Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the support during Fed Cup! I had a great time being part of the US team. For me it’s such a different experience playing for a team and your country versus always for yourself. Every match was packed at the stadium in Leivin, though we weren’t the ones being cheered for. Every once in a while I would just tell myself they were cheering for the USA and that helped me get through some tight games in my match. I was ready to play the 2nd singles on Sunday but with Mel pulling out the win, Mary Jo gave  Christina a chance to get some Fed Cup experience. I wish I could have done that when I was a junior! Doubles has always been fun for me as I love being aggressive at the net. Liezel is very good at court coverage and strategy, I learn new things each time we play…

The Hotel we stayed in was very historic. There was even a signed letter from President D. Eisenhower thanking them for aiding the Americans. It was a very old building and the first thing Justin said when we got there is “this place has for sure got some ghosts flying around”.. thanks babe… on top of that there was a cemetery right outside my window, yikes! However it is most defenitely the biggest room I’ve ever had while staying in France. Great water pressure in the showers and believe it or not, a king size bed… BIG pluses in my book!

I think I can say, on behalf of the team, that we ate enough bread that week to last us a few months. All the fresh French bread and real butter we could want, everyday, with a choice of homemade jams… Pretty much the opposite of my normal diet. Good thing I only stayed there for a week!

Now, I’ll have to tell everyone about our Fed Cup tradition. At least one of the nights, after dinner, everyone plays movie Charades. For those of you who don’t know what it is, there are 2 teams and each team picks about 10 movie titles and writes them down. A person from the other team then has to pick one of the titles that you came up with and get there own team to guess the movie. Only thing is no speaking out loud and no props. Now, picture everybody playing is a super competitive person, trying to win. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Liezel, (who wasn’t on my team) is by far is the most entertaining Charades player and happen to pick the movie title Bangkok Dangerous (a movie title I picked out knowing the potential)… Let me tell you, she tried Everything to get her team to guess, and to no avail. Meanwhile my team is on the floor laughing because she is progressively turning more red and getting more mad at her team for not coming close to guessing. Hilarious! Since the first Fed Cup last year we’ve made a couple rules, the biggest being no foreign films in other languages. Its a little tough trying to act out Cuando Vuelvas a mi Lado….

Im back in Phoenix now and have 2 days until I have to leave for Memphis. Playing doubles with Meahgan Shawnissy there. Like me, she hates when people spell her name wrong!! (haha its really spelled Meghann Shaughnessy) She also lives in Scottsdale, actually pretty close to where I’m at. Though all these months we still haven’t gone out for dinner! we agreed to finally, for sure, do it in Memphis. Like me, she was fighting some injuries in previous years but feeling good so far this year. This will be our first tournament playing together and I still have to ask her what side she likes to play! She was ranked as high as #3 in the world in doubles so I’m really pumped to play and see how we do.

Well, I think thats about it for now. I have to go unpack, do laundry, then repack… plus spend a little quality time with the doggy…. Oh, and take down our Christmas tree… oops

Hey everyone!!!   I just woke up and am headed down to breakfast with the team, but I wanted to take a second and drop you all a line. Despite the continuous rain and chilly weather everything is easy going thus far. The site where we are playing the matches is actually really nice and has a bunch of seating for the French fans. The entire US team practiced yesterday and we all had a good hit even though we had all gotten in Tuesday night from another long ass flight. Today’s Schedule will be mostly the same as yesterday except for the dinner reception that we have tonight. Take care for now and I will keep you all updated throughout the week. Thanks!!!

HIIIIII!!!!!!!!!

I just wanted to take a minute and freshen things up on the BLOG page. I forgot to do it before I left for Australia and then kept putting it off each day I was there. Anyway, The Aussie Open was great this year since the weather was perfect everyday except for one. My husband very much enjoyed Melbourne and the Open. I think he even said it is probably his favorite Slam. The food was great, people were cool and the accommodations were comforting. I got to see some old friends and met plenty of new ones while we were there.

As for the tennis, that went fairly well too. Despite having lost my final qualifying match, I was relatively happy with the way I played considering I had not played an actual match since September. As for doubles, my new partner Yan Zi and I did well for our first tournament together. We were knocked out in the Quarters by Serena and Venus. We managed to take them into the 3rd set, but gave it up 6-4 in the end. Yan and I had opportunities in the first to take that set as well, but sometimes the balls don’t always land where you need them too! Anyway it was a great time playing with her and we are looking forward to winning some titles as a team this season. Mixed doubles was a great time too as Bob Bryan and I played together for the first time. Even though we lost, it was so much fun out there. Bob and Mike are so much fun to be around. They make the match fun no matter what happens. They deserve a round of applause from everyone considering they just defended their Aussie Open title and won their 8th slam I believe. Those guys are two of my favorites on the tour!

I was overjoyed to learn that I had been selected for Fed Cup again this year. Despite having missed the Fed Cup final in Italy due to injury, I rooted them on from home. I can’t wait to get back out there with Liezel, Mel and Shenay come February 6th and 7th. Many thanks go out to MJ for putting another great team together. I am confident we can get the USA back to the finals for another shot at the title. Be sure to watch our matches on Tennis Channel Saturday and Sunday of this week.

As for my personal life, things are great! My husband got to do his hunting in the off season, I got to lay out by our pool and our dog “Ruger” got to have us both home for more than a few days. I look forward to reading all the comments and answering all the questions that my fans have for me this year. So don’t be afraid to ask me something or leave a comment.

Thanks again for all the continued support!!!