With the exit of all the Romanians in singles and the Doubles Final with Stefi and Briana later in the day we took the free time to Uber to Bran and visit Dracula’s Castle. The drive was pleasant and very scenic, should I return next year as I hope to do I would like to see more of Bran and Brasov and pay for extra luggage and even take my hiking boots and tennis bag 🙂

The weather was gorgeous and the gothic medieval village was cute. Our slot was 10am and lucky as we had a clear run to the entrance yet when we left they were queuing up the hills. The Castle was impressive and full of history, Postivity Penguin took many photos which can be found on his page on Instagram.

A very pleasant lunch in Bran after of grilled trout and of course mint lemonade. Adrian could not finish his vegetarian pizza as it was too filling, he gave me the last slice and he was correct. We Ubered back to the square and stopped for coffee before going to the club. We sat with Mummy Bojica in the players warm up area and I gave PP to Briana because I had been so impressed with her tennis this week. It was a little sad saying goodbye to him but Postivity Penguins have come and gone, PP 2 is still at home.

We caught the second set of the second semi final with Fitta Boluda and Ristic, was routing for Ristic as she has been our hitting partner this week but sadly it was a convincing win for her opponent, Ristic just seemed a little low on gas.

Next was the big final. Our girls against the Japanese pair, Morisaki and Omae. Two strong opening points from Briana on serve but a missed volley from Stefi and confidence crumbled from both players, we were soon down to 0-3, nervous and impatient and Stef still struggling a little with her injury was allowing Briana to do a lot of the heavy lifting from the baseline. Despite our lacklustre start the girls to their great credit got right back into it and soon levelled. It was a strange old set, we seemed to be losing the long arduous points and the Japanese pairing were losing many of the easier ones. The 12th game was similar to the first, the Japanese players served for the set, we aggressively pressed them for 0-30 but then dropped away allowing them to slam the door. In the second set we charged at them and were soon 4-1 up. Both players producing an amazing level, even Stef who struggled to be effective in set one was launching some Bojica Bullets!!! The intensity lifted and so did the noise levels from the Stefi/Briana box. As the players crossed at the net Akiki Omae had a long exchange with the umpire. ‘What’s she complaining about?’ Mummy Bojica wondered and then said to me, ‘I think it’s you’ she was right. Omae walked to the barrier and looked directly me, it was a polite discussion and she was smiling, she said ‘It’s okay to shout ‘come on’ when they hit a great point but if we miss it’s bad.’ I replied, ‘I respect that, but it’s the significance of the point and work effort during it as well and we are only cheering them when they are on our end of the court.’ She did not have a leg to stand on, yes my ‘come ons’ were getting louder but all were between points and also she had no idea how much Stefi was fighting through the pain too and I would scream from the top of the Brasov mountain to help her. We made it to a really close match tiebreak and during it the Japanese players were screaming their heads off when Briana missed routine volleys at the net, ‘you are doing exactly what you told me not’ I reminded them. Eventually we won the tiebreak and the tournament. I was so happy for the girls, a proud Mummy Bojica went on to the court and took a plethora of photos and I filmed the trophy ceremony for my Romanian Instagram page. I spoke to Akiki after, we were all smiles I shook both of their hands, I told them congratulations it was a great final, emotions got high from both of us but there was no ill feelings at all. It was all heat of the moment, she’s a nice lady, Oana played her in the first round and she was practicing on the same court as us and very pleasant, she is no Tstisipas or Ostapenko that’s for sure.

We said goodbye to Mummy B and the Champs, they are driving to Slobozia next, it never ends does it? We watched a little football in the sports bar, had dinner and I had a lovely walk around the square for the last time. Then back to the Sports Bar.

I loved Brasov and will definitely return next year, hopefully it’s a 75 again or even higher, it’s a wonderful club. Next is Cluj in February but I’ve not completely ruled out the Billie Jean King Cup Play Offs in Poland!