Thread by @marinastennis

1/x A thread on my last days in Japan. I don’t normally write in detail about my own tennis life, but I’ll try this once. It starts as more practical tour life things and gets more human further on.

2/x I’ve been in Japan alone for 4 weeks, my flights were in and out of Tokyo where the first tournaments were (because return tickets are cheaper obviously), and this last 25k tournament was in Osaka (3.5hrs train ride).

3/x I played qualies here, lost 9-11 in the super tiebreak in final round on Monday. After losing, I rebooked my flight from the original Sunday departure, to not spend 6 more days in Japan without matches, but still maybe do some sightseeing. New flight Thursday evening.

4/x Next day (Tuesday) I find out that I have made it into the draw as a Lucky Loser and am drawn against the WTA 355. It’s been a long while since I beat someone top 400 but I’m just very happy to get another match at this level, they are not easy to come by.

5/x Defying statistics, I win this match in two sets and my next match is now on Thursday (the same day my rebooked flight is), because the rest of the R1 are played on Wednesday.

6/x Wednesday then rains completely away and no matches are played, meaning those last R1 matches are pushed to Thursday and my R2 match is therefore not played first on that day.

7/x My flight is at 9pm from Tokyo, 3.5hrs away by train. The R1 matches start at 10am. I am 2nd match on. If I lose, I may (barely) make my flight. If I win, I need to buy a completely new ticket because the rebookable option was a one-use thing. I checked ticket prices, ~600€.

8/x The first match on my court unexpectedly goes to three sets, and I’m looking at the clock... We go on at around 12:30. I end up losing in three sets and am bitterly disappointed because I felt I should win.

9/x We finish just before 3pm. I hurry to get my strings from the stringer, my cash deposit for practice balls, my prize money. I have no time to walk to my airbnb to take my luggage so I get help from the tournament staff in calling a Japanese taxi.

10/x The taxi comes, we go to my airbnb, I rush to get my stuff, get back in the taxi, we go to the train (Shinkansen) station, I get off, I’m still in my tennis clothes, I have my tennis bag and my big travelling trunk (4 weeks’ worth of stuff) and my huge winter coat in tow,

11/x I run to get a ticket, I am very hot and bothered and my head is full of static from anger at the loss. I buy a ticket from the machine and rush up to the platform which thankfully is very close even though the station is huge.

12/x I get on the train at 4:07pm, it leaves at 4:10pm. According to Google Maps this gets me to airport at 7:15pm. The wifi doesn’t work so I just have a small cry sitting among the Japanese people on the train in my sweaty tennis clothes with defeat still ringing in my brain.

13/x I have no idea if I have forgotten something important in Osaka in my rush to pack my things in 2 minutes (I didn’t want to pack too much beforehand because that would be like predicting myself to lose). If I have there’s no way of getting it back.

14/x I am sad for losing today, happy for winning one round, sad this trip was so expensive, happy I will probably make my flight, sad that I’m making my flight because I lost, wondering if knowing the absurd cost of a new ticket affected me in important moments in the match.

15/x I am also hungry because I didn’t have time to eat and annoyed because I don’t want to travel for ~24hrs in my tennis clothes, and not looking forward to how stiff I will feel when I finally arrive (obviously did not have time to stretch and cool down).

16/x And also, I am bummed I couldn’t see more of lovely Osaka or have time to buy souvenirs for my loved ones or meet that family friend in Tokyo.

17/x But when the dust settles and my bitter tears from losing dry up, and even now after composing this thread, I remember and feel unbelievably lucky to have been able to fly to Japan for tennis and to have seen the sakura blooming. I might never, ever come here again.

Thank you, everybody, for the support 😭 My flight is boarding now and I will be on it. I will reply to you when I am online again!

PS. I accidentally just bought bourbon-infused(?!) truffles while spending my last Japanese coins in the vending machine in the boarding area 😂