Thursday, August 13, 2026

5:23 p.m. BST

We made it across the pond! 🇬🇧

We decided to get to London a few days early before the English Open to give ourselves some time to adjust to the time change… and, naturally, squeeze in a few adventures along the way.

One of the highlights was getting to tour Wimbledon and the Wimbledon Museum, including a visit to Centre Court. This one was especially special for me because of my tennis background. I played professional tennis before making the switch to pickleball and was lucky enough to play at Wimbledon one year, so being back there brought back a lot of really cool memories. Definitely a full-circle moment — just with a pickleball paddle in my bag these days!

We also somehow went from one of the most iconic venues in sports to… glamping on a farm. 😂 We stayed in a little camping container and found an inflatable water park complete with giant obstacles, plus zoo animals, pickleball AND padel. Basically, an athlete’s version of summer camp. Obviously, we had to take full advantage.

After a few days of sightseeing, adjusting to the time zone, and throwing ourselves off giant inflatable objects, it was finally time to get down to business.

This morning we made our way to Birmingham for the English Open! We got into the indoor facility, played some practice points, got a feel for the courts, and started settling into tournament mode.

Singles kicks off tomorrow, so the sightseeing portion of the trip is officially over (for now 😅). Time to play some pickle! 🏓🇬🇧