I thought that it's just one of those "little pains". It's just overwhelming what kind of difference there was in my game after this happened and then the same, just in a positive direction, after the treatment that I got in Finland. Next time if this happens, I will just pull out from the tournament and fly home and get it fixed. I couldn't compete anyway when this happened. Hopefully it never happens again.

I didn't want to write about this before the matches in USA and anyway I was tired of writing about some small (I didn't think that it would bother me for about a month) health issues, I have written enough about those already during the beginning of this year. Luckily I haven't had any major problems and I hope it stays that way in the future.

Like I mentioned earlier, it was very nice to be in Finland, I could have stayed there for a long, long time but at the same time it's nice to be back competing again, being able to play normal again. I had a nice rest in Finland, then I started to practice on indoor clay, I enjoyed just being home and seeing family and friends. I've also been working towards one nice thing which I can hopefully tell more about in the near future. It's positive tennis news, nothing else. I just want to do first, then talk, not the other way around.

I was lucky there were three concerts I really wanted to go to. They were all in a great rock club, Tavastia. First the Finnish metal group, Stam1na, then a Swedish rock group Mustasch and then another Finnish metal group Mokoma. Even though Mustasch's concert was great, I was most excited when I saw Stam1na and Mokoma live because I have been a fan of those bands for many years and I had seen both of them only once before (and I always check where my favorite bands play, unfortunately I often play tennis in some other continent just at the same time). Sometimes I get lucky like now. Both of those concerts were amazing by the way, kyllä lähtee! Now I'll write more often again as I'm back rockin' on the tennis courts. Until then, ciao!

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Marko Annala (singer of Mokoma) and a happy fan after an impressive Mokoma concert in Tavastia.

Miami, USA

I lost the match against Lu 6-4, 6-3. It was a disaster match. Lu didn't have the best day either. He gave so many free or easy points away. Usually if I get that many chances/the opponent has weak moments, I can step up and take control. At least the opponent has to earn those points by playing well. If my game doesn't feel that great, I can often fight through it somehow and I'm usually then able to raise my game during the match. Because of my (usually) good footwork and good ground strokes, I can be solid and tough to beat, even on the days when nothing else works. Then it's easier to play more aggressive again and so on.

I have had days when I have struggled with one stroke, felt a little bit slower or taken wrong choices but I have never experienced that the whole package is so off. I tried to do the right things, but even the basics didn't work at all. I'm not even that disappointed about the match, I can't, confused is how I feel. I haven't experienced this bad playing before. I have tried to do the right things in the practices, I trained hard and did all my routines during these weeks here and after these weeks I feel very empty and I'm really confused with the outcome being so bad. I seriously don't remember myself playing as poor as yesterday. I have played unusually poor and very up and down after the Cilic match. The last three matches have been incredible bad, the last one was just the rock bottom.

What is strange is that I only had a couple of good practices during the whole trip. I obviously tried my best every day, tried to do the right things and improve my game in every practice session, like in every match. The quality has just been very low. I usually (my coach also knows it) hit clean, move well and have at least pretty good quality in 95% of my practices. But during this US trip even those have not been great at all, I've just had a few good days and moments. It has felt that my body doesn't work at all, mentally I have felt very good and relaxed all the time but that doesn't help when the other tools are not there. It's just not nice when you suddenly feel that you are not able to move, react or hit the ball the way it should be done, the way you are used to do it. There's always variation in the quality between different days, weeks and tournaments, that's something every tennis player is used to but I haven't felt this off for this long before.

If I knew the reason, it would be easier to fix it and I could raise the quality. At the moment, I don't know and most likely there is no reason for that. I'm just confused because I haven't experienced this feeling before. Bad and difficult days of course, poor matches, nothing seems to work etc... but like I wrote earlier in the text, I always have had some kind of basics in the game so even during the poorest days, there have been some kind of quality and solidness in my game. There wasn't anything I could have done better in what comes to preparing for these tournaments. I did everything as professional as I always do.

Now I will go back home as soon as I can (I'm just changing my flight), then I rest, see my physio and get my body checked. Anyway, after playing poor, I have always been able to raise my level of the game with a good practice period. I had a practice period here but this time I couldn't improve the quality. I know that when I'm in good shape, I'm able to play well like I did a few weeks ago but what I also now is that in yesterday's shape, I don't beat anyone on this level.

Now I'll rest, then I have to get my body to work again, then I'll play well. At least there's time to do that before the next match, at the moment my next tournament will be in Monte Carlo. Now I'll be staying and playing in Europe until the Olympic games, that's nice, less travelling, less time differences and it will also be one of the most exciting tennis summers in Europe... two Grand Slams + the Olympic games, played in Wimbledon. It's good time to play your A-game! Now I'll get back to organizing my trip back home. Ciao!

Miami, USA

I have been about a week in Miami now, preparing for the tournament and everything has gone well here. My first match will be tomorrow against Lu. I beat him in Olympics in Athens but after that I have lost twice against him so the goal is to get back to the winning track again tomorrow.

I have practiced a lot and hard here so today I had an easier day. I did some pilates and practiced tennis only once. After the practice we had the Players' Council meeting and then I went for a nice dinner.

Even though I have practiced a lot here, I had time to go to the two basketball game earlier the week. My hotel is very close to the Arena. I'm such a sport freak so I almost always enjoy watching sport on the high level, not every single sport but many, and basketball is one of them. I went to see Miami Heat against Orlando Magic and yesterday Miami against Phoenix Suns. It was fun.

Sports is definitely one of my passions but I have other ones as well... like for example music and hiking (I don't have much time to do that nowadays). Those came to my mind now because I have been so excited to listen Stam1na's (a great group from Finland) newest album during this trip, it just came out before I flew to USA. Mustasch's (a Swedish group) newest album has also been played again and again during these weeks. And because I really like nature, hiking (and the TV-show "Man vs. Wild") etc., it has been very interesting to read Bear Grylls' "Mud, sweat and tears". I think I'll finish that book before I start sleeping tonight.

Indian Wells, USA

Even though I haven't written anything for a few days, I have been healthy and feeling good. The stomach virus lasted for two days and after that I started to practice tennis and fitness again.

