Hello everyone!

I had a great time in Italy before going to the US... My birthday party went great and I had some more days off afterwards too! It's always difficult for me to prepare for this trip, because it's very long and tough, so in fact I'm never looking forward to it:) It was my third time to play all the tournaments in the series. In Stanford everything was pretty much the same as last year. I like to start with this tournament. They have many courts, a nice stadium and always good weather. For me it was a week to get used to the hard courts and to get back into the tournament conditions. I lost in the first round, but I really wasn't into the game yet.

In San Diego was my first time, because before for a couple of years we had a tournament in Los Angeles that week. But over all in San Diego was my favorite week. I played my best there and also the place was very nice. We stayed in a beautiful resort and the courts were inside, so was very comfortable.

Cincinnati was the hottest week as always. Everybody was struggling. I like to play in the heat, but the humidity always gives you discomfort. It also made me feel a bit tired.

Montreal. We play there every second year, so the other year we play in Toronto. I can't say which tournament I like more, they are very similar. I like to play in Canada, it's very well-organized and there are lots of people watching matches, so it's nice to play. Even that I lost second round here, I always feel to play good in Canada:)

New Haven is a complicated week. It's the only tournament besides US Open, that we play together with men. The weather was terrible, we had a lot of problems with the transportation and it's just a lot of tension there, probably because it's like a preparation week for the US Open. So I was looking forward to getting sooner to New York. It's not easy to stay in the tournament without playing, because of the rain and without having any chance to relax and to go somewhere.

New York is the most exciting part of the trip. We always stay in Manhattan, so you can go in the city any time you want and the shopping is great too! It's also the last tournament in the series, so you are always a bit pumped up for it. I did't play good there, but I'm happy that I got through the first round anyways. Of course, I was expecting a lot more from it, but for the last few weeks I was a bit struggling on the court, so I didn't really win that many matches. The second round loss in singles and in doubles wasn't the happy end of my journey, but I'm staying positive.

I just came back to Italy for about 10 days. My next tounaments will be Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. Even though I didn't play many matches in the US, but the whole thing made me really tired, so the first thing I'm doing now is taking a couple of days off. I'm really looking forward to being fresh and full of energy to start training again and playing some good tennis in Asia:)

Take care:)