A quick 2 hour flight and our butt’s were in Quebec City for the challenge Bell. In my 29 years of existence, I have begun to truly fall in love with my Country. Who say’s you have to go all the way to Europe to wear overalls and clogs, and drink massive Pint’s of beer or take walks down old rustic street alleys that date back 400 years. Quebec City is Canada’s way of saying, “We have history…Now why isn’t our dollar as strong as the euro?”

We stayed in the heart of downtown at “Le Concorde” which made it very easy for me to venture off when I had some free time seeing as how I was my own best friend this week due to Aleks being a little bit under the weather leaving me solo for the majority of the day until late afternoon when we met up. After spending so much time with myself, I feel sorry for Aleks… Seriously, I got on my own nerves. I hogged the remote and always had something to say.

This week’s event was played indoors on a blue rubberized hard court that didn’t play as fast as I thought it would have. They had one side show court right next to the Grand Stand which Aleks was featured on every evening. She is looked upon as a hero in this neck of the woods and why wouldn’t she be, after all, she is the biggest Canadian tennis Icon we have had in a LONG TIME and most importantly a super hero in all my Articles. I wonder if they will one day give her a parade? If so, hopefully it will be a Christmas one because I still have yet to meet Santa Claus. I want to play with his beard. “You don’t smell like Santa… You smell like beef and cheese”. Best movie EVER, “Elf”.

I knew this week was going to be solid because of all the hard work and prep we did leading up to this event on and off court. I designed practice on court to match the game style of shorter rallies and being able to strike the ball first before her opponent could, giving her the ability to dictate points and throwing her opponents off foot. Denis, her fitness coach, matched the same set of work in the gym allowing her to move quickly and be alert and feel confident while doing so. This is all Key for playing well indoors.

The adorable Corinna Dentoni of Italy was Alek’s first opponent. Dentoni came out swinging and matched Aleks for the first 4 games of the first set but broke down after her first break of serve giving Aleks a 3-2 lead. Aleks had found her rhythm and was able to apply more pressure with confidence winning the match 6-2, 6-0.

A new face I haven’t seen yet was who Aleks played second round, a Russian by the name of Regina Kulikova. She was tall and strong which allowed her to compete with Aleks. Kulikova had a few too many unforced errors in the first set giving her some problems which resulted in a 6-2 loss. Aleks was not able to hold her down at the beginning of the second set, giving Kulikova a boost of confidence which helped her get to 5-5 in the second. Alek’s hard work paid off when she was able to turn it up and play some really aggressive tennis winning 6-2, 7-5 putting her into the quarter finals against The ever so smiling Alla Kudryatseva the following day. This is the point in a tournament when some girls can’t turn it up and fall victim to defeat. Aleks thrived under these conditions and was able to play some flawless tennis. They played 7pm Feature match, definitely exciting. Our girl Awoz started the match hungry and had no fear to play her game. When she does this, you best believe some tennis will be played. Needless to say she won 6-1, 6-1. I must say that I give credit to Alla. She strikes a good clean ball.

Melinda Czink vs. AWoz. She found herself in her second consecutive semi final in this event. I knew this match was going to be tough. Czink has been playing some great tennis all summer and has really been improving. She has become much more consistent and loves to be aggressive. She will even bite off an umpires head…If it were allowed. Melinda if you are reading this… let’s hug it out girl. Aleks struggled during the match to really find a rhythm. Czinks constant pressure kept Aleks from really getting herself into the match. Final score…6-3, 6-2 Czink. Aleks did a great job not only in singles but she also played in the semies of doubles that same evening with our lovely friend Bethanie Matek Sands. They were nicknamed “the fashion twins”. A very vibrant team they were with their down the line winners and smiles. If I had to grade report card for this team I would give them an A… for Annabel Dickson ha-ha, Youtube that name because I know you guys don’t get that at all.

So Quebec was Tres Bon, and we are off now to Asia and Moscow for the next 4 weeks which we will continue to work hard on our journey to the top.

Good morning, oh and in case I don’t see ya, Good afternoon, good evening and good night.

Stay tuned…