Surviving a travel day from hell to get to Newport

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.

Wimbledon is done, another tough loss for Robert Lindstedt and I, as we went out in four sets in the round of 16. For the second Slam on a row, we beat the No. 3 seeds, but were unable to back it up and progress with the draw slightly opening up. That said, I enjoyed every minute of my time at Wimbledon and can't wait to be back next year.

So, I'm back in the U.S. and the European summer is over. My travel day from London to Newport was suppose to be pretty straight forward—an early flight to Chicago with a connection to Providence, RI, arriving at 2:30 p.m., just enough time to settle in. That all went south when bad weather hit Chicago and we circled for an extra hour before being able to land. Then my connection was delayed, then delayed again, before finally cancelled. I was waitlisted for a flight to Philadelphia, and didn't make it.

Finally, I was put on a flight to Boston. No big deal, Boston is only a touch further. Except when I landed one of my bags had been lost. In all the confusion in Chicago it hadn't made the flight. I finally got to Newport around 10:30 p.m., checked into the hotel and had some food before passing out.

I really love Newport. It's probably one of my favorite spots to play. The courts are known to be soft and suit players coming forward, but the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where it's played is a real throwback. I'll tell you all about it next week in my next blog.

Oh yeah, and I finally got my bag back.