Eye Candy/Talent & Cougars

So it’s not an easy job but somebody’s gotta do it!!!. Yesterday was a fun day for me at the suite, there was a lot of…… well, how do we say it?!……TALENT… that came around….lol…….. I am not opposed to many good looking guys coming by the suite, being super nice and friendly…. so I just admire the view….Lukas Rosol, Joao Sousa, Horia Tecau, Robert Lindstedt, Feliciano Lopez & Eduardo Schwank all stopped by yesterday….. eye candy to the max…… it may have been the best looking day thus far All great guys, but think I am old enough to be their cougar!!! lol

Actually, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is: Which player would you date?

Well for the Wilson tour team, we have a policy that you do not date players or industry people….. This is important because tennis is sooooo small and as much as we (I) joke about the looks/talent, we really keep everything separated and professional. Not sure other brands are as serious as we are on this, but because tennis is so small, we all travel so much and are around the same people week after week, this is not an option…. what’s that saying? Don’t dip your pen in the company ink?!

Tennis is a company/small industry and definitely have to keep it kosher…..but think about the tennis players growing up on the road… it’s really not easy… Serious jr tennis players and pros leave their families and friends and are gone for 25+ weeks a year….Tennis is super international which makes it fun to experience all the different cultures, etc., but it can also reek havoc on your personal life……being gone more than 50% of the year, doesn’t really make a great base for a stable relationship….. in a new country every week, just trying to keep in contact with your loved ones via text, Skype, etc……you can never really replace one on one face time….. and if you told me 10 yrs ago when I retired from playing that I would be back on the road,with the same tennis traveling circus, I would’ve laughed in your face…  guess just like anything, it has its positives and it’s negatives!

So since we are on the dating theme for this entry, check out this fun video we shot with Alexandr Dolgopolov proposing to his…. well, you’ll see!!!

Will write more on this vid and our vid of our players who fought through the qualifying to make the main draw later, but gotta go get ready….today is the first day of main draw so it will be a long day at the courts….. 3 hrs of sleep total, but I am raring to go!!

LET’S DO IT WILSON TEAM!!!

Until later,

Tracy

Joao Sousa, Jacob Martin & Lukas Rosol at the Wilson suite in Paris

Allez Paris

Hey there,

Well, it’s been a productive past couple of days…. The pace of the tournament is beginning to pick up as we go into the main draw and we are starting to get some super good footage of our players. Yesterday we spent most of the day trying to get footage to capture the look and feel of Paris… not a bad way to spend the day… we walked about 5 miles, but think it gives a little bit extra to the videos. Not sure if anyone notices these things, but does make a huge difference in our eyes!! Check out the latest Wilson Next Gen video featuring rising stars David Goffin, Andrey Kuznetsov, Ajla Tomljanovic, Filip Krajinovic & Elina Svitolina and a great intro of Paris!!!

So yesterday we also shot a video with Alexandr Dolgopolov. Alex is one of the funniest kids and really has a great nature and way about him… it always seems like we are laughing the entire time we are shooting and it makes the time pass quickly. That is what makes the job awesome, seeing guys like Alex who really enjoy what they do and live in the moment.  He improvised a bit of it, showing his acting skills and definitely made the vid even funnier…. Hopefully you guys find it as funny as we do!

We also opened the softgoods suite yesterday and so Feliciano Lopez and Stephanie Dubois stopped by to pick up their new Wilson tennis apparel kits for the matches starting Sunday…. Feli has a new commercial with the Super Mario brothers for Nintendo and I suggest you check it out… it was very funny and Feli said it was super fun to shoot.

Today we are shooting Sorana Cirstea and going to get some stuff for our footwear with Feli and of course, more Next Gen stuff!!

Until later,

Tracy

Tracy Almeda-Singian & Robin Fenlon getting establishing shots in Paris… DO WORK!!

Next Gen, Bdays & Social Media blabber

Wilson Team: Robin Fenlon, Jacob Martin & Mario Vergara

 

Hey there!!!
Well, yesterday was the first day of qualifying at Roland Garros and it was a big day… especially cause it was Mario’s birthday!   HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIO!!!

