I DEDICATE THIS TOURNAMENT TO BRAD VALENZUELA, AGE 14. I TAUGHT HIM TENNIS AT AGE 8 IN BARBADOS. SOMETIMES HE MADE ME LAUGH UNTIL MY STOMACH ACHED BY DOING SCENES FROM FUNNY MOVIES. ESPECIALLY ACE VENTURA. BRAD IS IN A TOUGH "FIRST ROUND MATCH. A MATCH I BELIEVE HE WILL WIN. IT MIGHT GO 3 SETS, BUT HE'S WINNING IT"

BRAD LOST HIS FIGHT WITH CANCER ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2003

Tournament Information

Site: Broadstone Racket Club 820 Halidon Way, Folsom, CA 95630; Club Phone: 916-983-9180.

September 27, 2002...Friday

The longest day of my life. I thought Velden, Austria to Milan, Italy by train 5 days after 9-11 was long. No! Philadelphia to Pheonix to Sacramento is LONGER. Called the club to book a hitting session with a pro, knowing that none of my competitors are around this early. No pros available. Someone will call me back. The front desk knows nothing about a tournament. GREAT!!! Am I in the twilight zone? How about your best male tennis member? Can I schedule a hit with him? When is the tournament desk up and running for check-ins? " I don't know." I am starting to hear the twilight zone theme music. Needless to say, I did not practice today. I am wired for cable and can't get HBO.

September 28, 2002...Saturday

Tried again most of the morning (between supermarket runs and mapping the territory for my favorite places to shop and eat) to book hitting time at the Club. The Head Tennis Pro calls and says all pros are off for the weekend. I'm hearing the theme music again. NO PROS? What the??? Katherine at the front desk feels sorry for me and calls Walter. He can hit at 5PM. Fabulous! I show up and there's Christine Sheldon, #1 seed, practicing with her husband. We are the only two players warming up on the courts. 30 courts and 2 competitors. Where is everybody? This is no Merion Grass Courts where everyone is chomping at the bit to practice before first round matches. I guess hard courts are everywhere....why hit on site? Walter gives me a good warmup. My ball is FLYING. Either I am too strong or the atmosphere is a little different here. All in all it was great to hit on site. 2 more days to get used to the courts which are built in an EAST-WEST direction. The ball and the sun are ONE when you toss from the western side. GREAT!

I showed up at the courts at 1PM. Did not care if anyone was there to hit with me. The wall is just as good or better than a human. There's Jami Patterson hitting. Jami was my team mate this past April in Naples on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup. And there is my doubles partner Frances O' Sullivan. Fabulous! Fran and I hit for 2 hours. Feels great. Slowly players started showing up to practice. Starting to look like a National tournament. I am starving and tired. Have a 10AM hit scheduled for Monday. First round match on Tuesday morning

Are these power lines the reason why my shots are flying? What is the effect on the human body when you spend a week under these things??? I can hear the zing of the energy traveling across the wires above your head. All 30 courts are in banks of 3 and 4 stretched under these power lines for what seem like a mile. I am wrong about the EAST-WEST court layout. They are NORTH-SOUTH. At 2PM however, the ball and the Sun are ONE on the West side. Had a good practice today. Frances and I played doubles against Diane Fishburne (45's World Champion) and her partner Rita. Diane was my team mate on the Young Cup in Velden, Austria in 2001. Scouted my potential opponent for tomorrow. I play Jeanne Gaunzon tomorrow. We played each other a year ago at the Clay Court Nationals in Houston. I won that match. Heading to eat a 'side of beef' and mentally prepare for tomorrow.

My first opponent is on the left. I won an interesting match today, 62, 60. First I had to wrap my mind around staring 15 minutes early. Did not get a chance to "prepare". I checked in and sat down to plug in my walkman and my match was called. I will not check in so early tomorrow. Second, the wind. A very windy day. Lost 2 points in the first game because Mr Wind blew my ball out. Third, the zing of those electric wires. They are the talk of the tournament. Will we develop cancer in 50 years or not? Fourth, the slant of court #10. Is it me or is this court banked on one side? It took me 4 games to settle down, 2 of those I lost. Serving well, moving well. 10:45AM match tomorrow. I'm checking in at 10:44AM

Long day on court. I won my singles match and Frances and I pulled out a 3 set win in doubles. We were up 4-1 in the first and lost it 7-5. Then took the second 64 and the third 61. We both missed shots we should not have. The windy conditions made me crazy. Of course a friend of mine said to me.."everyone is playing under the same conditions." Thank you for that commentary. No singles on Thursday. Doubles in the afternoon. Friday's semifinal match against Tracy Houk is going to be tough. Tracy is a fighter. I play a practice match with Diane Fishburne tomorrow

I am EXHAUSTED. Diane tortured me this morning from 10-1130AM. Very good set and then we did a cross court drill. Frances and I walked on to play the #1 seeds at 330PM. They blasted off to a 4-1 lead in the first set. What the??? Christine was all over the net poaching. We rallied back to even the score then push it to a tiebreaker, which we lost ( we were up 3-0). Second set we won 6-4. They were leading at one point in that set as well. Third set. We are down 5-2 and Frances (my quarterback) calls a brilliant play. I am serving. 5-3, 5-4, 5-5. We are up 6-5. Even 6-6. Tiebreaker, 3rd set. We are up 3-0. They come back 3-3. We are up 5-3. They come back 5-5. We are up 6-5. 6-6. 7-6. 8-6. We won against a very tough team. O'Sullivan and Yorke are in the finals on Friday afternoon. Let me tell you that Ashley and Christine are a fabulous team. Jeannie Mullen and I lost to them a year ago in Chicago at the Indoor Nationals. And they had us by the neck today. We saved about 8 match points to pull this one off. Whew!! Can't wait to relax in Napa next week. I need sleep...HAVE NOT SEEN MY OPPONENT TRACY ALL DAY. SHE RESTED TODAY I GUESS***

Two top seeds lost today. Christine Sheldon lost in 3 to Jami Patterson. Jami is having an amazing tournament. All her hard work is paying off. And I lost today to Tracy Houk 62,76. I need all of my fingers and toes and all of your fingers and toes to count how many opportunities I had to win this match. Up 40-15 on serve and on returns and could not close it out. Gumby showed up to play for me today. Lost my first tie-breaker in a thousand years today. Enough said about that. Frances and I won the doubles Gold Ball today in 3 against Jami Patterson and Anna Hayden. Two tough players. We blasted off to a 4-1 lead in the first set and lost it 7-5. Does this sound familiar? Then took the match 61, 62. Frances is an amazing doubles player and a strategic genius. I learned a lot playing with her. Tomorrow, I play Christine Sheldon for the Bronze ball. Christine plays singles like Monica Seles. No holds barred. I hope Gumby stays home tomorrow. I came here to play Christine, #1 in the USA, #1 ITF.

What a beautiful day to play tennis. Woke up at 7am, got to the courts at 8am, match started at 9am. Lost the first set 62, won the second 64. Feeling great. Moving well, hitting well. Ok, if you know me at all, a few screams. Lost the third 63. Can I count how many times I double faulted? I need an abacus. Can I count how many routine volleys I missed wide? How about 2 abaci! Did not get a chance to see any matches. We were all playing at the same time practically. Jami and Tracy were playing behind us. Tracy won in 2. Congratulations to Jami for having such a great tournament. Mega dittos to Tracy (old lady) for winning the Gold. Christine won the Bronze and I won a picture frame. As soon as the match was over and all the tourney particulars were over, I took off to Lake Tahoe. Lost $50 at the Roulette table. See you on court October 14th and thank you for your support.