We escaped lockdown in the UK, just!

Billy Harris (ITF #561) and I are here in Heraklion, Crete on the search for some wins and ITF points.

Unfortunately, so is half the tennis world. As there are so few tournaments on this means the cuts are extremely strong, meaning we only got into week 1 with a doubles wildcard. It’s windy here at times, played on very slow hard courts. Great for the spectator, taxing on the body!

In week 1 we beat the 3rd seeds in a high-quality match before losing 8-10 in the 3rd set tiebreak to a strong pair in the next round. A couple of inches decided the match the wrong way in the end.

No such luck with doubles wildcards in weeks 2 and 3 but we remain hopeful for the final week and are ready to play!

I’m helping Billy with his singles game, not really as a coach but as someone who can help see the things that Billy can’t when he’s on court, and more importantly be a supporting role to him with matches, training and keeping spirits high. It’s a pretty lonely tour at times, so we’ve made the most of it here so far with the awesome facilities onsite.

Unfortunately, in week 2 there was a huge storm putting half of the tennis centre underwater and flooding the outside courts. Amazingly we are back up and running again!

Billy has performed better and better each week in his singles too and we are looking for a strong finish to the trip, before we start our training block and prepare for a big 2021 on the road!

And while I have some downtime here in Greece I’m reaching out to friends, coaches and players, to help them with US College tennis placements for August 2021 or August 2022. If you’re interested in help from Col-Ten, just get in touch at team@col-ten.com.

Follow Marcus and Billy on itftennis.com.

Check out the facilities during the storm - not what you usually see on the ITF Tour!