Hi Everyone!

I just returned from Bogota, Columbia where I played the first of several exhibition matches that I will be  participating in from now until the end of this year with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. I haven't been to Bogota since I was 12 years old, but it was great to return and just as I remembered it from years ago ­ the people were so sweet and wwelcoming and the food was amazing!

The day started with a press conference at a beautiful spa in Bogota, and the turn-out was fantastic. There had to be over 100 people there from the media, so needless to say they had a lot of questions! After the press conference I went into a separate area and did a bunch of one on one interviews with various media and then after that I was off to a special event at a government sponsored athletic/sports facility.

The highlight of my trip was my visit at the sports facility. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the Director of the sports facility who works with physically and mentally disabled children in Bogota. There were over 50 kids gathered in a meeting room and I had the chance to meet each one of them individually and to personally hand them a brand new pair of shoes and other goodies. The kids ranged from one year old to about 15 years old. We took lots of pictures and the kids also sang a couple of songs to me. I was so impressed and touched by their warmth and their outlook ­ they were absolutely amazing! As you guys kknow, I love to work with children and to spend as much time as I can with them, and when I have a chance to work with disabled kids it's even more special to me. They give me such inspiration to be a better person, to enjoy each day, and to appreciate everything that I am given. I am truly blessed to have met all of them, and I only wish I had more time to spend with them!

Later in the evening, it was off to the venue for the tennis matches. We played at the Coliseo el Campin in Bogota and the crowd was great! We had over 10,000 people in attendance, and they were so into the match and were really supportive! The evening started off with ladies doubles, and we played 2 out of 3 sets. I teamed up with Kristyna Pliskova and we played against her twin sister Karolina Pliskova and Ashley Harkelroad from the US. They are both 17 years old, from the Czech Republic, and stand about 6'3"! They were both super sweet and great young players. We had a great match, and played for over an hour and a half, and then Pete and Andre followed after us for their featured singles match. And if you guys didn't already know this, I absolutely LOVE Andre Agassi. He is such an icon and I so admire everything he has accomplished in his life, both on-court and off. He is a role model to me, and with all of the time, money and dedication he puts into his charity work with children, it is beyond inspirational. It's so funny because I don't get star struck very often, but when it comes to Andre, I am totally in awe of him!

After all of the matches had been completed, all the players went to a local steakhouse for a sponsor meet and greet which was also a ton of fun. We had the chance to relax, to eat some very authentic and incredible Colombian food, and were in great company meeting all of the local sponsors and fans from the event. I hope I don't have to wait another 17 years before getting back to Colombia and I can't wait to meet Pete and Andre in Costa Rica for our next event on the Agassi/Sampras Tour!

Talk to you guys soon,