THE WORLD OF MARA – EPISODE THREE

In hardworking and kindly Thailand the people are reborn after the Tsunami. Triumph in the doubles at Pattaya with Italian tourists for fans.

2007-02-13 to 2008-04-30

While I was relaxing, eating fresh coconut (completely different from ours, it seems a different food entirely), sitting on the little bed of the resort where the players are staying in Pattaya, it crossed my mind that only two years had passed since the terrible Tsunami had struck South-East Asia, causing so many victims.

Pattaya wasn’t affected by the event, but most of the Thailand coast was devastated. Yet in a very short time, thanks to international aid, the people have rebuilt 90% of the structures. They are hardworking people and very kindly, especially with tourists. The hotel here is fantastic, and so is the beach.

Every year the organization provides the players with aqua-cycles so that they can amuse themselves in the ocean space in front of the resort, and of course I didn’t let the opportunity slip by, since I adore the sea.

At the presentation ceremony the players were decked out with floral garlands by the organization.

I played the first round against the Slovakian player Gajdosova, a girl who lives and trains in the United States. She’s very young and very good on fast grounds. I won the first round by taking advantage of some small mistakes by my opponent. In the second I had the opportunity to close the match (one match point in my favour) and failed to grasp it, so she advanced by winning 7-5.

Usually, when a round goes this way, the player who lost the second set is at a disadvantage, but I got my energy back and imposed myself with 6-2. But Jarmila will do great things, believe me.

In the doubles with Nicole Pratt I easily won the first match by 6-2 6-0 against the Australian couple Stewart-Molik: there have been a few changes to the rules for the doubles in this tournament. The game closes straightaway, eliminating the advantages, and if there’s a third set it’s a tiebreak at 10.

These rules were introduced to persuade the top players to play doubles by reducing the playing times, since this speciality has so far been rather snobbed by the strongest single players. We’ll see in due course if the experiment has the desired effect. After each match I couldn’t wait to run off and have a massage.

You really must try this, it regenerates you and relaxes you completely, it makes you feel a different person, even after tough athletics. In the second match, against the very young Russian player Kudryavtseva, I won without particular difficulty. Although I was fully occupied, I found a little time to dedicate myself to … Thailand soups and shopping. You find an incredible number of pretty things on the stalls; I’ve bought a jade elephant and a few other things for my loved ones.

Lots of Italian tourists on holiday here were on the terraces to back me up, so I was well supported during the games. I feared very much the single against the Indian Sania Mirza and I was right. It was a hard fight both in the first and the second set and I left the court beaten 6-4 7-6 but I knew I’d given all I’d got. In the doubles we advanced by beating the Chinese Sun and Zhang easily enough, followed by a well-balanced match with the Eastern couple Gajdosova-Kostanic.

My first finale in a tournament this year! A wonderful feeling. Nicole has lots of experience and she gave me some important advice.

The result was victory by 6-4 7-6. What a fantastic day! Let’s hope it’s only the beginning.

Now I’m in Bangalore in India and I’m playing doubles with their favourite, the local idol Sania Mirza. I have to defend the singles title which I won last year and it won’t be an easy thing to repeat, since I also have the responsibility of being no. 1 on the list.

Hi from fantastic Pattaya and, as they say in Thailand, let’s clasp our hands.