Doubles Vision - A Day In Metz

© ATPRogier Wassen and Christopher Kas rejoin forces this week in Metz.

Spend the day with Rogier Wassen and German partner Christopher Kas at the Open De Moselle in Metz as the Dutchman provides a look at their routine in our new Doubles Vision blog.

Metz is one of the few tournaments during the year that is close to home, that makes travelling really easy and pleasant for us because we are more flexible, and we can take our own car. For both of us it takes about 3 hours from our homes in the Western part of Germany. We both went individually and arrived on Sunday, one day before the tournament started. I took my long time coach Geert with me, who has been my coach for over 20 years now. This is very seldom in our sport, so I have to say I am proud of this. Christopher (aka Kasi) came here with his wife Maria and two-year-old daughter Kimi.

I want to report about a regular practice day on an indoor tournament. Of course every day is different in a life of a tennis player, but this is how our practice days the last few days have been going. The practice days on an indoor tournament usually start very early. The reason for this is that the most of the indoor tournaments only have two match courts on site; therefore we decided to get up at 6.30 am this morning because practice times are hard to get on the main courts. Although the Metz tournament offers us great off site practice facilities, we still prefer to hit on the match courts. Therefore we went practicing from 7.45 till 9.00 am. After cool down and a quick shower we went back to one of the best hotels in Metz, and took a second breakfast. The breakfast in our hotel this week, a four star in the middle of the center of the beautiful city of Metz, is open until noon so we used this.

After a short nap Kasi and I went back to the site early in the afternoon, to do a 45 minute gym session, where usually everybody does his own individual fitness program. After this second practice of the day, I went for a short treatment with the ATP physiotherapist Hugo Gravil, and Kasi enjoyed the Jacuzzi with his daughter. Beside the good fitness facility the tournament also provides a renewed relaxation area including Jacuzzi and a sauna. Around three o’clock we enjoyed a full lunch buffet in the player’s restaurant in the Metz Arena.

After lunch we go part ways because Kasi wants to take the opportunity to spend as much time as possible with his family. For them the central location of the hotel is ideal. Today he went to the park, near the hotel, where Kimi enjoyed the playground and was able to feed the ducks.

I spend my afternoon differently; I stayed in my hotel room, because I needed to study. The ATP has given me a full scholarship at the University of Phoenix, where I am trying to achieve a bachelor's degree in Business. It is a great opportunity offered by the ATP, which hopefully makes the transition after my tennis career easier.

After my study time I enjoyed dinner in the old part of the historical city of Metz, together with my coach. Normally I go for dinner lots of times with my doubles partners, but Kasi could not come. He was busy preparing himself for his NHL Fantasy draft. He is playing in one pool with fellow tennis players like Daniel Nestor, Eric Butorac and John Isner. Talking about Fantasy sports like NHL or NFL is always a big topic in the players lounge because many players are involved, and there is a lot of smack talk going around.