My last time in Canada for a while and it was an easy morning I had a good sleep and made sure that all my bags were ready so far these two big suitcases have not been a problem both of them weigh 50 ponds each and then my small red back pack I am loaded!!!!!
Jackie cooked me another wonderful breakfast and at 1pm she kindly drove me to the Sky train station….thank you for your hospitality!!!
I realized that when I bought my ticket on arrival I paid $7.75 but that was a day pass so today my ticket was only $1.75 and 30 minutes later I was at the airport.
Last night I went on line and selected my seat and paid the extra $20 dollars for the second suitcase….so at check in it was so easy I cannot believe they did not even weigh my bags!!!!
Loaded them on to the ramp went through the security check in and then Vancouver is a pre cleared airport for the States so I went with a bit of dread through USA customs and that was a breeze also…so my view is that Vancouver is a very easy city to navigate by bus…the sky train is wonderful and I like my airline West Jet!!!!!!!
Pauline did not go with Ashley to Palm Springs so she was at the airport to pick me….how lucky am I??
We had a little visit and I got Little Bluey all loaded up and was on my way to Palm Springs by 7.30pm…an easy 2 hour journey and now settled into my place for the next few days……it is a wonderful room in a awesome home….more on this tomorrow.
So the plan tomorrow is to be Ashley’s driver and whatever else she needs man…….she is in this huge International tournament and I hope she does well.
Ashley’s Grandmother, my friend, Stella and Caron, Stella’s daughter are both in Palm Springs and I look forward to seeing them in the morning…cheer for Ashley tomorrow please!!!!
So another journey begins and these last few weeks have flown by and I have done some amazing things and met new friends and of course connected with my old and dear special friends…..I must take this time to reflect on my life I have been so fortunate to have the health to go and see all these fabulous countries and meet the local people……I also am lucky to have very caring people in my life who I know I can count on…this brings me peace…..I hope my relationship with Daniela will begin again when I get back to SMA and I also hope that I can be a positive influence for Paola and watch her grow and develop into a fine young lady…..my personal life has been in a bit of a flux state for a while now but I just hope to embrace each day and seize every opportunity that comes my way……
VANCOUVER -- Milos Raonic helped take Canada where it's never gone before at the Davis Cup.
Raonic defeated Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Sunday and Canada advanced to the World Group semifinals for the first time by defeating Italy 3-1 in their quarter-final tie.
Raonic said he wasn't particularly concerned that he had let Seppi back into the match when he dropped the third set to his Italian opponent.
"It wasn't like I got completely outplayed in the set," he said. "He just converted his chances better than I did. I just kept plugging away. I'm looking forward to the next series in Serbia. It's going to be an exciting opportunity."
Canada will next face Serbia in the World Group semifinals in September.
Serbia, which features the world's top player Novak Djokovic, wrapped up its quarter-final tie with the U.S. on Sunday when Djokovic defeated Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-0 to give the Serbs an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the series played in Boise, Idaho.
Canada had never been to the Davis Cup quarter-finals in the modern era until it upset Spain in February.
Raonic's win ran the Thornhill, Ont., native's personal winning streak of Davis Cup singles matches to seven straight. His overall record for Canada is now 12-4, 10-3 in singles and 2-1 in doubles.
Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau marvelled how far his team has come in just the past few years, when just the thought of getting into the World Group seemed like a major challenge.
"I remember just three years ago and Milos was playing Davis Cup for us against the Domincan Republic in Toronto," said Laurendeau. "To be down like we are now to the (World Group) final four is an incredible honour. A lot of Canadian team captains before me have tried to get to where we are now."
Canada's victory over Spain at the same University of British Columbia venue in early February was a true upset with Spain ranked No. 1 in the world in Davis Cup -- although the Spaniards were missing a couple of their top guns. But the win over Italy, on paper at least, was a true toss up.
Raonic and Seppi were virtually tied in the world rankings and Italy's second singles player, Fabio Fognini, held a huge ranking advantage over Canada's No. 2 Vasek Pospisil. And the doubles -- which Canada won in five tense sets Saturday -- also looked like a "pick-em" matchup.
But on a deeper level Canada had many things going its way. First, was the home country's comfort level with the venue. It was the third tie involving Canada at the UBC arena in the past 13 months.
Then there were the choice of playing surface (Premier indoor hard court) and balls (Yonex Tour 1), which in both cases favoured Canada, whose players prefer faster courts and livelier balls.
The big-serving Raonic took full advantage of all those factors Sunday in downing Seppi.
He won the first two sets fairly handily, but Seppi battled back to take the third 6-3. The decisive fourth set went without a break until Seppi, serving at 5-6 to get into a tie-break, fell into a hole. He battled back to 15-40. But then the Italian ace netted a slice backhand attempt on Raonic's first match point to end the drama.
Seppi pointed out the surface Canada chose for the tie is so quick that it is rarely used on the pro tour.
"I didn't have a chance to place my racquet on many serves those first two sets," he said. "In a tournament you don't often play on a surface like that. It's difficult to get your rhythm."
But Italian captain Corrado Barazzutti said that's all fair play in Davis Cup.
"I think Canada chose the best surface for their players," he said.
The semifinal will be played in Serbia where it will be Canada's opponent's terms to dictate the terms of the competition. Canada has actually been incredibly fortunate in that regards, having been favoured with four straight home-soil ties. That string will end in September.
With the series decided, both team captains agreed to cancel Sunday's scheduled second singles.
Yashi Koshi!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment