We're on our way!

With under a week left until we leave for Glasgow, excitement and nerves are kicking in. It feels like such a long time coming and now it's suddenly here; it's starting to feel real.

Last week we eased off the long physical sessions which we had been doing for the last 7 weeks and added more on-court hitting into our training week. Carissa and I have had a lot of hitting together and are feeling confident in our sharpness and rotation. I am feeling a lot fitter on court after the last 2 months’ summer training.

This week will be really busy. The Stoeva sisters from Bulgaria, who are currently ranked 23 in the world, have come over to spar with us so it will be a challenging week but great sparring, in both ladies doubles and mixed doubles. This will hopefully make us that extra bit match ready. It will be nice for Carissa and I to spar with girls as we normally have to play against men. There is also a lot of packing and sorting out to do before we leave.

We will leave for Glasgow on Saturday morning and arrive late afternoon. We will then get chance to train in the Emirates stadium, which is the actual tournament venue for 4 days before we start play on Thursday. We won't know our draw or schedule of play until next Monday when we are in Glasgow. Hopefully we won't be playing early on the Thursday so we can go to all of the opening ceremony, but we will have to wait and see as our matches come first. My family all arrive in Glasgow on the Wednesday ready to come and support us in the team event on the Thursday. The individual event in which I am playing ladies doubles with Carissa and mixed double with Ollie will start on Tuesday 29th July and end on Sunday the 3rd August, the closing ceremony is that evening then we will come home on the Monday. 

I'm really excited to get to the athletes village in Glasgow. The atmosphere will be amazing, being able to mix with other sports and other countries. Representing Wales is always such an amazing feeling but doing it in a Commonwealth Games and with a lot of people there able to support will make it extra special. I know it will be such a great experience. I am excited to get on court and hopefully play well.