We received confirmation on acceptance into ITF qualifying draw in Aruba. This was a las minute change of destination to avoid Ebola and Iran war related travel disruptions as our US trip was planned due to my Dad’s work and my college visits. We landed in Aruba via US after a long journey. By the time we arrived at the AirBnB it was pretty late in the evening so we couldn’t go out as it was about to rain. We simply ordered some pizza and went to sleep. Next day we had an early start and we hit the courts for practice only to get surprised by really heavy rain in an hour. They didn’t have proper squeegee to push the water out. They only had small mops so we had to wait for the forces of nature to dry the courts. This is the 3rd place (Riyadh, Dubai and Aruba) I have been in last 3 years that didn’t have squeegees. Anyways after an hour of wait we could get back on court.
Next day I won my qualifying match under some really windy conditions. I have never played in so much windy. Boys from the region are used to it. I had some tough matches in singles and doubles and it took me some time to adjust to the conditions. I didn’t win but took so many valuable lessons from this tournament.
During the tournament, we had FIFA world cup going on. It was so much fun to watch matches with my friends from South America. They are really passionate about football. My partner for doubles was from Colombia and we watched the world cup match together the Colombian crew. It was so intese.
In general I found people of Aruba to be very helpful and friendly. Vacation Aruba’s AirBnB home was awesome and their staff was very helpful. We had a great time and someday we will come back again 🙂
We now head to Jamaica where I will be playing on Clay in Ocho Rios.
Aruba ITF Lessons Rain squeegee Windy
Last modified: September 21, 2026
