My experience in Toronto was quite short because I barely managed to get there on time to play in the Rogers Cup qualifiers and I lost the first match in the final set. I can even say that I don’t remember anything from the 3rd set. I would like to thank all the people who came to support me, it was a great vibe, but I was so tired that when the match ended I was happy that I could finally get some sleep. Two nights before the game I slept about three and a half hours.

I don’t know why, but getting from Washington in Toronto or Montreal is very difficult. Very few flights and they were all full. We eventually found a flight to Detroit for Friday night and we drove from there for another 5 hours and 40 minutes. We arrived at 6:15 AM and the match was scheduled for 1:00 PM. After the game ended, I slept for 14 hours. I took a one day break and decided to go see the Niagara Falls which was a great experience.

Before heading to Cincinnati, I made the decision to end the collaboration with my tennis coach, Andrei Mlendea, after two and a half years. After a few days of searching for better options for my future, I agreed with Andrei Pavel to start a collaboration. He arrived on Thursday, just before the Cincinnati Open qualifiers and we started directly with a practice. I had two difficult qualifying matches. The first one, with Norrie, who plays the best tennis in his career and another one with a 19-year-old boy, Jeffrey John Wolf, who was hitting every ball like he had nothing to lose. The first round from the main draw followed, against Philip Kohlschreiber. I served great and approached an aggressive game play to end the points as quickly as possible. And that went great.

In the last match, with Marin Cilic, the fight was tight, I won the first set 7/6 after a tiebreak in which I played excellent. I had a few chances to take the lead in the 2nd and 3rd set, but sadly, I played with restraint. I want to thank all the fans who created a beautiful atmosphere here, in Cincinnati. I can’t wait to come back next year.

Now I'm on my way to Miami, where I have a week of intense training before the US Open. I’ll keep you up to date.

Your,
Marius Copil