We lost the second doubles with Florian 5-7, 6-1, 10-6. It wasn't a bad match, I also felt physically quite good even though I hadn't done anything, but vomiting etc. during the two past days. "Luckily" no one suffered with this virus more than 48h so after it's gone, you're still able to recover quite fast. I felt extremely weak during the days that I was sick but after being healthy for only two days, I felt that I had got my strength and endurance almost back to normal. It has been and still is a little longer practice period before the next match and I'll try to use that time as well as possible.

After the practice day on last Wednesday I drove with Jan back and forth to Anaheim to watch the ice-hockey game, Anaheim vs. Detroit. I always enjoy to see live ice-hockey, but I do so even more when there are Finnish players playing. This time there was one (Filppula) playing for Detroit and four (Selänne, Koivu, Lydman and Hagman) for Anaheim. It was nice to see them in action.

Now I'm already in Miami, getting used to the humidity again. I certainly have enough time to do that, my first match here will first be on Wednesday or Thursday. This will be the last tournament on hard court before the clay court swing in Europe.

Indian Wells, USA

I lost against Haas 7-6(9), 6-4 on Friday. I was too tired to write anything to the blog earlier because I got a stomach virus during that day. In singles I still felt good (except not game wise, I basically played without a serve) but later that day, during the doubles warm up my stomach started to feel weird. Then in the beginning of that doubles match I started to feel like throwing up. I also felt weak but somehow I was hitting the ball great at the same time and so did Florian who played really well all the time. We ended up winning the match 6-3, 1-6, 10-8.

During the match-tie-break I really started to feel that I have to throw up very soon. We were already down 4-7 and I was serving. I felt horrible but I knew that these two serves might be the last ones that I have to serve so I put everything what I had left to those serves and managed to hit my two best serves of the day. After that we hit good returns, passing shots and Florian served well and so we won 6 out of last 7 points of the match. After the match I signed a few autographs on the court but I had to stop writing them and get off the court because I felt so bad. About one minute later I started to throw up, many times. Luckily I was already next to the parking lot, outside the center court. It would have been youtube-material to start throwing up during the match on the second biggest tennis court in the world.

It felt very good to beat a very tough team like Roddick/Fish after a disappointing singles match but I couldn't enjoy that so much immediately because I threw up the whole evening, then I got fever and then diarrhea, the whole package. This lasted for two days.

Today I still feel weak but otherwise much better. I can already eat normal and I have more energy. Luckily our next doubles match against Tsonga and Benneteau wasn't today, I still have some time to get better and some strength to my body. The tournament doctors told that this virus is going around here, about 30 players has/had it, also many spectators, people from the tournament staff, ball kids etc. are sick as well. Not nice at all. Luckily I feel better now, hopefully no more people get sick anymore.

Indian Wells, USA

Greetings from the desert! It's always great to be back playing here in Indian Wells. A tennis tournament couldn't be much better than this one. Five days of practice is behind and now it's time to start playing matches. I have done a lot of fitness (last days lighter) and practiced with Zopp, Troicki, Melzer, Kubot, Dodig, F.Mayer, Giraldo, Djokovic and L. Mayer. I've had a good preparation for this tournament, at least I have done everything to be in as good shape as possible.

After good practice days it's nice to start playing matches. My first singles match will be against Tommy Haas. I'll play also doubles with Florian Mayer. We'll play against Roddick and Fish. That match will be tomorrow as well.

Delray Beach, USA

I lost against Sela 6-4, 6-4. There's nothing positive to say about that match from my side. Ok, I still tried to right things and I stayed healthy, that's good. I couldn't beat Sela or over all, compete on this level with the tools I had yesterday, there was no quality in my game, what so ever.

I was almost more confused than disappointed after the match. It was tough to believe that I could suddenly be so "off". I have been playing well, I'm healthy and I also started the tournament well. Yesterday I was as slow as I can be (actually I didn't know that I can be that slow/not be able to move better) and hit the ball that bad. It felt like I would have landed here the same morning. I have been moving well (like I most of the times do, that's has always been one my strengths), fast and I also reacted and returned so well to the Bryan's serves the day before, yesterday I didn't react and didn't get balls back even though Sela serves way slower than Bryans or Cilic.

Sela moved well, played smart, made me play and let me miss and that's what I unfortunately kept doing. However I play, I usually never miss a lot, I have pretty good basics, but yesterday I did unforced errors even from the easiest positions. I tried and tried but the result didn't get better in any stages. You hope that you would never have these kind of days on the court but if I look the positive side, it's better that it happened rather here than in Indian Wells or in Miami which are the main goals/events of this trip. In the end it was only one tennis match, one bad day.

We lost the doubles with Viktor on Wednesday against Bryans 7-6(4), 6-2. That was a good quality doubles, especially the first set. Bryans used they chances better.

I will fly to Indian Wells tomorrow. My next match there will be on next Thursday or Friday. After the today's match I went to swim with a good swimmer to "wake up" my body and gain some speed again. Here are some pictures of him...

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Delray Beach, USA

I beat Cilic 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 today with a solid performance. I just served poorly in the second set and even though there were parts in the match where I served well, I didn't serve as well as in the practices where I served extremely well. It has been my most solid shot in the practices here. There was a difficult on and off wind today and it affected to the game even more on the center court, it made it difficult to hit some shots, especially serve. Luckily it's always same for both players. It feels nice to start the tournament with a good win, by beating a very tough player like Cilic. My next singles match will be on Thursday against Sela. Doubles against Bryans will be tomorrow.

I had an interview with ESPN yesterday. It was about players over 30 years old who are still playing on the top and why there's so many of them in top-100 at the moment (23 to be exact). I was interviewed because I'm one of the three over 30-year-old players who has already won a title this year. Two others are Federer (in Rotterdam) and Melzer (in Memphis). I was surprised that we are that many 30 and over in top-100. I just knew that it's tougher to get there, tougher to stay there and there's more good players in the world all the time. Just an example of the depth of the game is that number 287 (Smyczek) beat number 19 (Melzer) in the world today. Even better example was last week in Marseille when number 384 (Olivetti) beat number 8 (Fish). The depth of the game is just one of the reasons why this sport is so great.

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Delray Beach, USA

Greetings from Florida! I came here on Thursday, to have a few days to get used to the time difference and outdoor tennis again. Luckily I have never had big problems with the jet leg but now I seem to get used to the local times immediately. Here I have slept normal since the first night, I'm not getting tired during the days etc. It was same when I went to Australia earlier this year, even though it's usually tougher to get used to the local time when you are travelling east. I don't know why I hardly haven't had jet leg this year, but anyway, it's great that it is so. Hopefully it will be like that in the future as well.

