Hi Everyone -

 

My trip was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I decided to participate in the Ladies Invitational Doubles event. I had not been to Wimbledon since I last played there in 2002 so it was such an honor to be back and be part of this legendary tournament. As I have said many times before, Wimbledon is one of my favorite tournaments and places to play. Being back on the court with Martina was so much fun, it is like we were never away, just picking up where we last left off. The most memorable part of the event for me was being back on Centre Court. It is such an amazing experience to play there knowing the history  and how many unbelievable matches were played there. It was also great catching up with old friends from the tour who I do not get to see very often.

 

The Ladies Invitational was divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each, and Martina and I were in Group A. We played everyone in our group, and then the winners of Group A and B moved on to the finals on Sunday the 4th . Our first match was on show court 2 against 2 Great Britain legends, Anne Hobbs and Samantha Smith. We had a packed house, and the crowd was really into the match, cheering for great points on both sides. We ended up beating them 6-2, 6-4. Our second match was against Helena Sukova from the Czech Republic and Andrea Temesvari from Hungary. We were put on Centre Court for this match and it was a blast! We were the last match of the day, so it was around 7pm at night, and we had a great crowd that stayed to watch. We had a lot of great points and defeated them 6-1, 6-4. The final match in our Group was against Tracy Austin and Kathy Rinaldi, both from the USA. We actually played on Court 18, the same court that Brian Isner and Nicolas Mahut played their marathon match of 11 hours and 5 minutes! We had a really great match, but Tracy and Kathy were playing too good on that day and won the match 7-5, 7-6(4). Martina and I were bummed that we lost, but we had a such a good time reconnecting on the court, and now we have new memories from Wimbledon to share with everyone!

 

While in London I also did a lot of media, from CNN to morning shows and late night shows.  Martina and I did most of the press together as a team, so that made it a lot more fun! Overall, I was really happy I  was able to get back to Wimbledon and play on the courts again. We practiced at Aorangi park where all of the juniors play, and that brought back a lot of great memories too from when I played at Wimbledon as a junior. I was really just breathing in the whole atmosphere around this great tournament, and it almost felt like I was in a time machine. I am so glad I played at Wimbledon again, I had an amazing time!