Moscow I don’t know how the national championships are in other countries, but I think they are not like the Russian National Championships 2003! We played from the 3rd to the 7th of November. During these 5 days there have been played: 4 rounds of qualifying and the main draw for men and women in singles and doubles and also in mixed doubles. You know on how many courts? Three courts! Nobody ever got even 15 minutes to practice or to warm up before his match. The empires were the worst in the whole world, but they can be partially excused because of the marathon-days they had to work. We had no ball boys and little public, but for me it was very special anyway. It’s the national championships, something that remains forever. It is much more important than winning a challenger tournament somewhere in the world. This year I could not defend my title in singles (I won 2001 and 2002), but at least I won the doubles tournament. So I’m a Russian champion again. I doubt that the conditions will change much during the next years, but I don’t care much. As long as I play tennis I will play the Russian National Championships. I hope you will all visit my web site and I’m looking forward to receiving your e-mails. Bye, Igor Kunitsyn