Not sure how important birthdays are to you, but in my mind, they are always important and need to be MEGA memorable. lol  Well, not sure we could top Mario’s celebration for his 30th last year, but we tried our best to make it a fun one…..When you travel so much for work/tennis, you are hardly ever home to celebrate the special occasions with your closest friends, family and all the people you love…  not easy….. our solution last night? Have a great meal and some laughs!

So  now back to the work talk….the qualies started with the guys yesterday and we had a lot of Next Gen players in action. This is my favorite part of the tournament, watching the up and comers, grind and fight their way. There is something more raw about the fight to get to the top, before they are stars. Don’t think a lot of people realize how many matches you have to win in a lifetime to even reach the Top 200….. Next Gen’rs Filip Krajinovic, David Goffin and Andrey Kuznetsov won which was awesome and today, the girls start.

Yesterday, we were able to get some solid footage with our players…..wow, when I look back to 4 years ago when I started our social media, it was just me shooting video & photo with my little Sony digital camera,  just coming up with random ideas and no one quite understanding, getting blank looks at meetings & people wondering why I have a job (ha!)…. And now, everyone is sooooo into it… everyone/all brands have a Facebook pages, most have social media teams, tweeting is a common term, all marketing groups call themselves ‘digital agencies’ and everyone thinks they are a social media expert….. Let me say that there is NO such thing!!!! The way we communicate today, may not be the way we communicate 3 days from now….. 

It was easier in the ‘good ol days’ when people considered social media an experiment, but now everyone weighs in….. I could go on about this for ages… but let’s just say it’ll be extremely interesting to see where social media evolves and shifts to next…..

Today will be a hectic one, we have many of our Next Gen women in action: Ajla Tomlanjovic, Lauren Davis, Elina Svitolina, and many more….and we will try to get some cool stuff with our Wilson Exclusive athletes too….. let’s hope for a warmer Wednesday!!!

Until later,

Tracy

Filip Krajinovic plays with the Wilson Blade 98 tennis racket

Getting to know Wilson Next Gen’r David Goffin- 2012 Roland Garros

Wilson Next Gen’r David Goffin plays with the Blade 98 tennis racket

David Goffin is one of the brightest upcoming stars on the ATP World Tour. Reaching a career high #108 earlier this year, David is a player to watch and has his best tennis still ahead of him. Check out this short interview and see what he likes to listen to before a big match.

Favorite quote: Impossible is nothing

Craziest tennis moment: Win the final point for my country in Davis Cup for my first selection

Favorite chocolate (white, dark or milk):  Milk

One word to describe your personal style: Clean

One word to describe your Wilson racket:  Control

Déjà vu

Wilson Tennis Bag in tow around Europe

Hey there,

Well, it’s Saturday and since we were in Rome through Wednesday, we decided that it would be best for me to stay in Europe through to Paris. It would be kinda of silly to go back to the US for 3 days, then fly back to work RG. The additional jet lag and costs, just didn’t make sense…. So these past few days have been an opportunity for me to catch up on work emails and more importantly, see & catch up with friends…..

One of the great things from playing pro tennis is the great people you meet on the road and through your travels. Most of my closest friends and the most interesting relationships I have, have been created through my travels.

One of the negatives about traveling is well, THE TRAVELING!!! Being in a different place every couple of days, waking up not knowing where you are, lugging your bags on and off trains, nomad life style is not so great.

So it’s been a bit of déjà vu for me, really….. I went from Rome to Florence with my 3 massive bags… one of which is the massive Wilson tennis bag… carrying a tennis bag around Europe when I’m 32 and flabby, kinda weird really….No, it’s not Roger Federer on the train to Florence, it’s Tracy Almeda-Singian! hahaha

Florence was amazing. I saw my friend Andrea (who I met through Massimo yrs ago) and had a blast. Florence is beautiful and to enjoy a city without having to worry about being in perfect physical condition and a focused mind frame, well it was quite nice really….. One thing a lot of people don’t understand is that when you are playing tournaments, you NEVER see the sites of the city… you are so focused on the task (winning) that you isolate yourself from distractions. Not this time though, I was SUPER distracted!! haha I ate, I drank and I played!! We managed to hit the tennis courts after 3 hrs of sleep and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty, but it was awesome to get on the court after 4 months of no hitting.