I have had three good practise days here. I had a good little rest after Marseille before I started to practise and prepare for this tournament. I feel fresh, I'm back in form and hitting the ball well again. My first match here will be on Tuesday against the second seeded Cilic. Doubles with Viktor will be also on Tuesday or Wednesday, we'll play against Bryans.

Marseille, France

I lost against Roger-Vasselin 6-2, 7-6(4). First I have to say that my opponent played well, I don't want to take anything away from him. He was solid and played smart. Then about my game which was... bad. Now being smart afterwards (which is always easy), I should have not played here at all. I'm tired but I could really feel it well when I started the match and play points.

I had very easy days since I came here because I didn't feel that fresh and I wanted to recover well from last week. I was doubtful about my playing on Saturday but with the great treatment that I got, I started to recover well, at least that's how I felt. Then I thought that because I have no pain anywhere, I'm playing well and I'm already here, I want to go out and play and give my best. Unfortunately it wasn't much what comes to the quality of the game, I felt that very fast in the beginning of the match. It was horrible. I didn't react on anything, balls where just passing by. I saw the ball coming to the corner and I obviously wanted to go there fast but my body just didn't move, or it moved but incredibly slow. I think that I didn't react well to one single first serve during the whole match. I also didn't win one point when I had to defence... in the whole match! Then you easily try to play offensive all the time but you just can't do that in every point, then you start overhitting and missing more, exactly what I did. I could only hang in in the second set because of few good serves.

Last week I had to rise the level of my game almost from 0 to 100 in couple of days. I somehow was able to do that but now afterwards I can feel that it took a lot of energy out of me. It's easy to say now, after seeing the outcome of playing the match today.

I have always tried to learn from my mistakes, whatever it is... missing a single shot, playing a poor match or whatever thing in life in general, on or off the court. I feel that I have always learned quite well from the mistakes and that's for sure one of the reasons that I have been able to improve and play on this level for so long, and more importantly, develop as a person all the time (hopefully I've done that!?). This was clearly a wrong decision to play here and I will simply learn from this. If this situation comes next time that I feel that I'm lacking mental or physical energy, even though I'm fit to play (+playing well), I will make a smarter choice and skip the tournament then. I admit that I have been very bad doing that before.

If I don't have an injury and I have entered to the tournament (on the Tour level you have to do it 6 weeks before), I usually want to go to the court and try fight for the victory. It's just sometimes not smart like today showed. I just competed evenly against Federer three days ago and today I couldn't even get to any ball on time, hit a simple ball clean, do the right things etc. Better to stay off the court then, rest and give the mind and body enough time to recover. I also have to remember that I'm not 24 anymore, it's not so simple to stay fresh, just go with the flow and move like a dream if you are not fully recovered/prepared well enough.

To think the positive sides, I learned from this which will help in the future and at least now I'll have more time to rest and then prepare well for next tournament. That will be in Delray Beach, I'll fly there on Thursday. I'm looking forward to go there and be fresh on the court again. Before that I get to be home for two nights. The plan was to win matches and to stay longer here, but visiting home is also always nice. At least I can change my clothes now for the long US trip. Next time I will write to my blog from Florida. Until then, Ciao!

Rotterdam, Netherlands

I had another very close match yesterday, unfortunately I didn't win this one. I lost against Federer 7-5, 7-6(2). It was a high quality match, good sport. Federer was serving really well and overall he doesn't give you much rhythm in any parts of the game. I'm happy the way I followed my tactics, tried to do the right things and the way I executed my game. In many of my service games I had good control of the game and I got Federer to defend. I lost only one service game in the first set in 5-6 and even in that I had 40-0. It's a pity that I lost that game. Federer kept serving and also hitting the first balls after the serve so well so I couldn't break him.

It would have been nice to get also to tie-break in the first set, win at least one of the first two sets (it would have been even better to win both of them!) and play the third set. It would have been interesting to see that because I felt that game wise I was there with him all the time. Even though losing is never nice, I'm happy the way played and I challenged Federer. Of course when you are that close, you feel that you could also win the match. I still can't complain, this match left a good taste to my mouth for the future. So did the whole week.

When I came to Rotterdam, it felt like a victory to be able to play a match without a pain in the wrist. Then winning two tough matches and to play a good quality and close match against Federer, was a huge bonus. I was surprised how fast I could play high level tennis again after not practicing tennis for a week and then starting to compete almost immediately after that. In the last two matches the level of my game was far better what I could have imagined when I started the tournament after the wrist problem.

I have to say again that the crowd was so good, there was such a nice atmosphere in the arena. It's not a bad feeling when you are competing hard against the living legend of the game and 13 000 people are doing waves during the changeover. At least I enjoy that. Doing the right things and playing well are always the main focus. When you are able to do that, you'll win matches if you are good enough. It feels good to get the result of the hard and good quality practice sessions to the matches by playing well and winning.

My good start of the season has risen my ranking high enough that I start getting straight to all tournaments' main draws again, after a little while. That has also been one of my goals and it's also nice because it makes planning the schedule much easier. Now I know again well in advance which tournaments I will play (I was able to update my tournament plan to my website until US Open). There can always be some changes but the basic plan is pretty clear.

I just arrived to my next tournament which is in Marseille, I'll play only singles here, my first round opponent is Roger-Vasselin. I'm not complaining about the view of from my room, here is the picture of it...

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Rotterdam, Netherlands

I beat Kubot 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(2) yesterday. I was hitting the ball already much better than in the first round and that allowed me to do a lot more with my game. I could play much more aggressive and that was anyway the only way to win the match because Kubot has a very dangerous and aggressive game and by staying too passive yourself, you are in deep trouble.

I played a very good first set and I continued playing the same in the second set. I had already a break and good control of the match but Kubot started to take more risks, succeed in that and could break back. I still felt that I controlled the match but I just couldn't convert my chances and in 5-6 Kubot played a great game, used his chances and took the second set.

The third set was extremely tight, it could have gone either way. We both had chances, Kubot maybe a couple of more but I could always play my best when I had my back against the wall. After holding my serve to 6-6, I played a very good tie-break, I couldn't have played that much better. It felt great to win that battle.

Later in the afternoon we lost the doubles with Viktor 1-6, 7-5, 10-8. We played great until 6-1, 2-1 (with the break) but after that we couldn't hold Viktor's service games anymore, we lost it 3 times in a row in the second set. Then we didn't have the strong momentum anymore and after that the match-tie-break was 50-50, we unfortunately lost that.

