I’m sure all you readers out there were wondering where the dynamic duo so called Steckley/Wozniak disappeared to? Wonder no more for we are back at it again in sunny California after a 4 week break in Canada for some good old fashioned training to get ready for the next couple of months on the U.S Tour.

Our first stop was in the ever so beautiful city of San Francisco where our dear Aleks was the defending champion. We were both super excited to get back on the road and do what we do best… Spend Money…kidding, GO HARD! As always, we had a few days of practice to get use to the climate and time change. We spent the first couple of days drilling and playing points against some of the other girls to give Aleks a feel for competing. I had her all to myself the day before and morning of her first round match. I felt it would be best to have that time to specifically gear towards how we were going to play her first round opponent Daniella Huntuchova. The game plan was to keep the ball moving around the court using those sidelines and putting pressure on her forehand side which would create shorter balls that Aleks could use to now attack with and close it out. Patience, composure and timing were our key words for the match.

I’ve very rarely had the pleasure of watching a match where the points were such high quality from start to finish which was exactly the case in this match… ok, ok, who am I trying to fool? I didn’t even watch the match but I did hear good things from a few people. Riiiiiiiight ;) From the very first serve that Daniella hit to start the match off to the second last serve that Aleks hit… I would have said last but she double faulted that one. Both girls were striking the ball so clean with very clear intensions what where they wanted the ball to go and always looking to try and set up the next shot. They both had a high consistency, raising the level that much more because all points were now won on how well you can create your next move, faster and smarter than the other. As good as this match was, Aleks unfortunately came up a bit short in the third set going down 4-6, 6-4, 5-7. When I went over the match with Aleks she was in good spirits and knew she had played a great match and took from it only positive which was very mature. It’s the only way to look at things if you want to be able to compete and survive in that world. So it’s been back to work for the last couple of days for us before we head off to L.A for the next event to get yet another sun burn. Seriously people, is there any sun block that actually works? With that said, I’m looking to hire someone who is extremely fast that can hold a large umbrella over my head while I play. Anyone interested?

My buddy Chris kept us entertained for the week taking us to see all that Northern Cal has to offer when we were done our days, nothing like taking in a picture perfect sunset or hiking up a mountain side with families of wild dear.

Chris and I also had the pleasure of talking with a few cute ladies... After all, it is California ;)

Stay Tuned….