Real quick... 

I haven't had any time to update the blog with all the stuff from the Davis Cup and Sarajevo Open so far. 

As soon as I am done with the tournament, I will post photos and describe my experiences from the past few weeks.

Until then, please follow me at http://www.twitter.com/AmerDelic 

Feel free to comment on there. I read everything mentioning my name on the Twitter and I try to respond to most of it. 

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Tennis wise, 2011 has started for me unfortunately on a similar theme from the last 3 years.  One good match, then five days of rest/rehab.  During my match vs. Klec, I tweaked my foot (thankfully not the knee) and because I was still warm and with adrenaline pumping, I was able to get through the match.  However, next morning I was barely able to push off on my foot.  Thankfully anti-inflammatory pills work wonders these days, and with the help of ice and ultra-sound along with the medicine, foot has been feeling much better.  

We completed our first team practice today and in the evening had a chance to visit the Marrakech's famous Jamaa el Fna along with all the food spots, street performers and vendors. Place is an absolute zoo with thousands of people and scooters zooming around while honking non stop.  I have come to a conclusion that Moroccan drivers are the "Safest Awful Drivers!" Does that make sense? No, not really… but neither does their driving.  Driving lanes might as well be invisible.  Honking a horn is a substitute for blinkers, stop signs and even some of the traffic lights.  Motorcycle drivers are on a whole another level.  At times three people per 50cc scooter from 1943, whizzing through packed squares and streets.  Other times, as you might have seen in a video that I have posted, you will see a donkey or two "galloping" down the main road in the middle of Casablanca, which seems to be completely normal, but for the most part horns and gas are a solution for everything on the road.  However, with all of that happening, you never ever see anybody getting in a wreck.  Most of the cars are dinged up here and there, but no serious pile ups or people getting injured.  I haven't seen a police car since I have been here.  In my 10 days, all i have seen is traffic controllers in uniforms with a whistle, mostly spectating from the side.  Does a label of "Safest Awful Drivers" make any sense now?

Either way, here are few photos from the last few days spent in Morocco. 

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  Some ball-kids in Casablanca thought it would be funny to beat me... 7-1. 

 Official drink...of the World. 

 Need I say more?

  Future of Moroccan tennis

  Davis Cup Center court. Very nice. 

  Center Court named after one of the best Moroccan players, Younes El Aynaoui. He wasn't bad on the ATP Tour either. (Very sarcastic)

  Ismar (teammate) cruising down one of the streets of Marrakech, putting on his best "tourist" face. 

  Some of the best dried fruits... ever. 

  The official poster for the Davis Cup Match. 

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As i am writing this, I am currently about 37,000 FT above the central USA on my way to Tampa, FL.  Yet another tennis calendar year has been completed and its time to start getting ready for 2011.   Not sure if its just me, but 2011 sounds like something out of Sci-FI movies.  It might take a while to get used to saying "2011."  

Has it been almost a years since i wrote my last post? Longer? Its very possible.  I have been slacking to say the least.  Unfortunately, I was laid off and to be honest, there wasn't much to write on.  My daily thoughts were posted on my Twitter account (www.twitter.com/AmerDelic), but that was about it... There is only so much you can write about daily rehab process... It was getting old in a hurry. That is for sure.
However, I was back in the swing of things (no pun intended) just in time for the US Open.  I was getting impatient driving up to Saddlebrook every day, hitting tennis balls and strengthening my knee.  It was time to go out there and test it out. No better place than the slick courts at the Flushing Meadows, home of the US Open.  

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get through any of the matches.  However, the good news was that my knee held up just fine and that it was time to go out and keep playing.  Shortly following the US Open, i was already boarding a plane to Lisbon, Portugal to play my first ever Davis Cup match.  Most of you were surprised to hear that I was on my way to Portugal to play Davis Cup match, when US was actually playing their match in Columbia.  Reason I was on a completely different continent to play my match was because I switched to play under the Bosnian flag.  As many of you may know, I was born and raised in Tuzla, Bosnia.  I moved to Jacksonville, FL in 1996 when I was turning 14.  Since then, Ricardo Acuna, on behalf of USTA has done an unbelievable job raising me as a tennis player and as a person.  Following those 4 years with Ricardo, I found my way in Champaign, IL experiencing college tennis.  Three years later, Team and Single's National Championship later, once again I was taken under the wings of USTA to develop and play professional tennis.  In return for their favors, I was asked to help out the US Davis Cup team whenever I could.  It was my absolute honor to play with such people as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Bryan Brothers, Taylor Dent, Mardy Fish,... Such experience will never be forgotten by me.  It was something I only dreamed of coming from the red clay courts of Bosnia.  

After many years of wear and tear on the tennis courts, many of you know that I was forced to take significant time off to heal and re-evaluate my life as a tennis player.  During that time, I was approached by the Bosnian Tennis Federation asking if I can help out with the next Davis Cup, vs. Portugal.  This is wasn't the first time I was approached by the Bosnian Federation.  In 2006-2007, when I was playing some of my best tennis, I could have turned my back on the USTA to go and play for Bosnia.  However, i didn't.  I couldn't turn my back on someone that helped me all those years.  I couldn't do it because of Ricardo.  I couldn't do it because of the USTA. 

In September of 2010, after 14 months of being laid of because of a knee surgery, I had time to re-evaluate my situation.  Priorities have changed.  As a tennis player there aren't too many things that I haven't done.  I have played every Grand Slam, played on every big court and played against most of the top players in the World.  However, there were two things I never got to do.  Davis Cup and the Olympics.  I was a practice partner for the US Davis Cup, but I never got to play the full match.  As far as the Olympics, I got as close as being an alternate to going to Beijing.  
Sitting on a couch those 14 months, many things go through your mind.  These were some of the thoughts...I felt like this was the RIGHT time to play again for the country that I was born and raised in.  Was I going to get some "crap" about switching? Maybe by a common spectator, but as far as all the other players, everyone understood.  I am 28, coming off of a knee surgery, not knowing how much longer I will get to even play; chances were thinning out in a hurry.  No one blamed me.  I knew it was the right thing to do.

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I have just realized that it has been 5 months since my last post on my own website. Embarrassing, I know. However, out of the last 5 months, I haven't even played since the first week of July. As far as tennis updates, there haven't been many. I have had an injury on my knee (two tears in patella tendon) and I have been forced to sit out for a while. For most of you familiar with Twitter (www.twitter.com/AmerDelic) I have been very actively updating my rehab progress daily. Its a very interactive way to communicate with pretty much everyone willing to read 140 character "blurbs" from people like myself. In those updates I have included many topics other than just tennis. From other sports, to health, occasional stab in politics and current happening in classrooms. Yes, you have read that right. Due to the extent of my injury, I have decided to "kill two birds with one stone" and come back to University of Illinois to finish up some of my classes while doing rehab.

So, until next update on here, which will include pretty much a complete overhaul, please follow me on Twitter. (www.twitter.com/AmerDelic) Feel free to comment on everything that I post.

For those wondering when I will be back and playing again, the goal is Spring of 2010. I have made a mistake of coming back too early from injuries before. I can't make that mistake again. As my chronological clock is ticking, I have realized that I wont have too many more chances to come back from serious injuries. So, this time when I come back, I will be 100%. Nothing less.

Until then...

Cheers from Champaign, IL.

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