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.

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It’s been another busy week here in Melbourne, both on and off court. The week started pretty chilled on Monday where I hit the golf course. A lot of people here in Melbourne took Monday off of work because on Tuesday it was Melbourne Cup Day which, in Victoria, is a public holiday.

On Tuesday, my fiancé Britt and I attended the Melbourne Cup– the biggest horse race in Australia. We had invites from The Herald Sun and Sensis, who both have marquees in what is called The Birdcage. We met up with Lleyton Hewitt, Jaymon Crabb and a bunch of other friends.

It’s always nice to take the chance to dress up and do something different. We also attended the races again Saturday for the last day of the carnival, where I got to judge the Fashions on the Field competition. It was something totally out of my comfort zone!

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On Wednesday, I got back into training with Hewitt to start off season training properly. It still amazes me that he brings such great intensity to the court, which for me coming into my last Australian summer, is perfect.

This week I’ll start to step it up further. It’s a weird feeling going into training for my last lot of tournaments, but I’m fired up and ready to go.