As I already told you in my last article, I am injured.

In the meantime, I reached doctor Ştefan Irimia, who has helped many tennis players over time – starting with Simona – and continues to help them.

I called the Kinetic Sport Clinic and was scheduled the same day, which rarely happens when you make a doctor’s appointment. After the consultation, I immediately did the MRI, also there, and after another two days the doctor interpreted it for me and, again on the same day, he did an infiltration on my wrist.

I was happy that I didn’t have a fracture and hopefully after another two weeks without tennis, I can get on the court and hit without any pain.

I miss playing, the court, moving, feeling the shots, feeling the emotion.
But I also really miss traveling on the Tour.

Professional players travel 25 to 30 weeks a year to many corners of the world. Different continents, different countries every week, different cities, different time zones. They tick between 30 and 70 flights in a season, depending on the number of tournaments they participate in.

The circuit is tough from this point of view, and one of the many qualities a professional tennis player must have, is to like traveling and, preferably, not be afraid of flying.

Even one of the Big 3 has problems in this way. Rafa confessed that he is a nervous flyer and that in difficult moments his hands start to sweat. The tics he has on the field are also present when he stays at the hotel, where the room must be impeccable clean and the service perfect.

A few players travel in private planes, for example Roger did, but even there things were not very calm, because he was always accompanied by his family:

You wouldn’t want to be together with my four children in the private plane,

said the legendary Swiss.

The season for players ranked in the top 220 starts in Australia with the first Grand Slam tournament of the season and continues according to each individual’s ranking in different locations. The main circuits – WTA and ATP – pass through the Middle East in February, followed by the double in the States. In April, the European clay season begins with Roland Garros as the main objective; immediately follows the grass court in Great Britain, which ends at Wimbledon. In August, it returns to the American hard surface, with the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. And from this year on, players are returning to China, which will re-enter the Asian series in September and October. For the best 8 players, the season ends with the ATP and WTA Finals.

The main tour is played on five continents, on different surfaces, in different weather conditions. So organizing, i.e. reserving seats for weekly flights, hotel rooms or apartments, restaurants, packing and unpacking luggage requires a significant effort.
Petra Kvitova talked about the time zones and the jet lag caused by it:

I like to wake up early, but in Asia it’s impossible. I can’t go to bed early, and when the alarm goes off at 9.30, it feels like 5.30.

For us, those who are playing mainly in the ITF circuit, things are different, although we travel to the same countries, we have the same problems of adapting to the court, to the weather, time zones, the hotels where we stay, the food we eat, but the similarities stop here.

The ITF tournament calendar is published at the end of the year, but only for the first two or three months of the following season and – unlike the main circuits – some tournaments can be added, others postponed or even cancelled.
So it’s hard for a player to elaborate a rigorous tournaments schedule.
We cannot refer to the WTA points we obtained last year during that period, because the locations or dates of the event change from year to year. For example, in Romania, two ITF tournaments were organized last year in Brașov – in May / June and August – one in the W60 category and the other, W25. This year they no longer exist, but a W25 appeared in Bistriţa, in August.
What we know for sure is that the clay season in Europe starts in April. This is also my favorite surface, that’s why in the beginning and the end of the season I don’t have many opportunities to play.

I’m not arguing with those who tell me that it’s hard to progress if you’re specialized on only one surface, but I’m just explaining that in order to be good on the hard surface as well, it would help to have the opportunity to prepare systematically on it from an early age.

Moreover, all other problems related to reservations etc. we solve ourselves, because we don’t have a team, like the better ranked players.
Let me add here, that in the ITF circuit you often go by train – let’s remember the surprise of our fans when, in the fall of 2021, Simona got off the Vienna-Linz train – by bus or even by rented cars, in which we gather more – a kind of ITF ridesharing – these variants being of course chosen for economic reasons.

For me every start of the year was different. I liked it the most when I started in the US on green clay and continued in Europe. The clay season on our continent is rich in tournaments, in May and June I’m playing in the Bundesliga, subject I wrote about in a previous article.

So I work quite a lot when I’m putting together my schedule, using the list of my active WTA ranking points, in order to check which I have to defend next. I study the entry lists, to evaluate my competition.
Here it should be added that the W25 tournaments are getting stronger and stronger, the ones of higher categories, even more.
I’m calculating my cash flow so I can adapt my transportation expenses to my financial possibilities.
Of course, I also listen to the advices on the technical aspects of my coach and my physical trainer.

So, there are a lot of details, which I have to put together, all before entering the court and trying to win.

However, I still read either in the comments on social media, addressed to me or to others, or I hear in circles of the ignorant or, on the contrary, of the passionate, that our life is an easy one.
They are saying that we are having a good time, we see new places – here they are making,  on purpose or not, but in any case mischievous, a confusion with tourism – that in the evening we are having fun, with the implications that I don’t need to explain furthermore.
The only partial true things in all this is  that we do indeed see new places and historical monuments, museums, gorgeous parks, but all in a hurry, generally after we finish the tournament and already have to leave the next day.

As far as the culinary matter is concerned, I felt in love with something in each country. In Italy, I love the morning coffee with brioche, about the pizza there, it’s nothing more to say. In Germany, I drink apple juice with mineral water (Apfelschorle) and eat asparagus soup. In Morocco I discovered green tea with mint, which I cannot prepare at home. I also like Turkish tea and love Arabic food. I have yet to make it to Japan to eat sushi straight from the source, but I hope to soon.

I am also grateful for the beautiful people I met in every corner of the world I went. I made friends almost everywhere. This helped me to observe cultural differences, to analyze them and to feel spiritually richer.

But comparing these things with tourism is aberrant. Because during a tournament you don’t want to visit any site, even if you are in beautiful cities or resorts. And evening entertainments with everything they involve are extremely rare, not to say almost non-existent, except the players’ parties, when they are organized.
During a tournament, players’ thoughts turn to the next match.

And that’s because nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to the feeling you get when you win a match. No matter at which level, in which round or the opponent’s ranking. And about what you feel after you qualify for a final or win a title, I can assure you that it is so special that it is worth making any sacrifice in order to enjoy that moment.