So after some fun in Florence, I headed towards Switzerland to see my friend, my Crasian sista Meilen Tu. Meilen was a very good player and now one of the top agents in the business. It’s funny, we weren’t that close when we played (she was much better than I and in main draw of most, when I was playing qualies) but there are not many females/former players/minorities that are in this side of business…. it’s fair to say that its a bonding point… oh yeah and we like to both are foodies and love to have a blast!! ;P

Yesterday we hit tennis balls, ‘attempted’ to do cross court down the lines and tried to drill like we were back on tour….. and now, I can barely type this blog…… it was good fun!!!

After two days in a row of tennis with the memory of what was, onto Paris tomorrow, Wilson bags ready to go…..

Until later,

Tracy

Wilson Tennis Bags travel

Big timing

Vika Azarenka practice ends, Roger Federer’s begins

Roger Federer prepares with his Wilson Pro Staff tennis racket

So yesterday/early this morning, I was praying for players to show….. well, the power of prayer is strong.

Today, we were able to shoot video of Roger Federer, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and many other players.

It’s not very often where we work with our big guns all in the same day and they all practice on same day and are on the same schedule etc… it was crazy!!

The coolest thing of the day was having Vika practice first with a full crowd and then the frenzy be elevated even more when Roger arrived to practice on that court directly after. To have two of the sports top players in the same little space, well it was deafening noise from the crowd!!

We ended up getting more than what we hoped for, so now it’s a matter of going into the editing room and actually creating the video. Can’t wait to see!!

It has been a super long week and I am looking forward to doing the ‘normal’ work……..This is probably the most conflicted I have ever been about a shoot, so many parts were so awesome….. and there were SOOOO MANY challenges that totally took us all out of our comfort zone…. guess it’s like anything else, you work hard enough and push yourself beyond your comfort level,  you end up with exceptional results.

Now it’s 1:15am and it’s time to catch up on emails, review the Mardy Fish video from LA and oh yeah, maybe get some sleep!!

Cheers to the challenges….

Until later,

Tracy

Vika Azarenka swings her Wilson Juice tennis racket

Serena practices her forehand with her Wilson Blade tennis racket

 

 

 

 

Nothing is perfect

Renaud Vallon and Mike Steck doing work

Buono notte!

So the past few days have been super productive and we were able to get some great shots of our 2013 apparel, shoot one of my favs Alexandr Dolgopolov and even got Mike  & Renaud to do some manual labor!! haha (Check photo)

It’s Monday night and it was a day of unexpected rest. Today we had a day off because of Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Vika Azarenka reaching the finals of Madrid. They are the final players we needed to shoot and today was a travel day, so now we will stay here in Rome to await their arrival.

What you may not think about is that it takes an incredible amount of planning from all sides to make photo shoots & video shoots happen. Even if we make the perfect plan, there are always many variables….match results, weather conditions, injuries, preparations to play, it often shifts and we must adjust. We have been extremely lucky to get the footage we have on site and to do this leading into the French Open is really intense.

I was never a great player and to me it is INCREDIBLE how players like Roger, Serena and Vika are able to keep their focus & level so high, with so many outside commitments to sponsors, to the tournament, to media, etc….. amazing. That makes them great in more ways than one.

So since we had a day off, I was able to play tourist for a few hours and visit the Trevi fountain. There were a crazy amount of people there, but I was able to get my photo and make a wish…. I wish to come back to Rome!

Let’s cross our fingers and hope we get some good stuff with our players tomorrow!

Until later,

Tracy

Alexandr Dolgopolov and coach Jack Reader discussing steps forward

Trevi Fountain praying for players and good weather tomorrow!

Bonjourno

Feliciano Lopez & Milos Raonic have fun before their practice

Shocking, but the bad sleep patterns continue.

It’s 3:24am and answering emails, posting for Facebook & Twitter while watching Conan O’Brien highlights…. a typical Friday night in Roma!!

So today was uber crazy shooting …. sometimes when we do photoshoots, it can be very challenging…. the players are always great, but to be able to shoot on a tournament site… well it’s less than ideal.

There can be issues with access getting on courts, timing around players practice schedules, making sure we have the right crew so the player is comfortable, lighting around specific courts & time of day, making sure we capture the needed shots, etc…..

