2012 Easter Bowl blog: Allie Kiick

April 15, 2012 06:31 AM
By Allie Kiick, special to USTA.com
 
Allie Kiick, a 16-year-old from Plantation, Fla., is coming off her first Grade 1 ITF victory at the USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif. She blogs this week about her experiences at the Easter Bowl.
 
Sunday, April 15, 2012
 
Hello again! :)
 
This will be my final blog for the wonderful 2012 Easter Bowl. I know all you are sad, but hopefully I will be blogging more about my other fun experiences at other tournaments. Anyways, I have a lot to talk about this time and I finally have a decent amount of time to write and vent to you guys.
 
Today I lost in three sets to Brooke Austin. It wasn't one of my better days but Brooke played a great match. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my usual breakfast of nutella and pancakes this morning due to the time I played, which ended up taking me out of my groove. Lesson learned for me, always stay with your routine. The good thing about tennis is there is always another tournament to bounce back on, which for me starts Saturday.
 
 
I leave tomorrow on a 5 a.m. flight (thank you mom!), to go back and be home for four days. Just enough time for my mom to do my laundry and pack again for three weeks straight of pro tournaments. I'm happy to get to see my bulldog and pug for a couple of days though. Life as a tennis player! I love it! After I get home from those tournaments, I train for a week or maybe two, then leave for the French Open juniors. I'm so excited because I don't have to bring my jar of nutella with me there! Its already on the table in France :).
 
So, after a very long day of contemplating my singles match, I was able to pull out a win in doubles with Samantha Crawford. We were up 3-1 and then our opponents decided to retire (I'll take it). My remaining friends all left to catch a red eye flight home, so we had our final goodbyes until they come over to spend a relaxing night at my home on Monday. Can't wait! To finish off my evening, I had a relaxing and quiet dinner with my mom and brother Austin. I
think we are all ready to go home and be able to sleep in our own beds.
 
To finish off the blog (because my mom is yelling at me to go and pack) I want to congratulate all the finalist and winners in this tournament. Especially, one of my friends Taylor Townsend! Great win champ! I am glad we kept it in the USTA family with me winning the Carson ITF and you Easter Bowl ITF! Let's keep it going!
 
Its been a really great two weeks for me, winning my first Grade 1, playing great tennis, learning a lot, and defending my points at Easter Bowl (I'm really trying to be optimistic about my lost haha). I'm looking forward to a bright tennis future.
 
Lastly to my coach, Kathy Rinaldi, who put up with me the past two weeks, you are truly the best and I can't thank you enough for all the help you have given me. You have believed in me from the start. Thank you. Also, thank you to all the sponsors and people who help put this tournament together! It's been a great three years at Easter Bowl and I'm sad I won't be returning next year.
 
I have really enjoyed blogging, so thank you for giving me the opportunity. Safe travels home every one and for those of you who live here are very lucky. Ofcourse I live on the opposite side of the nation. Good night to you all and good luck to all players.
 
Allie Kiick
 
 
Thursday, April 12, 2012
 
Hello again, everyone! Yesterday and today went very well. I was able to pull through wins in both my singles and doubles. My roommate, Samantha Crawford, and I overslept this morning, so we missed the wonderful Courtyard Marriott breakfast. Thankfully, my lovely mother took us to eat my specialty breakfast of Nutella and pancakes or, as I like to call it, the "breakfast of champions." Four large pancakes smothered with Nutella on both sides and toast on the side is the perfect way to start the morning.

After I was done stuffing my face, I went back to the hotel room and fell asleep while watching "Criminal Minds." An hour later, I woke up to find out that play had been suspended due to rain, so I went back to sleep. YAY!!!!!!! Then, I got text messages from my wonderful, caring, intelligent, loving coach, Kathy Rinaldi, who was fearful that I misunderstood that play had been suspended.  I'm not quite sure how that can be taken the wrong way, but because of her, I started to become paranoid and headed to the practice courts.
 
Anyways, when we were done warming up, we all got in the car, and I got a lecture on how I am going to go deaf due to my music being too loud. To all the parents out there, we are not going to go deaf. It is simply the way we listen to music in our generation.

So anyways, after a long day of delays and wonderful wind gusts of 30 mph, I am finally back in my hotel room at 9 p.m. Gotta love my life. Maybe one of these days, Samantha and I will be able to go to the nail salon and get our nails done, like we planned. Probably not, actually.....

Well, for dinner tonight, I am going to eat some of my delicious chocolate dipped coconut Luna bars and watch "Law and Order" on my computer. I had another big, late lunch at Panera today, so I'm not very hungry.

It's been a very long day for me, so I think it's time to call it a night! Peace out, world! :)
 
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
 
Hello, everyone! This is my first time blogging, so hopefully I will not bore you. I woke up this morning to beautiful weather in Palm Springs and had a nice, healthy breakfast of chocolate bunnies from yesterday. My mom said the Easter bunny showed up for me and left me an Easter basket (sometimes you will never grow up in the eyes of your mother). She also said that the Easter bunny left money for me to go to Barnes and Noble and buy a book… but reading isn’t my thing, so nice try, Mom! 
 
Anyways, after eating, I was off to go warm up with one of my good friends and roommate for this trip, Samantha Crawford. The warm-up wasn’t one of our best, but we managed to get through it. I think we were both just anxious to play. After we were done, we headed over to the site, where I got to see all my friends that I haven’t seen in awhile. It was so great! Then to get ready for my match, I put in my music and jammed away to some pop and rap songs. I ended up winning my match, 6-1, 6-0, and was very happy to get through it. I was sooooooo hungry after I played! My mom took me to Chipotle, where I basically ate like a 300-pound football player (I have an appetite like you wouldn’t believe).
 
All I wanted to do afterwards was crawl in a cave and sleep for the rest of my life, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. In fact, I came back to my hotel, showered, attempted to do school work, then left and did a little bit of shopping. We went to Ralph’s grocery store, and I stacked up on Hi-Chew candies and Luna bars. Friends: You have to try the chocolate-dipped coconut Luna bar. It is the greatest thing I have ever had in my life! After all that, we finally came back to the hotel where I was able to relax and watch television. It doesn’t get much better then watching "Saturday Night Live" re-runs and eating Luna Bars… 
 
Tomorrow I play at 10:45 a.m., so I will be up pretty early (I consider 9:30 early). I need to get my beauty sleep, so I’m going to hit the sheets. 
 
Goodnight everyone!
 
-- Allie
 

Back

 
 

 
 
Close