It’s 4am and I am shattered.  I have been diagnosed with Shingles (Stress, tiredness related illness) and I am on the move again for a mammoth trip to Mexico.  I leave here at 6am, fly to Amsterdam, then London, Calgary, and then have a night in my old stomping ground of Houston.  Few hours sleep and a nice short flight to Monterrey. 

I think we should all agree or, as close to agreeing as possible, the month of June was probably our best yet!  The girls proved to a lot of people (I hope) that they do have the abilities to go all the way, to break not only the top 100, but even higher!  Anne continued her progress and showed she too can compete on grass, and not only competes, but she can reach finals of tournaments and push the likes of Venus to the very limit.  Watching Anne on center was simply incredible, she looked great out there, certainly looked like she belonged and the same can be said for all the girls. 

After reading the various posts on THE website, hearing the same questions, statements being made around this time of year and also pre-empting the abuse all of us will get over the next month, I thought I would writeJ  I can’t really speak on behalf of the juniors, I am not at Roehampton enough to see their desire or need to compete, but I am very qualified to comment on the “over the hill girls” (anyone over the age of 18 nowadays, which makes me ancient!). 

It’s been a while for a number of reasons, one being the book!  I have a lot to say, as a lot has happened, but I’ll try to be conciseJ  It will therefore only be a small novel and not the usual Lord of the Rings trilogy!

My goal for this year is to try to play without any injuries!  Easy for some, but for me, it tends to be a very difficult task, more difficult than hitting backhands!  Last year I played 7 weeks without any pain; those 7 weeks were my best throughout the year and came at the very beginning.  After that, it was one thing after the other and it only became worse, taking its toll mentally on me at the beginning of this year.

Flying at the best of times is tiring, but flying with an illness and at 2am, makes life even harder.  I was not looking forward to the journey from India to Korea, the 9-hour flight time was difficult to digest, even on a healthy stomach, however I would have walked if it meant getting out of there.  We left at 2am, arrived 3 hours later in Bangkok, changed planes, took off again for Tepei and finally arrived in Seoul at 4pm, before catching a bus for 2 and a half hour trip to the hotel!

I began writing this blog and within 30 minutes, I had already accumulated 4 pages, speaking little about the match and more about the conditions we had to play under.  I will try to condense it and maybe, you can all buy the book I am writing, later on. 

I headed to Portugal via bus, which turned out to be a slightly scary 5-hour journey.  After 1 hour of speeding, the bus driver stops for lunch and a beer!  I prayed I had not inadvertently bought a ticket for the booze cruise and the alcoholic Portuguese bus driver, who had to quench his thirst every hour of the journey, would get me there in one piece!

My trip to Spain began early, however I was motivated by the thought of sunshine and lazing around the pool on my day off.   We land amongst dark clouds, wind, and rain and my mood follows with it, so much for my day off. 

After spending 6 and a half hours on a supposedly 4 and a half hour bus journey, we finally reach our new destination.  It had been an interesting trip, speeding past cars at break neck speed, on a bus with purple, 1970s style curtains and stopping in random “little chef stops” where blaring out from the music systems were English nursery rhymes, slightly odd, slightly spooky and slightly reminiscent of a horror movie.   I had twinkle twinkle little star stuck in my head for the rest of the evening. 

After travelling in style on an overnight ferry in a deluxe room;  featuring a bed, bathroom, lounge, chocolate dipped strawberries and carrying 4 illegal DVDS I bought off the Nigerian sellers  (mentioned in my last post) Kelly Liggan and I arrived in Italy feeling relaxed and refreshed. 

I was excited to head to Gran Canaria, with the thought of sun, sea and sand predominant in my mind. However, I was also aware of the name tag the island came with and I am sorry to say it didn’t disappoint. Obviously I am extremely bias towards Budva, Montenegro and urge anyone who hasn’t tried it, to visit. I am sure you too will fall in love with the place (By the way, our 2 bedroom apartment will be built by Sept, so anyone who wants to stay, fill in the forms on lusciousmontenegro.com) how’s that for a plugJ

I have just returned from a 7 week trip to North America; which was not only amazingly enjoyable but also profitable in terms of strength of matches and points gained. Whenever you schedule tournaments in America, you always know the trip will be demanding, every match competitive, against highly ranked players or even worse, up and coming juniors.

It has been a while since I have written and unfortunately this is due to my lack of tournaments through injury.

Sara Borwell has won her first Grand Slam round at probably the most popular and cherished Grand Slam tournament- Wimbledon.  Here we get the exclusive first interview following the end of the match.

Hello to everyone! My name is Sarah Borwell and I would like to welcome you to the Luscious Montenegro travel agency! I hope you choose to holiday with us, and more importantly enjoy the many wonders of Montenegro.