Good news is, we think we came out on top!!!

We were able to get some great help from Michele Montalbini from Wilson Italy who assisted with the court situation and we shot Milos Raonic, Feliciano Lopez, Flavia Pennetta, Marina Erakovic, Corinna Dentoni, Vasek Pospisil and many more….. the players were awesome and we even saw Feli and Milos have a bit of fun playing mini tennis with their coaches. One thing about the ATP Tour is that the guys practice together often and you see great camaraderie to push each other to get better. Two great Wilson guys that always support Wilson through and through.

The tennis facility where the tournament is held is the most beautiful and incredible thing I have seen. I never played the tournament here, but I was told they have renovated the facility a few yrs ago and it’s amazing. For the first time in my life I wanted to take a photo of a tennis court!!! They have a sunken court that is surrounded by these fabulous statues and the seating is ALL MARBLE… yes, a tennis court that has marble!! Simply amazing……..

Now we have to get Petra Kvitova & Philipp Kohlschreiber lined up for today, but no confirmed time yet… we have to run and gun this day!!!

Until later,

Tracy

Most beautiful tennis court. Check out the statues surrounding the court & marble seating

Eat, Pray, TENNIS?!

St.Peter’s Square

So it’s been a while since I wrote a blog and of course, what is a Singian blog if it’s not written at 2am?!

I arrived in Rome today in preparation for a photoshoot with some of our players: Milos Raonic, Vika Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Feliciano Lopez, Alexandr Dolgopolov and more. This is the first time I am in Rome since I stopped playing on tour over 10 years ago. It totally different to come here working for Wilson, then when I played.  When I was a youngin player, I felt tons of pressure to win so I could eat, I stayed in super sketchy hotels where there was no AC and had little creature friends aka bed bugs in my hotel room to keep me company….. now, I come here and the only adrenaline fix I get is from eating a good meal and increasing the muffin top!! haha

Today, I had literally two hours to play tourist before meeting our team to go over details and so I decided to go to the Vatican. Now this is super embarrassing, but I have probably been to Italy 9 or 10 times and had never been before. When you are a player all you see is the hotel and the courts… All I have to say was it was AMAZING!! I wish I had more time to explore, but I did get some prayers in and then headed to meet our director Steve and crew for dinner. Dinner was an experience as well…Steve is a vegan and I don’t think that is a common thing in Europe, the waiters seemed quite confused… best way to describe it as a culinary challenge and I love trying to figure out something people will enjoy!!

And how do you know you spend too much time in Italian restaurants? When you can read the menu in Italian and you don’t speak a lick of Italian!! That’s me!!

So I prayed, I ate and… the love?! Well, that’s not my strong suit, so let’s replace it with tons of tennis!!

Tomorrow we are going to shoot at Tennis Parioli, the practice site for the Italian Open and will try to get some footage of our Next Gen players that are in qualies. We will be at the courts for the next few days and Michele from Wilson Team Italy will be our guide. We are going to shoot some 2013 tennis gear, get up close and personal with the players and give you guys fun stuff to watch…..

That’s all I can tell you right now, but think it will be great to have the opportunity to show our players in a different way….we now have a good game plan and now we just hope for great weather!!

Until later,

Tracy

Getting to know Wilson Next Gen’r Rhyne Williams- 2012 Spring/Summer Playlist

Rhyne Williams officially signs with Wilson!!

Rhyne Williams is the newest member to the Wilson team. 21 year old Rhyne had a successful junior and collegiate career at Tennessee, reaching the NCAA Singles final in 2011 and now looks to take those abilities to the tour.

Using his Wilson Blade 98, Rhyne has already won two futures titles, made his way through qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and sits at a career high 333 this week.

We caught up with Rhyne for a few short questions to get some insight to this upcoming player. 

 

Favorite quote: Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. 

 

Best thing about college: The team aspect. It was incredibly fun to play for something other than myself. I made many friends that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

 

Favorite sport to watch: College Basketball

 

One word to describe my personal style: Active

 

One word to describe my Wilson Blade tennis racket: Solid

 

Top 5 Songs:

Seek and Destroy by Metallica

Satisfaction by Benny Bennassi

Alien Nation by Scorpions

Indestructible by Disturbed

Levels by Avicii