Hello, hope everyone is doing well :)...Right now, American football season is happening in the US. I don't believe I have mentioned before, but I love football season. My favorite team is the Buffalo Bills. Pretty much my whole family was born or grew up in Buffalo, NY besides me. I was born in New Orleans, but they made sure that I would be a Bills fan and a Bills fan I am for life!!
I love my team so much that I wake up in the middle of the night to follow live score online whenever I am out of the US! Last night was a big game...a big rivalry of the Bills are the Miami Dolphins. So, last night WE beat Miami!! (I for some reason say We like I am apart of the team haha). I only live 45 minutes from Miami and a few friends of mine are big Dolphins fans, so I will be writing a few emails tonight :).
When I started to work with Aki I tried to force her to like the Bills. Aki did give them a chance but unfortunately she like the New England Patriots :( Next Sunday the Bills will play the Patriots, so already Aki and I have been going back and forth on who will win the game. The Patriots are undefeated at 9-0 and the Bills are 5 wins- 4 losses. As you can see, the Patriots are quite strong, but the game is played in Buffalo and we are on a 4 game winning streak and I think we just might pull off the upset....LETS GO BUFFALO!!!! :)
Yesterday All Japan also started for Aki with a win in doubles with partner Aiko Nakamura. Tomorrow wil be first match in singles and hopefully it will start out well for Aki. :)
Well I have to go now, speak to you all soon. Bye for now..

Hello again, it's been some time now since writing in my blog. Last time I wrote I was arriving in Prague, which ended up being a very special week for Akiko and me. There, Aki won her first WTA Tour singles title! This is an amazing achievement and I was so proud to be there. I know how hard Aki works and to see her achieve one of her big goals in winning a WTA singles title is something truly special and I will always rememeber.

The rest of the summer and now Fall, Aki had some great results in both singles and doubles. In singles, made it to the 3rd round of Wimbledon, defeating Dinara Safina in the 2nd round before falling to Venus Williams 5-7 in the final set. After the match, I received a lot of text mesages from back home congratulating Aki on a fantastic performance against a great champion. I actually just watched the match again on dvd a couple weeks ago, and I have to agree that Aki did play a very good match. Aki then reached the final in Cincinnati for the 2nd time in her career (2005), beating Patty Schnyder before losing to Chakvetadze in the final. Quarter Finals in Beijing and just this past week winning in the Challenger in Chinese Taipei.In doubles, had some solid and consistent results. Made the final 16 at the French Open and US Open, Semi Finals in Cincinnati, and Quarter Finals in Standford.

Just recently I got Lasik Surgery done on my eyes at the Kobe Clinic. I have been wearing glasses since I was 5 years old!! I tried contacts but they didn't work well for me. First, I had to do different tests to see if I was able to get Lasik..I have a strong Astigmatism which means my eye is shaped a little differently. The shape of my eye is more like an egg instead of being shaped like a sphere.After the series of tests, I was so happy to hear i could get surgery. The surgery only lasts 6 minutes for both eyes! 6 minutes to fix years of not being able to see without a pair of corrective lenses, I couldn't believe it!
Right after the surgery, for me, I could see but it was a little hazy which is normal. The next morning when I woke up, i could see perfectly!!! I didnt need to put on my glasses, didnt have to put any contacts, I could just see with my own eyes. I liked my glasses but I always felt I looked better without. So, sometimes I would not wear my glasses but the thing is I couldn't see! but now i can see perfectly!
I am soo thankful to Kobe Clinic. All the staff and doctors are very nice. I was a little nervous at first but from each test to the surgery itself, they really made me feel very comfortable to where I wasn't nervous at all. I am happy everyday and I am soo greatful :).
So, if anyone is thinking about getting Lasik Surgery, I urge you to go to Kobe Clinic!! It's a wonderful experience and it truly is life changing.
Thank You Kobe Clinic!!

