Thursday, May 22, 2008

Nikolay Davydenko Blog: Nikolay Braves Internet Central


Nikolay Davydenko Blog: Nikolay Braves Internet Central

Another day another blog from Nikolay Davydenko... check it out...

had another day off from matches today and with better weather I was able to practice outdoors for 90 minutes, then I headed to the gym, enjoyed the sauna and a swim. As I haven’t caught anything in three days I decided I shouldn't go fishing, but I did finally pick up my laundry! Fresh clothes were needed.

It really has been a relaxing day, but with Eduard and Philip here to practice with they put me through my paces. Eduard has been my coach since I was 11 years old and when I turned professional in 1999 he started travelling with me. I have never contemplated hiring another coach; Eduard understands me, my life and style of play. After all, he is a good player himself so it isn’t a case that he picks up tennis balls and gives advice. He hones his own game hitting with me. He’s been tremendously supportive in tennis and in life.


Tomorrow I might possible play two matches in a day. For sure it will be tough, because if I win I’ll be back on the court inside 90 minutes. The good thing is I’m confident and if I do play two matches it will stand me in good stead for five set matches at Roland Garros next week. Rolf, my physio, worked on my muscles again today and got me into fighting shape. He’s far better as a physio than he is on computers: I had to help him install a web cam on his Skype today.

I’m a big fan of social networking sites and keep in contact with my Russian friends and fellow players such as Marat Safin, Igor Andreev and Dmitry Tursunov. I have my own laptop and my wife Irina has her own too. We don’t have Internet in our hotel room, so each night the hotel lobby turns into one big Internet ‘cafĂ©’ or a players lounge. All the players can be seen huddled together surfing the net, chatting to friends and generally having fun. It was the same in Hamburg too.

You might have heard that there’s a big soccer game on tonight. It’s the Champions League final, Manchester United versus Chelsea in Moscow. As a Russian, a compatriot of Roman Abramovich and a fan of Andriy Shevchenko I am hoping that Chelsea win. Fingers crossed they do!

Wish me luck tomorrow!

Nikolay

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