TENNIS in DEPTH.

I’ve now got about five days at home before I leave for Miami, possibly via the Bahamas depending on whether I play in a charity event there first. This time next week I’ll already be back in training and thinking about 2011. I go to Miami every year at this time and I plan to work even harder than ever. That might involve longer sessions, more hours, and just making sure everything is even more professional. It’s been great all year and I want to say thanks a lot to everyone for that.

I think we’re already incredibly professional in tennis in looking into nutrition, what we eat, the amount of calories we take on, what we do in the gym. It can even come down to making sure I’m sleeping properly. I’ll just have to speak to the guys I work with and make sure they work me even harder.

As for the coach situation, I’ll have a think about it over the next couple of weeks. I need someone that can make me a better player and that I enjoy being around. You spend a lot of time with a coach so it’s a big decision. I’ll be out in Miami for Christmas and I’ve got quite a few friends out there, but I’m not sure yet whether I’ll see my family – it’s one of the sacrifices you have to make, unfortunately. It does mean the present situation can be a bit tricky. I actually love going and buying presents, especially for my brother, but I don’t normally get much back from him. “Tough love” is what he calls it.

After Christmas I’ll head to Australia for the new season, and I’m going to start at the Hopman Cup in Perth again. It’s an international team event and, like last year, I’m going to play with Laura Robson. She’s very young so she’s had a year to improve and it’s actually a pretty strong field this year – Novak Djokovic, John Isner and Gael Monfils are playing – so it should be a really good start to the year. You’re guaranteed to play three singles, three doubles and it’s usually 40C down there so on the off days you get good training weather. I also need to make up for last year when we finished runners-up to Spain, so Laura missed out on the diamonds you get for winning. She wasn’t happy!

The other great thing about playing in Australia is there are loads of Brits there, so the support is always amazing. It’s been great all year and I want to say thanks a lot to everyone for that. Now I need to check up on my fantasy football – Man United winning 7-1 doesn’t do me much good as I’ve only got Nani – and see how I got on against Lawro in the weekend’s Premier League predictions. I’m a bit nervous, I think it’s going to be pretty close.

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