Good morning from Prague. Akiko and I arrived here on Thursday night after almost 2 weeks of training in Japan. Really felt we had some good practices to prepare for the clay court season in Europe. Also, enjoyed some great food, like always, while in Japan :).
The flight over here actually went pretty fast, I thought. We had connections in Seoul and Frankfurt before arriving in Prague. The good thing was that our layovers were very short. Each connection, pretty much got off the plane and boarded the next one. A lot of the times, the layovers are atleast a couple hours and just makes it more tiring when travelling so far.
The draw came out yesterday and Akiko will play Iveta Benesova in the first round. Schedule will come out later today and we will find out if they will play on Monday or Tuesday. Also, Aki will be playing doubles with Jarka again.
All the best and will update you later! Bye for now.

Hello, just arrived in Osaka after a long delay in Detroit. Boarding began around 2:45pm and was suppose to leave at 3:30. I was very sleepy so I fell asleep while waiting to take off, but I would wake up every now and then and see that we hadn't left yet. Wonderful!! Then around 5:00 they announced that we woud be getting off and switching to another airplane. I had slept the while time while waiting, so I don't even know what was wrong with the airplane. We finally left Detroit at like 6:15, almost 3 hours late. The flight went well, only thing is the woman who sat next to me kept waking me up when food or drinks would come by. She was being very nice, but I was just wanting to sleep and I wasn't hungry.

It's great to be back in Japan. We are here for little over a week getting ready for the tournaments leading up to Roland Garros. Akiko arrived today from France and was very upset on how Fedcup went. I look forward to get on the court with her and have good preperation for Europe.

While I was back home, I had some time off, which was nice. I really used the time to get back inthe gym and I practiced with my friend everyday. I am now ready to have revenge on Akiko. If you remember in Australia, she beat me and I have been waiting to get the chance for revenge. I am sure I will get the chance before we leave for Prague. Get ready Akiko!! :).

Will talk to you soon! Bye for now. :)

Hello everyone. So sorry I haven't written in so long. During the Memphis tournament, something happened to my laptop so it had to be sent back to Apple to get fixed. Tried to turn the computer on and it wouldn't start, was very strange. Now it is all fixed and now able to write my blog.

Just finished the U.S. trip this week in Amelia Island, which started back in Memphis on February 19th. It is a very long trip because both Indian Wells and Miami are 10 day events. If you happen to lose early in the tournament, you have a whole week until the next tournament starts. Even though it was 7 weeks here, I felt that the trip went pretty fast.

Time does go by fast when you are having good results like Akiko did in both Memphis and Las Vegas. In Memphis, after having an exciting match in singles against Venus Williams, Aki and her partner, Jarmila Gajdosova made it to the finals of the doubles. Was a great result also because the girls haven't played together in almost a year.

The next week we were in Las Vegas, where the weather was very tough. Coming from the indoors to playing in 35 mph winds and very cold weather was a big challenge. Aki ended up making finals in singles and semi finals in doubles. Thought it was a great week taking all the variables. Didn't get to go to any shows since we had to play singles and doubles everyday, so that was really the only disappointing thing.

We were then in California for Indian Wells, which is such a wonderful place. You just sit and admire then you in a little bit of a desert with some mountains and amazing how it can be hot out and on top of the mountains is still snow.
It was nice to be back in Florida and Aki was very happy to see her dog Lu.e. We actually brought him up to Amelia Island as well. Everyone at the tournament said how cute Lu.e is, which we already know that :). Also Aki's Mom came out for Miami and Amelia Island which was very nice to have her.

Well, now I have a little time off while Akiko will play Fed Cup. I am on my way up to Charlotte, NC where I am originally frm and my brother still lives there. Be nice to see him and my nephew, Justin, who plays tennis. He is 13 years old and is a good tennis player and I try to find some time to go up there and work with Justin some. Right now its cold outside, so I hope it won't stay like this the whole time I am here...
Well, again I apologize that its been so long since I have written but I am back and will update you on how everything is going. Speak to you soon!