Jamie's blog...

12 May, 2008 | 10:05

Hey guys.....
 
So we went down in Rome last week to the Bryan brothers 6-4 6-4 in a tight match. We played a decent match but I served poorly which cost us in the end, so that was a bit disappointing on my part....

Apart from that, we put in a good performance but they served very well and moved a lot at the net which they hadn't done the previous times we played them.  

We finished the match around midnight; I went back to the hotel to see AI and booked my flight for the following morning. I eventually crashed around 3am only to be up at 6:45am for the flight to Hamburg!
 
Everybody tells me Hamburg is always cold and raining but I haven't seen a cloud in the sky since I got here...touch wood!  They have a beautiful lake right next to the hotel so Matty Little and I ran around it yesterday...all 4.5miles of it...well, apart from the last few hundred yards!  Somebody ran out of steam! 
 
The lake's been the main topic of conversation since arrival and some challenges have been issued.  Matty ran it in 32:23 today, only for Miles to top it with 30:51, and although it pains me to say it, that's  a very good effort!  Andy reckons he can run it in sub 30mins but I don't think the boys believe he will put it on the line!
 
I hit yesterday for an hour with Max and then did my gym session with Matty. Alan Macdonald is here with me this week as Louis is back in London working, so he arrived yesterday morning from Edinburger. 

The biggest part of my day was from 4 to 6pm when the Premier League was being decided!  We tuned into Man Utd vs. Wigan back at the hotel...the boys needed a win to be crowned Champions and they got it done! Possibly thanks to referee Steve Bennett in part! 

But - I think the best team throughout the season won and hopefully they'll go on and win the Champions League too! 

I really hope John Terry will be fit to play as he's the Chelsea captain and a great professional; it would be a great shame to see him miss out on such a big game. it's not often you get to play in the Champions League final!
 
We drew the Frenchmen Llodra and Benneteau in the doubles and will play on Tuesday We lost to them in Vegas in a really tight match so we will be gunning for revenge...wish us luck!
 
Jamie

Question of the week

From Matt: "What are your thoughts on the doubles rules campaign? Is the ATP following through on their intentions or is it falling flat?"

Jamie's answer:
 
Hey Matt

I think the Doubles Rules campaign has been a step in the right direction, but I think the ATP can still do a lot more. I think a lot of tournaments aren't sticking to the rules of playing a certain number of matches on centre court each week, and the ATP should do more to ensure this happens.

A lot of the time the doubles matches that are on the big courts are first on at 10am when nobody is watching, or last match at night when everybody leaves after the singles which isn't great conditions for the players to play in...huge stadiums with no fans....kinda depressing! 

But obviously TV dictates the schedules a lot so they get priority which is more than understandable.  

I think there could be more done to promote the teams and have the guys interact more with the fans. I do think that when the fans come to watch doubles they enjoy it a lot as it is much faster than singles and the new scoring system keeps things entertaining all the way through the match as there are lots of changes in momentum...

The players have to be better known to increase the appeal of doubles for the fans.