Tomorrow's quarterfinal will be against Federer, that will be in the evening. It's always great to play against him and it's nice to get back to the center court (I played my first match there as well) because there is always big crowd there. This tournament has actually been sold out from Wednesday on... and about 13 000 can fit to the center court, pretty impressive. That's what I wrote in the earlier blog text, they have a strong tennis culture here.

Rotterdam, Netherlands

I beat Sijsling 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-5. I played tactically right today. I didn't have the best feeling in my strokes but I feel that I got almost maximum out of my form today. There was about a 10min period of time in the third set when I played tactically wrong, otherwise I played smart and did what I game wise could do today. It was easier to control the first set because Sijsling didn't serve that well in that set, then from the second set on he served really well so it was harder to break him.

I had already one matchpoint in 7-6 in the tie-break. I served one of my hardest first serves in but Sijsling returned it back to my toes with a bomb forehand return. In the next point he hit an unbelievable passing shot and then finished the set with a good serve. It's never a great feeling to start the new set after having a matchpoint but because of winning many matches at the beginning of the season, it was easier not to stress about it and just to focus on the right things again. At the same time I didn't do anything wrong in the end of the tie-break, Silting just played too good.

I'm very happy that I could go through this match without any pain in the wrist and of course, fight the victory to myself. Tomorrow I'll play against Kubot, doubles will be after that, later in the afternoon.

The crowd here is great, they are very supportive and there are thousands of people watching the matches from the first day on. Today they even did waves during the third set. I have to also say that there was one of the best tennis crowds last week in Davis Cup (it was also probably the best organized Davis Cup tie ever). The Dutch crowd was so in to it all the time, even on Sunday during the dead rubber matches. They could create a great atmosphere to play in even for the visiting team, even though they obviously supported the home team. Over all there is a strong tennis culture here, so many people playing and following tennis. Hopefully we could have something similar one day in Finland.

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Hello everyone! It's time to update what has happened during the last 10 days. First back to the quarterfinal day in Montpellier. When I woke up that day, I felt pain in my left wrist. I thought it goes away when I warm up well because I have never had any problems with my left wrist so I didn't expect this pain to bother me much. I warmed up well and went to hit for 30min but the pain stayed there. Then I took a lot of treatment before the match against Monfils but the treatment didn't help. I still had the problem when I played the match. I couldn't concentrate to do the right things because I was concentrating how to play without feeling the pain and to not destroy my wrist. The wrist didn't get worse but it was tough to play, I just tried to survive somehow. Monfils played well at the same time, he especially served really well so I didn't have a chance then, I lost it 6-3, 6-3.

I flew to Finland to find out what was wrong with the wrist. I saw a doctor, went to MRI and it showed that luckily nothing was broken in the wrist but the area where I had pain was very irritated and inflamated. I got a cortisone shot on Monday and that's why I wasn't allowed to hit before Friday.

I went to the Netherlands with the Davis Cup team which was Kim (the captain), Pasi (the coach), Jami (the physio) and the players who were myself, Harri (Heliövaara), Timo (Nieminen), Juho (Paukku) and Henkka (Kontinen) who was not nominated to the team in the end because he got a problem with his knee. We had extremely bad luck over all, three players being sick or injured. I somehow hoped to be able to play all the matches but it was quite clear already on Wednesday that I would not be able to play on Friday.

I hit carefully for about 30min on Friday, for the first time in one week. Then I hit another 30min on Saturday and because the wrist felt ok, I decided to play doubles. I played it with Harri who had had fever for a few days during the week so he hadn't practiced much either. It took a while to get in to the match but from the second set on it was better. We still lost the match against Rojer and Haase 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2. On Friday Juho lost against against Haase and Timo lost against De Bakker so after Saturday we had already lost the tie. On Sunday Harri lost against Huta Galung and Juho lost against De Bakker so the final score was 0-5.

Even though we got beaten and had a lot of bad luck as a team, no one can't ever beat our team spirit. It was great again, we had a lot of fun and we did everything we could to play as well as possible. Great group of people. I did a lot of fitness and got good treatment every day to keep myself fit and ready to play as soon as possible. Unfortunately my wrist allowed it only on Saturday. Even though I couldn't play tennis, I tried to get fitness wise as much out of the week as possible. In the end there was no chance to play the match on Friday, but at least I could not have had better fitness week. That always pays off sooner or later. It's always disappointing to lose a Davis Cup tie. Hopefully in the next Davis Cup we'll have better success and over all, a healthy team.

I have had a couple of problems with the health during the last seasons, many of them have come out of the blue as well like this wrist thing now. Nothing major but more little things than before. Even though I feel that I'm fitter than ever (and I can still play really well) when I stay healthy, I can expect some small things/problems coming up more in the future because of the amount of playing I've done. You just have to accept that, try to avoid them and to stay on top of them. It obviously gets more challenging all the time but I also work very hard to stay fit and over all I'm in very good shape. To be able to finish 11 years in a row in top-100 doesn't only mean consistency in the game, it also means that I have been fortunate not to have really long breaks from playing. I have always taken good care of my body but the fact is that you need also luck. I appreciate the fact that I have been able to enjoy playing and compete on this level for so long without any extremely serious injuries.

I came to Rotterdam today and because I feel that my wrist is much better now, I try to play a lot of tennis today. My first match here will be tomorrow against Sijsling and the doubles with Viktor against Sijsling and Schoorel will be most likely on Wednesday.

Montpellier, France

I beat Mathieu 7-6(3), 6-1 yesterday. I'm very satisfied with the way I played. It was a solid and tactically good match. I was also hitting the ball well and clean. There was only one game where I didn't play good but I could step up and rise the quality of my game immediately after that 4-3 game in the first set.

I served really well today, I won 72% of the first serve points and 86% of the second serve points. Those numbers are extremely good. I usually mix up a lot the pace and the spins of my serve. That doesn't give good rhythm to the opponent and he doesn't know what to expect then. I did that also in the beginning in the yesterday's match but my hard flat serve felt so good and it brought a lot of points so I decided to use more that ,mixing up it less with a slice or different pace. It kept going in and I won many short points because of that. In the tie-break I served all first serves in, hard and accurate.

