Varvara Lepchenko's US Open Blog #2

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Varvara Lepchenko's US Open Blog #2

By Varvara Lepchenko

Varvara Lepchenko blogs after her second round match at the 2012 US Open

Note: American Varvara Lepchenko is blogging for Tennis Now during her time at the 2012 U.S. Open. (Read her first blog entry here.) In the singles draw, she's through to the third round and will face defending championSamantha Stosur. In doubles, she and partner Saisai Zheng lost to the No. 2 seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci.

(August 29, 2012) -- Well, I was hoping my fans would come support me again today in my second round match, and they did not disappoint! I’ve been waiting all year to come perform in New York, and I’m so thankful for all of the encouragement. It really helped me stay focused against an opponent I’ve lost to in the past. And now I’m in the third round!

I was definitely a little nervous going into that second singles match. I went to bed around 10:00 last night after watching some matches online (I decided against a Netflix movie). Before I knew it, my adrenaline was pumping, and I was forcing myself to shut it off. “One more game! One more game!” I kept saying.

I woke up around 8:00 this morning and started with my normal pre-match routine. Breakfast is always a deli sandwich with egg and some sort of meat (and, of course, my cup of coffee). There’s one other thing I always remember to do on match days – make my bed. Ha! Sounds strange, I know. But it’s a custom in Uzbekistan that if you make your bed, your day will go in order. If you leave it messy, your day will be messy. I said to myself, “This day definitely needs to go in order!” My bed looked perfect before I left.

It ended up being a crazy day at the courts. I grabbed some pasta for lunch after my warmup, but the matches before mine went so fast that I nearly had to run to the training room to get taped up and ready to go. Right after my singles match I had to hurry and get ready for doubles. Unfortunately, our best today on the doubles court wasn’t enough, but we did have a solid performance against the No. 2 seed.

Tomorrow I get to play mixed doubles with Donald Young. The funny thing is that I wasn’t even planning on playing mixed at all. But when Donald asked me, I decided I couldn’t turn down the offer.

In addition to my tennis, I’ve also been asked about my U.S. Open outfits. Venus Williams is actually letting me wear her eleVen line! I met both Venus and Serena at the Olympic Games, and they were super nice to me (they give great advice!). When I mentioned to Serena that I didn’t have a clothing sponsor, she suggested I talk to Venus about possibly wearing her line. Venus agreed to bring me some clothes in Cincinnati, so I went up to her room there and had a little fashion show. I love her designs! They are so classy and interesting. Plus, it’s just me and Venus wearing them!

Next up in singles I play the defending champion, Sam Stosur. She’s a tough opponent, but I believe in my game. Being a lefty also gives me a big advantage, so we’ll see what happens. I’ll try to do my best and execute my shots.

Maybe after that match I’ll let myself go into the city for dinner or dessert. There’s this one place that has chocolate pumping through tubes in the restaurant. You can get any kind of chocolate desert there, and it’s not too expensive. But I can’t remember the name! Clearly it’s been too long since I’ve been there. Hopefully I’ll have something to celebrate on Friday!

Thanks again for all of your support!

-Varvara

(Photo Credit: Andy Kentla)

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