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One of my mom's paintings...
© Vania King
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... and another
© Vania King
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Vania King has had an outstanding career since turning pro in July 2006, winning one singles and seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and recently reaching the mixed doubles final at the 2009 French Open and the women's doubles quarterfinals at Wimbledon. A 20-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., King is writing an exclusive blog for USTA.com throughout the year as she travels to different tournaments around the world. After several weeks in Europe, she is now back in the United States and competing in World TeamTennis.
Have a question for Vania?
She will be answering questions from fans in her daily blogs and would love to hear from you . Please keep in mind, however, that due to her busy playing schedule she does not have time to answer all questions.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Hey everyone!
I have to admit that each day that we have off in World TeamTennis becomes more and more precious!! We are so grateful for our days off that we -- at least I -- do nothing all day. OK, nothing productive. We had a tough stretch the last four days. We had four straight matches, and two of the three days we had to get up around 4:30 a.m. to make our early-morning flights. Yesterday we played at home but had a 7 a.m. flight from Albany back to Springfield. We made it through our match, though!
I am so happy for our team -- we are still undefeated! We've played 11 of 14 matches so far, and we have qualified for the Western Conference Championships (basically the semis of the league)! Not bad, for the first time playing for three of five players on our team (Raven, Martin and me).
For my day off, I went shopping and had a massage. I decided to let myself sleep in until whenever I woke up, and usually that is around 8 or 9, since my body clock has been very alert with all the matches we've played, but I woke up at 12:30 p.m.! I was so surprised I missed the whole morning. I was scheduled for a massage at 5 p.m. but decided to switch it to 2 p.m. so I could go shopping after and take my time. I went previously to the Battlefield Mall (apparently the best, or only, mall) in Springfield, Mo., and was very surprised at how well I did. I bought maybe 15 to 20 items! This time, however, I think I cleared out all the stores, so I only came out with six, including three books that I got at Borders.
I did stop by Wal-Mart (there are so many Wal-Marts here... I think there is one per 10 blocks) to buy nail polish. I was debating whether to buy a neon blue, but thought that might be too subtle... even for me. I am currently wearing a sparkly black on my fingernails and have yet to decide about my toes. I think that I am a pretty good nail polish applier, if I may say so myself. I can do tips, one of my favorite is black tips on pink. I now have another shade of hot pink and midnight blue... I'm not sure how I'm going to make that work, but I will.
OK, so I've been doing a bit of singing lately and put some videos up on YouTube, under my alias -- LadyDeadpool. Yep, so I guess it's not my alias any more... but I'm interested in people seeing what I've done!! Truthfully, I'm not comfortable singing in front of people, but being in front of a computer screen -- I am very used to that!
OK, so I did one of the "Prayer": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7SOFL7861I...
One of Faith Hill's "Breathe": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edAVNI8UcrY...
and a French song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbpcWSZfs50
The French song, "Vivre a en Crever," I was persuaded to sing by my friend, Justine.
Anyways, WATCH THE VIDEOS!!! COMMENT AND RATE, PLEASE!! ACTUALLY, ONE COMMENT AND RATE IF YOU THINK THEY ARE REALLY GOOD!! If you have any negative comments or ratings below 5 stars, please don't post. Thank you!
OK, so beyond that... I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging! My brain is so fried, I just need a little R&R, and then I'll come back. I still love you guys!
Ciaooooo,
Vania
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Hey everyone!
I finally had one day at home after the long European trip, which I really enjoyed. My mom had prepared lots of food for me already before I came home in preparation, something my sister complained to me about, for why does she only prepare food for me when I come home and when she comes home, my mom asks her to cook? I told her it's because I'm the favorite child. Ha!
Unfortunately, my one day was only that -- one day -- because I was scheduled to play World TeamTennis. I left London Thursday, had Friday at home, and Saturday left for Springfield, Mo., where I am playing for the Springfield Lasers. The day I arrived we played our first match. I have never played TeamTennis before, but so far it's been really fun and a great new experience! My teammates are Chanelle Scheepers, Martin Damm and Raven Klaasen. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we have a great team. I think we are all very versatile and supportive of each other!
My very first match we were down by three games in the last match, and we had to win our final women's doubles by at least 5-3 (we play only up to 5), and Chani and I were down 1-3, 15-40. We came back and won 5-3, which was really cool. I wasn't familiar with the format, so I didn't even know we had finished. The second match I played singles for the first time, and we were down 20-12 (also, we count by games, not by match wins) going into the final women's singles match. There is a rule that if the losing team wins the last match, the match goes into overtime, where the winning team has to win just one more game and then the match is finished. I won the set, then won in overtime to tie it to 21-all, and then the tiebreak to win the match! I was so surprised, since it was the second day I had started hitting again. I wasn't feeling very used to playing and playing matches, and I had never played TeamTennis and in this format!
I watched a little bit of Michael Jackson's tribute the other day, and I was especially touched by Jermaine Jackson's rendition of "Smile." I love Michael Jackson's song and music and think he is probably the greatest entertainer ever. I know that many things that he did especially later in life were unusual and eccentric, but it is always sad when there is a loss of life, and I hope that he had peace at his last moments!
Another person who recently passed away was Mathieu Montcourt, a talented French player. I didn't know him personally but saw him often at tournaments, and it is difficult to hear about the passing of one of your peers. I hope that God is just and compassionate and takes those souls in His arms.
In other news, my mom just got a new car -- a Rav4, which she's wanted ever since I was 10 years old... or younger. She's really excited about that, and she has also restarted Chinese painting. Her pictures are amazing. I've attached a few for you guys to see... if there are any commissions or any sale requests, send me an email! :) She used to paint 30 years ago, but stopped ever since she got married and just recently started again.
I'm missing Europe, my friends, my home; however, I am really enjoying TeamTennis and the atmosphere. The reason I decided to play was because I wanted to experience new things this year, so I'm enjoying every moment as it comes.
Anyways, I'm watching "The Nanny" right now (Fran is so funny), so I'm a little bit distracted and will blog soon!
Cheers everyone!
Read Vania's past blogs:
Wimbledon in London
AEGON International, Eastbourne, England
Roland Garros in Paris
Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain
Italian Open in Rome
Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.
Back home in California
Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
Monterrey Open in Monterrey, Mexico
Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tenn.
Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Mich.