After winning many matches and having a very good confidence you usually play even better in the tight situations and over all, trust your shots more. That's how it is with every player. Even though I went a lot for my serve, my first serve percentage was really high, 77%. If I can keep up serving like this today, it would obviously help other parts of the game as well. Serve for sure will be one of the key factors today, in the quarterfinals against Monfils. If I was serving well yesterday, so did Monfils as well. He beat Russell yesterday 6-3, 6-3 and he served 17 aces and also with very high first serve percentage. I was watching most of that match because I played after them. I had two tight battles with Monfils (in Bangkok and in Stockholm) last year, unfortunately he was better in the end of both matches. Hopefully it will be other way around this time.

I'm feeling very good at the moment so it's very nice to go out there to the center court again and fight for every point. The center court is much faster than other courts here but yesterday I had no problems to adjust my timing to it. I also liked the court two years ago when I played here last time. This big poster's picture in the Arena is from that year.

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Montpellier, France

I beat Teixeira 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Teixeira was moving really well so we had more longer rallies than I expected. Teixeira served with a high first serve percentage, they were not often bombs but very accurate so it was not easy to return them, also because the surface and the balls are very fast. Over all, Teixeira played well.

I lost only one service game in the match and I tried really to step up in the third set but I still couldn't take the break before the last game of the match. That was actually only poor game that Teixeira played. Until that he was going for the shots and he didn't miss much, maybe in the end he started to think more about the situation, got tight and that's why he missed more. I think he has a good future in front of him if he works hard and stays healthy, he has a good game. It was nice to get match play after a little break and the most positive thing was that my stomach was totally fine during the match, a little bit longer match was very good test for it.

Yesterday we lost the tight doubles match with Bruni 6-4, 7-6(9). We had a lot of chances, break points, set points etc. but unfortunately we couldn't convert them so instead of two matches today, I'll have only one. I'll play against Mathieu late tonight. He is coming back from a very long injury break. I practiced with him once and I saw his first round match and despite of the long break he had from the tournaments, he is playing really well so I expect it to be a tough match.

Montpellier, France

I'm back in action, this time in Montpellier. My stomach muscle is fine and I'm ready to go with full force again. I took a few days off from tennis after coming back from Melbourne. Then I started to do fitness and play tennis. I also played ice hockey once, for the first time in many years. I could do that every day, that's so much fun. Over all I really enjoy doing many other sports as well, unfortunately it's not often that I have time to do that. Maybe a little bit later then.

It's always nice to be at home, especially after a long trip. It's still never more than a few days (until November) that I can enjoy that before it's time to leave again. Sometimes leaving home is painful but I still love so much what I do and I also always get used to the routines in the tournaments very fast so I haven't ever missed home that much that it would have bothered me when I'm travelling. I just enjoy being home in Finland so much and more I travel, more I appreciate it.

I came to Montpellier on Saturday, I've already got 5 tennis practices here which is good because the balls that we play with here, are very different from the Wilson balls that we played with in Australia or the balls that I practiced with at home. These ones here are like bullets, very fast. The court is also fast so there won't be extremely long rallies. My first round match will be tomorrow against Teixeira. I'll play doubles with Bruni, we'll play on Wednesday against Rochus and Zelenay.

Melbourne, Australia

Two easy days and a lot of treatment helped so much that I could play doubles yesterday without a risk of my stomach muscle suffering or not lasting playing.

We lost the match 6-2, 7-6(6). In the first set we played very bad, we both lost our serves once. Then in the second set we got in to the match by playing a little better and controlled that set, having also four set points. The opponents came up with some great shots in those points and we couldn't convert them. That was a pity because we felt that if we could have taken the second set, we most likely would have controlled the third set much more.

It would have been nice to continue playing with Robin of course but I have to be happy that my stomach recovered so fast and I could play the doubles. It's also great that I can try to continue my great form in the tournaments soon in Europe and I don't have to skip any more tournaments because of a serious injury. This was already painful enough to be not able to finish the singles match here. I guess that was the price to pay with this scheduling.

Now after my stomach recovered so fast, it could have been possible that a day off after the final might have saved me and I could have played normal here, maybe not. Anyway, I take it like it is. I'm still very happy with how this trip went. There was nothing I would do different. I'm very satisfied with how I have played, almost only good matches and my game's basic level has been very high.

I reached some goals that I had for the season already this early in the year. One of them was to win a title and the other one was to secure a spot for the Olympic Games. Achieving both of these goals feels great. Now it's time to go for other goals. There are always goals to reach, but I put priority to having the goals in my game...the results will follow. I was pretty confident that I would play myself to the Olympic Games but to do it already now, is very nice. Winning the title is one of the nicest prices I can get from working hard and trying to do the right things. To do it in Sydney, feels especially good. It's a tournament with a long history and the level there always is one of the highest of 250-tournaments during the year.

So, I'm leaving Australia with a very positive feeling. I can enjoy being at home for a few days before leaving for the next tournament (Montpellier) next week. With keeping up the good work and by trying to do the right things and improving every day, I give myself a better chance to achieve my goals in my game. Then the results are the outcome of the work and effort you have put in to it.

Melbourne, Australia

I had to retire against David, the score was then 4-6, 2-4. In the beginning of the match, in my second service game I started to feel pain in the stomach muscles and it got worse from that moment on. I felt it only when I served, otherwise everything was fine. I just couldn't serve normal, then I tried to serve with a different technic and in the end I couldn't serve at all. It took also a major part of my concentration, after the first two games I was thinking if I should stop or continue playing.

I'm feeling maybe better on the court than ever before so I really enjoyed being there, even with the pain and without a serve. I'm also able to play so well at the moment that somehow there was a slight hope that I could break him so many times that I could hang in there and still compete. I almost broke him three times in a row in the second set but it didn't help because he was toying with my service games and broke me three times in a row.

It was also difficult to stop playing, because I HATE quitting. Luckily I was smart enough to stop before I teared the whole muscle. It would have been very stupid to keep going more, there's anyway no hope to beat a player like David without a serve.

I had a stiff stomach muscle after I played against Stepanek in Sydney. I got treatment for that after the match and since that I had absolutely no pain in that muscle. It was totally pain free and it didn't feel stiff either. What is unbelievable is that after playing 12 matches in one week, my body felt that I wouldn't have played a match, I never had this good feeling in the body even after playing one or two matches. I had no pain what so ever anywhere in the body. That's why I was surprised that I got this pain in the stomach yesterday. Even in the match warm up I served normal and felt no pain.

