It was an early start to the morning as we headed out at 6:30 a.m. to allow enough time to get to the venue and for me to be ready to play by 8:00 a.m. My first match was against Egypt's Mohammad Karem, a top player in Egypt and one of the favorites in this tournament. I played respectively losing 7-4, 7-2. He was such a wonderful player to play against.

My second match was against Australia's Gail Hopkins.  She was a tough competitor and I came on strong in the second game but it wasn't enough to force a 3rd game.  I was somewhat disappointed losing 7-4, 7-5.  Tomorrow I need to turn it up another notch which would mean playing at an even higher level than I already am.

The weather was an absolute "10" warm and sunny with very little wind, just beautiful for the last week of summer in Melbourne.

My teammates each won matches today so overall the USA is competing well.

(More technical glitches today with loading photos, hopefully I'll be able to add a few tomorrow).

You can also check out my entries to the Croquet Network at www.croquetnetwork.squarespace.com