'If we're both fit enough, why not?' Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal reaffirm Paris Olympic doubles hopes in Madrid

Sam Groth and Nicole Gibbs are giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional tennis all year long in My Tennis Life. To read more updates from Sam and Nicole, go to tennischannel.com.

Moving in the right direction

Advertising

We traveled from Paris to London on the train. I'm not normally a fan of the train, over the years I have always just preferred to fly. I like the idea of checking my bags at the counter and not worrying about them until I arrive at my destination.

We got to London and were greeted by the great English weather. Plenty of rain. I missed qualies in singles because I was still in Paris, so I decided to play doubles for some grass court practice.

First day in London, quick hit on the grass, and guess what, RAIN!! Stock standard English summer 😂🌧
— Sam Groth (@SamGrothTennis) June 5, 2017

I signed in with Andre Sa and we won our first round on Wednesday and lost the quarters on Friday afternoon.

After the match, we hired a car and drove to Nottingham, about a three-hour drive north. My fiancé Britt and I were comfortable up front, but Matt Reid got jammed in the back amongst all the bags—not sure how fun that ride was for him.

I've started up in Nottingham, playing qualies. I've won my first three matches to qualify and play Peter Polansky in the first round. This is a tournament I've always played quite well at—making the final the last back in 2014, so hopefully I can have another good run this week. It's so much better being back on the grass, it's my favorite surface and hopefully coming onto it, my results will start to go in the right direction.