Today I met a tournament doctor who could tell with the ultra sound what is the situation in my stomach. I kept fingers crossed that there's no major damage. Luckily I got good news, no tear, just mild strain and inflamated. He said that it was clever that I stopped playing because by playing more I could have done some major damage, it could have been in the next serve or in the next set, who knows, but the big risk was there. With breaking something in the muscle it could have been a weeks break from serving/competing. Now when there's nothing broken, it can be healed fast with the right treatment.

The rest of the day I got treatment which revealed that my right hip and the right lower back was extremely tight, even though I hadn't felt it. According to the physio, the stiffness in the hip and back has caused the problem that my stomach muscles had been working a lot extra and in the match against Nalbandian, it came close to the maximum limit. That makes really sense because I have done a lot of work for my mid-body area and my stomach muscles are very strong and I haven't had problems with them in 7 years so they should last any amount of serving. By releasing the tension first in the hip, then in the back and then in the stomach made an unbelievable improvement immediately.

I will have another day with a lot of treatment and no serving, and most likely I can play and serve normal and play then doubles on Thursday and the days after that. I go only to the court if I'm sure that I can safely serve normal. I'll listen the professionals. opinion tomorrow again but listening to them today and the improvement what the treatments did today, it seems that my decision to play risk-free or not to play on Thursday, is easy to make.

I'm obviously very happy about the news that there is no major damage done in the muscles but otherwise I have very mixed feelings. It feels that if I would have had one day (or two days, in case that the final would have been played on Saturday and I would have played here on Tuesday) of rest/easy hit after the final, I maybe could have been able to play without getting hurt here. Even though I most likely wouldn't have asked treatment for my stomach because I had no pain there, one day off could have helped a lot or if I could have had time to have an easy practice day here and felt something in the stomach, I still would have had time to get treatments before the match.

Anyway, IFs don't help. First of all it was a coincidence that I happened to won the tournament where I happened to also qualify, make final also in doubles and it was the week before the Slam (where they strictly play half of the draw on Monday and the other half on Tuesday). There's nothing wrong with that, it's also a free choice to play the tournament and I'm very happy that I did play singles and doubles. First of all, if I commit to play something, I play full, all the way, that has always been my principle. I also had no tiredness (what I would have felt) and no pain after the tournament which was amazing after the week I had. Like I mentioned I had no physical problems coming to Melbourne but now after what happened in the match, it's easy to say that I had bad luck first with the rain moving both finals from Saturday to Sunday and then that my half of the draw had to play on Monday.

I also had very mixed feelings yesterday from another reason. I hardly had any time to enjoy the victory when I already had to quit playing in Australian Open. Yesterday when I came to the courts in the morning, about 100 people (players, coaches, physios etc.) congratulated me big time winning the Sydney title, that was nice. Then after I had to retire, same people had to say "bad luck", during the same day, or today, on the following day.

On Sunday I felt like I was king of the hill and then in 24 hours I had big disappointment being not able to play in the first Slam of the year, at the time when I feel extremely good on the court. It still easy to look forward now, after hearing the news that I won't miss more tournaments because of the stomach. I always try to do the right things and I did right things last week and it was definitely the right thing to retire yesterday.

My game is in great shape and even though it's very painful to accept that I couldn't play singles here in one of the main events, I still have about 25 (including Olympic games and 3 Grand Slams where I really want to succeed) tournaments this year and I'm looking forward to continue playing well in those. Now I have also a little bit time to think and enjoy my win last week and obviously I still hope to have chance to enjoy and be able to play and go deep in the draw in doubles here.

Sydney, Australia

I took the title! I beat Benneteau 6-3, 7-5. It's hard to put my feelings into a few words now. I just feel so good. I have done so much work to be able to play well, I have tried to do the right things, to improve every day and I have always believed in myself and in the things I do. Then when you get big wins like today, it's very rewarding.

I feel like I haven't been physically and mentally in better shape than now and I'm also playing maybe better than ever. I had one of my best off seasons in December and I had a very good feeling when I started the season. It was still hard to imagine that when I started qualifying here 9 days ago I would play for two titles later during the week.

Matthew and I lost the doubles final 6-1, 6-4. We got a slow start and Bryans played really well from the beginning to the end. I still had a great week with Matthew, going to the tournament with a wild card, playing together for the first time and making the final.

In the singles final I played smart, tactically right and I served well. It's tough to describe the moment, the 0.5 seconds when you realize you have won the match point and the whole tournament. Every match is a single match and I always just try to do the right things but the fact is that I also wanted to win this final badly. We had to also wait this match for so long so it made the mental preparation more demanding.

Yesterday we had very bad luck with the weather because it started to rain only in the late afternoon, until that the weather was fine. You can't control the weather but I think there shouldn't be an evening final only two days before the Grand Slam. Afternoon final would leave more margin between the tournaments. Anyway, we were more lucky with the rain today. The weather forecast was really bad for the whole day and it was already raining in the morning. The rain stopped after 9.00 but the radar showed and everyone were talking about another huge rainfall soon again. Then suddenly the winds changed and this "perfect storm" started to move to another direction and didn't hit us. In that moment the court was almost dry already.

First you think that the match can't most likely start for at least a few hours because of the rain and then suddenly you are told that you have to play for the title in 30min. Despite of that I could play relaxed, calm and with a good confidence, the way I had played the whole tournament. I have lost many finals on the Tour level and even though I feel that I haven't messed up in any of them (in some other matches yes, I have), the feeling after losing and winning the final is huge. Only a few times I have had 50/50 matches in finals and unfortunately I have lost them. Many times I've been destroyed by a better player even though I have played good or at least ok. I have simply been the second best player of the week then.

Even though Benneteau had been playing great, even better in this tournament (and tennis can't ever be played on the paper, like this tournament's draw showed again), I had the feeling that I was a little favorite for this match, a favorite maybe for the first time going to a Tour final. My body felt still surprisingly fresh and I had a good record against Benneteau in the past, even though that doesn't mean much. I knew that it will be a difficult match like it always is against Julien. He competes hard, plays well and I was sure that he is very hungry to win his first title. If he keeps playing like this, he'll get more chances to go for the title. It has been already 6 years since I won Auckland and I have been so close to winning many titles after that and now when I did it, it feels especially good.

