Miami Masters 1000 - Blog 1

Right now I’m in the Apple Store in Dadeland Mall in Miami trying to get Andy's iPhone fixed. He really couldn’t care less if it gets fixed or not but the rest of us can’t get hold of him and it’s driving us crazy!

Anyway, I took the phone to the counter, called the Genius Bar, and the ‘genius’ told me that if I waited for 30-45 minutes he would get one of their technicians on to it. Only problem is, you can’t leave the store so here I am on a really cool iMac typing up today’s blog.

I got here yesterday afternoon and got a tourney car to Andy's apartment which is on the 45th floor of a pretty cool block. I don’t have a head for heights but the views are sensational – right across to Key Biscayne on the one side (you can see dolphins and manitees in the water!) and across Miami on the other.

One of the other blocks across the road has a tennis court half way up the building – it looks quite odd, just juts out of the side of the building about 15 floors up. Would love to know how many balls they lose by over hitting!

Went over to the site at lunchtime today and had something to eat with the boys. I love the player area at this event. The player cafe overlooks the stadium court and there is a door leading on to a designated seating area just for tourney players and guests – so basically you can go out and watch any match you like. 

The other thing I love is the pasta bar. You get two choices of pasta and two sauces, creamy or tomAto (as they say over here!), but huge choice of meats, cheeses and every vegetable and spice imaginable. So basically design your own pasta. Takes about five minutes for someone to cook it for you. Perfect, no washing up either!

In the afternoon I went to watch Andy and Novak Djokovic doing a launch of the new Head rackets to Head's major US retailers and foreign distributors in one of the hospitality marquees. It was really good. Both guys were on a mini stage with mikes and answered a pile of questions from an interviewer and then took questions from the audience.

Novak is a pretty funny guy and he made a few gags which the crowd were loving. His mum, dad and two brothers were there also. His dad is a former pro skier and at 12 Novak made the decision to go with tennis rather than skiing. His two brothers both train in Barcelona at Albert Costa’s academy.

Went for a cup of tea – had a wee chat with Richie Sanchez and Jelena Jankovic then watched a few games of the Mauresmo/Kuznetsova doubles match. Kuznetsova has lost a lot of weight and is looking great. She is working with Olga Morozova who I know well from her days at the LTA.

Got a bit of chat from Jamie about the player party at the Fontainbleau last night. Just a small bit of chat you know – there’s only so much you want to share with your mum when you are 23! Sounded like a good night though – all the usual party animals were in town! The biggest absentees were Roger and Andy!

Still waiting for my ‘genius’ to get back to me on the phone but that’s my chat for today – steak dinner tonight I expect. More tomorrow!