A Long Day/Night at the Zoo

The first day is always very long, with matches beginning at 8 a.m., two rounds of doubles and then the professional exhibition/opening ceremonies in the evening.

I had an opportunity to interview both Aaron Krickstein and Todd Martin, and in my story for ustaboys.com, I used a few of the quotes, but the conversations about Kalamazoo, and their different paths to professional careers in tennis, were much more interesting than I'm able to convey in the very brief time I have to devote to the blog tonight.

But it was obvious, again, that there is no "right way" to excel, to earn success, to develop, to compete. Krickstein was clearly ready for professional tennis at 16, Martin not until he was 20.