I'll enjoy the moment now but the time for celebration will be later because now I have to start concentrating for tomorrow. My next challenge is already waiting and it's a really tough one for a first round match. At least my match against Nalbandian will be later in the evening so I have a few hours time to adjust to the other place. David is one of the most dangerous players in the world when he is on. I'm playing well, I'm full of confidence after these wins and I'm still not feeling that tired. Hopefully I can keep it up and hopefully my body will hold up and it will be a good match.

I'll play doubles in Melbourne with Robin Haase. We'll play against Elgin and Kudryavtsev, that match will be later during the week.

Before going on the plane to Melbourne, I add a few pictures to this text. There's me with people who worked in the locker room (extremely nice people), me and Jan in front of the Champions board and the Champions corridor with pictures of the tournament's past champions. My name will be on that board and my picture in that corridor soon. It feels very good to be among many big names.

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Sydney, Australia

This was an unlucky day for the tournament, the fans and for us, the players. We supposed to start the singles final at 19.30, but on and off rain started at 17.00, just when I was supposed to have my warm up hit. From that on it has rained more or less the whole evening. There were only short breaks when it didn't rain and the court had time to dry (thanks to people who were working on the court). Once we were only 5 min from starting the match but then it started to rain again. This on and off rain is the most difficult for the players because you have to be all the time ready to play in about 30 min (that's the time it takes to dry the court here). Then at 21.15 the matches were cancelled.

Our new starting time is tomorrow morning at 10.00. At least the situation is same for both players but I really hope for everyone that the weather will be better tomorrow and the finals can be played. I also have to get to Melbourne during tomorrow (I just cancelled the morning flight there which I originally supposed to fly with). I was hoping that my half of the draw (other half plays on Monday and the other plays on Tuesday) but unluckily it's scheduled for Monday. My opponent there will be Nalbandian but I'm not thinking or interested about that at all at the moment. I have first two matches to play tomorrow and hopefully the rain won't move them anymore because there are no extra days left anymore, Grand Slam won't wait. I also want to play those matches, I have come so far already and I want to get the last challenges as well.

Now I'll sleep, I'm tired of waiting the whole evening. I can't control the weather so I just wait, stay positive and relax until it's time to play.

Sydney, Australia

Double duty again, on the final day of the tournament, I can't complain. I think I haven't been in the finals in singles and doubles in the same week since the junior years. I also can't remember the last time when I have had 10 wins in a row. I try to keep up the winning streak as long as possible.

Today was a good day on the court. First I beat Istomin 7-6(12), 6-3. My legs were not that sharp during the first 4 games but then I started to move and play better after that. The first set tie-break was obviously one of the key moments in the match. I have been playing my best in the tightest moments here, that what confidence usually does to everyone. Istomin had also confidence after winning so many matches and I could feel that he was also able to step up in the tie-break. After the first 6 points of the tie-break, the quality of the game was extremely high. We both played aggressive, served well and didn't miss any easy shots. I felt that I didn't do anything wrong there, both of us just came up with good shots all the time... we had few amazing points. I just tried to stay aggressive and fight as much as I could, I knew that it's a huge factor to win that tie-break. Luckily I could win it and take a big momentum.

In the second set I broke him once and by holding all my service games, I took the set 6-3 and the spot in the final. Score in the doubles semifinal was 6-3, 7-6(4). We continued playing well and solid, we didn't lose our serves in the whole match and used our chances well.

Both finals will be tomorrow evening, first the singles and then after suitable rest, the doubles final. Singles final will be against Benneteau. He has obviously played well here, being in the final. He hasn't dropped a set so far so he must feel pretty good as well. He has also definitely improved in some of the areas in his game. It will be another tough challenge to try to beat him, but I'm feeling very good at the moment.

My body is still ok, even though I haven't had any days off during this whole trip. I'm really looking forward for tomorrow, it.s always great to play in the finals. The doubles final will be against Bryan brothers. One more day and two more matches left in Sydney. Days has gone so fast here because I have played matches every day. That's the way I like.

Sydney, Australia

I beat Reynolds 6-3, 6-3. Until 6-3, 1-0 I played really well, the way I wanted to play and I could really control the game. Then I played one sloppy game, Reynolds broke me and it took me half set to find the right way to play again. Reynolds also started to play better and more aggressive but I let him to do it for a few games by playing a bit worse than before. He was close to break me again when I was serving in 4-3 in the second set, it was already 0-40, but then I could hit 3 aces in next 4 points and hold my serve. In the end I broke him to 6-3.

Tomorrow I'll play first the singles semifinal against Istomin and then later in the afternoon the doubles semifinal against other wild cards, Matosevic and Ebelthite. Istomin beat Gasquet today, he has obviously played well here. He has also won 6 singles matches here and he is for sure confident like me. We have had very close matches before so I'm expecting a difficult match again but anyway, there's usually nothing more to expect when you are in the semifinal stage.

Despite of the amount of matches I have played this week, my body still feels surprisingly fresh (knocking the wood at the same time!), hopefully it stays that way. It has helped that most of my matches hasn't been that long and I have been able to control them quite well. Now I'll take it easy the rest of the day, eat well and enjoy the moment, read and listen some rock.

Sydney, Australia

I like these kind of days a lot! I beat Stepanek 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-1. I'm very happy that I could beat him this time. Stepanek has been a difficult opponent for me. I had lost against him a couple of last matches what we have played.

I played a lot better now than a week ago. Like I have written earlier, I have been hitting the ball and also moved much better here than in Brisbane and today I continued playing well. I'm especially happy about the fact how well I played the whole third set, after a frustrating second set loss. There was many breaks in the first two sets (like in many other matches today, singles and doubles) because it was extremely windy today. Then for about 1,5 sets the sun was in the middle of the toss (that happens often if you play at a certain time) so the sun and sometimes the huge wind together made serving very difficult. Both of us just tried to put the serve to the box. That changed when the sun moved away from the serving zone. In the third set I actually served really well. Good thing is that the conditions are always same for both players. Despite of the wind, my timing in the ground stokes was very good and I could hit aggressive all the time. If I have to pick my best shot of the match, it was definitely my passing shots, they were in fire.

Later after the singles we beat Mirnyi and Nestor in doubles 0-6, 7-5, 10-4. We had an unbelievable comeback, we were down 0-8... 0-6, 0-2. We lost 4 no-ad-points and all tight games so the score looked really ugly. Nestor and Mirnyi played really well and absolutely everything seemed to go in their way. We still stayed positive and kept fighting with Ebden. We also felt that we hadn't done that much wrong, opponents were just playing great and had a big momentum. Then we got a couple of games, got in to the match and started playing like a dream. We broke them twice in a row in the end of the second set and then played extremely good match-tie-break. It feels so good to beat such a great team. They are 2. in the rankings and especially hot pair just now, winning the Masters in the end of the year and Brisbane last week.

Singles quarterfinal will be tomorrow against Reynolds who upset the second seed Isner today. The doubles semifinal will be on Friday.

Sydney, Australia

We won the doubles with Ebden 6-1, 6-7(6), 10-3. We played well, held all our service games, returned and volleyed well and in the end, played a very good match-tie-break. It was nice to play with Ebden, he has a good talent and he is playing smart with a great attitude. I really enjoyed playing with him and we were a good team, even though we played first time together.

Tomorrow we'll get a tough challenge against the last week's winners, Nestor and Mirnyi. Hopefully we'll keep playing well. Before that I'll play singles against Stepanek. I'm looking forward to that.

Last three days has been very hot here. The day I played against Robert, was also a very humid day. It's really good to play matches in tough conditions before playing best of five sets matches in Melbourne. Shoes just don't last long when the surface is sticky and hot. I'm using my second pair of tennis shoes at the moment. I took four pairs of them with me to this trip. First ones lasted for 9 days, then I could almost see my toes from the other shoe.

Sydney, Australia

I beat Duckworth 6-2, 6-2 today. After the beginning I could control the match pretty well. I'm satisfied with the fact that I have won my last matches in a very convenient way and there is still room for improvement in some parts of the game. Yesterday's match was definitely this trip's best match so far.

It was nice to start playing main draw when you have already three wins under your belt. If you are not feeling tired from the qualification matches, those wins help a lot, you are gamewise really in the tournament, especially when the qualification is tough like here. All three qualifiers who played today, actually won their matches.

Tomorrow I'll play doubles with Ebden. My next singles will be on Wednesday against the winner of the match Stepanek vs. Malisse.

Sydney, Australia

I had a good day at the office, I beat Robert 6-2, 6-2. I was playing smart and hitting the ball very well, over all I'm hitting the ball much better here than in Brisbane. I'm also satisfied that I could beat Robert so easy today. I lost against him last year and the first time I played him, I won 7-5 in the third so he hasn't been an easy opponent for me before.

I'll continue playing tomorrow, my first main draw match will be against Duckworth, he is an Australian who got a wild card for the tournament. I had never seen him before last week when he played in Brisbane. It was good to see him play because now I know a little bit what to expect. I won't expect it to be easy because he played really well in Brisbane, beating Mahut and he also played a good match against Simon.

I got a wild card for the doubles here with Ebden, that was very nice. We'll play against M. Lopez and Andujar, that match will most likely be on Tuesday.

Sydney, Australia

This day was schedulewise a little bit "back to the roots": first match at 9:00 in the morning and second at 13:30 the same day. That doesn't happen often on the Tour, only here in Sydney and maybe in some other tournament as well, but not in many. Especially here in Sydney it can be tough because it can be 40 degrees warm. Luckily today was under 30. I was also lucky in my first match, I had to play only one set which saved a lot of energy for the afternoon match. I was leading 6-1, 1-0, 30-0 when my opponent, Delic had to retire because of a shoulder injury. Hopefully Delic's shoulder gets better for Melbourne, he is a nice guy and a good player as well.

In the afternoon I beat Begemann 6-2, 6-3, it was quite a convenient win. Someone played 6 sets today so I was happy to get through the day only by playing three. I'm also quite happy with the way I played. The last round of qualification will be tomorrow, I'll play against Robert.

Now it's time to go for a dinner with an Estonian mate, Jürgen Zopp. He is also playing here and he was also in Brisbane. Here is a picture from yesterday when we went for a dinner to the harbor.

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Brisbane, Australia

I lost against Stepanek 7-6(3), 6-2. He played well but I didn't. The quality of my game was just not good. After the match I went straight to the gym and trained hard. It's good to do something active after a frustrating loss and usually I get a good training session out of it. Then I feel better afterwards and it's easier to look forward again. It's better option than to go alone to the hotel room and discuss with the walls how bad you played.

Now I'm looking forward to get to Sydney. I'll fly there tomorrow. I continue practicing there, the goal is to get better quality to my strokes and game. Hopefully I'll also get some more matches there, that would be good before Australian Open. I start qualifying in Sydney on Saturday.

Brisbane, Australia

I beat Levine 7-6(4), 6-2. It's always nice to win the season's first match, doesn't matter how experienced you are. It was mentally and physically a good game. I played smart and better in the big moments. Physically it was also a good test because it was warm out there, 30 degrees and on the court it felt closer to 40 Celsius because the surface was so hot. I'm very satisfied that all the hard work on the fitness side during the off season paid off so clearly already in the first match of the year. Levine seemed to get bit tired in some stages of the match. I'm also happy about how I took the momentum after he could break me back in the first set. Quality- and strokewise there was room for improvement, even though there was good parts as well. I'll have a chance to raise the quality of my game already tomorrow when I play against Stepanek.

Brisbane, Australia

Happy new year to everyone! My preparation here in Brisbane is over and now it's time to play matches. I've practiced with Zopp, Kamke, Murray, Melzer, Rojer, Stepanek, Müller, Matosevic and Giraldo during these days here. I'm very happy the way I have adjusted to the time difference this time. Luckily I have always been quite good in that (which helps in this profession) but now I have slept almost normal from the first night on and I haven't been tired during the days. It took more time to get used to the heat but I knew it when I came here and that's why I came early enough, I'm already feeling physically good as well. Now it's just a matter of putting the pieces together in the game.

My first match will be tomorrow against Jesse Levine who came from qualification. It was good that I happened to watch his match for a while today when he beat Kamke because it's already a couple of years since I played him in Melbourne and I haven't seen him play much after that. Today he played really well so I'm expecting a tough match tomorrow. Because I've practiced a lot here earlier, today, the day before the match, I practiced less.

Now I'm on the way back to the hotel. After doing pilates in the hotel's gym, I'm planning to go to the music store which is only 2 blocks from my hotel... I'm still always exited to check out the local cd-stores. The pictures are from the tournament's activity area where I was giving autographs for the kids today and the outside court where I most likely play tomorrow.

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