Hi everyone,

I have been doing a lot of things last few days.

Unfortunately, I lost my first-round match against Francesca Schiavone from Italy on Sunday. It was a rainy day and we were scheduled first at 10:30 a.m., but I think we went on court about 2:00 p.m.

Sad to say, but it wasn't good match from my side. I was nervous and made a lot of unforced errors . Of course at this level you can't do that, and its very tough to come back in the match. We had a big discussion with my coach afterwards.

Anyway, now it's over and I have to think about my next tournament, which is Forest Hills. Honestly, I didn't want to leave the place so fast, so I decided to stay until August 15 and practice here. Usually tennis players try to leave the place as soon as they lose -- sometimes they have to play another tournament next week, or they decide to go home, or sometimes they want to go somewhere else because it's tough to stay and just watch.

I feel the same sometimes but here it's different. It is a fantastic atmosphere !!!! I really wanted to stay longer and enjoy every moment of it. So now I'm practicing two times a day, doing fitness, watching some matches and just hanging around the village.

The other night I watched a very good doubles match. My friends from Belarus, Darya Kustova and Olga  Govortsova, beat one of the favorites from China -- Sun Tian Tian and Peng Shuai. They played the night session on Center Court and it was very exciting to watch. Very good tennis from both teams.

I have to say it was tough for my friends because almost everyone there supported their players and there were only three of us who were cheering for them. They did a good job and I'm very happy for them.  :-)

Hi everyone,

The most impressive thing has been meeting the USA basketball dream team. I love basketball – if I have time I always watch the NBA. (I used to play a little bit in the school team just for fun, but once I was invited to the National Junior Team.)

So back to the story... we had dinner in the dining hall together with my coach. And suddenly we see some athletes running with cameras. We were wondering what was happening, then I turned my head and I saw Kobe Bryant !!!!!!

He was walking to the table with some food from McDonald's. Actually all of them were eating McDonald's. :-)

After I saw Lebron James and other players too. It was something unbelievable!!!!!

So many athletes were taking pictures of them while they eat, can you imagine what happened when they finished with their food !!!!!!!!

I have to say they were very nice to everyone. I respect them even more after that. At that moment I realize how popular they are !!! They are real stars !!!!

On to the opening ceremony!!!!!! I have been waiting for this day for all my life. Even now when I'm writing, I feel very emotional. As a little child I watched some of the opening ceremonies on TV, and now I can step out on the field myself for the first time in my life. I will never forget this day. It is so special.

As you all know it started at 08.08.08.  (8pm, 8 min !!!) But we started much earlier.

Every country got their number according to the Chinese alphabet so Uzbekistan got No. 35, which means we are going 35th in the parade.

We left the athletes village around 6 pm and we were waiting in order almost two hours in a very nice gymnasium.

I looked around and I saw the Ukrainian team next to us, and the Belarussian team just opposite. And of course I know the tennis players from there. We all found each other :-) There were the Bondarenko sisters, Tatiana Perebiynis, Mariya Koryttseva from the Ukraine and Darya Kustova, Tatiana Poutchek, Victoria Azarenka and Olga Govortsova from Belarus. So we all started to take pictures, exchanging pins and just walking around the place. We all enjoyed the moment so much.

Around 9 pm, they started to call the countries and we left the place to go to the main stadium. We were going very slowly taking pictures and videos. I think it took us more than an hour to arrive at the main gate.

And finally we were there !!!!!!!!!!!! I turned back to my coach and I just smiled. My heart started to beat very fast, and I forgot that I was tired and sweating so much.

They say the name of our country and we step out in the field. IT’S AMAZING!!!!! We all had little flags in our hands and waved to all the people there. After that we came closer to the stand where our President Islam Karimov was sitting. He stood up and we waved.

We made one big round and we got to our place on the field.

Imagine – we were No. 35 and in total there were 206 countries. So we had a very, very long wait. Everyone was very tired and soon we all sat down on the ground and were watching everything on the big screen.

This is the moment when the whole world comes together. All the athletes just mix and sat down together no matter which nationality, race, religion.

I don't think I can find right words to describe the Olympic fire ceremony. I thought the torch bearer was just going to go and fire it up. But I was wrong. We all were wrong, he started to run. It was so high! All the athletes who still were sitting down all stood up. We all didn't believe what we saw at that moment !!!!

I forgot that I have so much pain in my legs. I forgot that we are here on the field for nearly four hours (seven hours with all other stuff). I forgot that I 'm so thirsty. I was just feeling so happy to be here to be part of something great.

My coach told me, "Thank you, Akgul, because of you I'm here too "

At night we came back to the village very late. We ate a little bit and I went to sleep.

You know the feeling when you remember something and smile in the darkness? I had this kind of smile on my face that night.

Hi everyone,

So first of all, this is my first Olympics and I am very happy to get this chance.

It was very long way to get here because I started the year ranked No. 98 and I knew I have to be around No. 60 to get in the Olympic list. So I had to play a lot of tournaments and show good results.

It is very important for my country too. We didn't have any tennis players in Athens, so everyone was very happy and proud that I could make it myself without any special invitation or wildcard.

Before we arrived in Beijing we had a lot of meetings back in Tashkent. First, we all met at the Square of Independence to put the flowers on the Mother Statue there. After that, we all went to the Museum of Olympic Glory to meet our Prime Minister and other VIPS. We have very nice tradition of meeting there before every international competition such as the Olympics or Asian Games.

We received our national flag there as well. Oh – I forgot to tell you that I was one of the four athletes nominated to carry the flag in the opening ceremony. It’s a great honor even though they didn't choose me in the end :-)

So here we are in the airport getting ready to leave. A lot of attention from media, 100 interviews, photos, one more meeting with the Prime Minister and we are ready to go to Beijing.

We arrived in Beijing on August 5 around 9.30 am. As usual we all had to pass all the controls and do all the formalities but it was very different this time. You can see a lot of respect in the eyes of all people around [because you’re there for the Olympics]. This very special and I think whole world looks at you differently, like you are part of the history.

We went to the village by bus. All of us were very tired because we traveled the whole night. But as soon as we arrived at the athletes village I didn't feel tired anymore. It is so impressive!!!!!

At the tennis tournaments, I’m used to seeing almost the same people all the time. And here it’s completely different. There are thousands of athletes... any time you go out of your building you always see someone. The movement never stops. 24 hour action. It’s amazing!!!

We got the building next to Romania, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Belarus. If you want to find me, it’s building A-12. :-)

I'm the only tennis player in our team so I'm staying alone on the 6th floor. Very nice rooms. Most of the buildings are six floors but some are nine. We have a 6th.

There is also a small dining hall not so far from your building. But the big one is on the other side of the village. I was so impressed when I just entered there.

Guys, believe me, it’s HUGE !!! I got tired walking from one side to the other. It has almost all types of food and even McDonald's. :-)

Right after lunch I went for a little walk just to look around and find out more about the village. I found a very cool place with video games and Internet where I'm actually now writing you all this. I also went to the tennis courts by bus to see the stadium and sign up for my practice for the next day.

I've noticed right when I got out from the airport that it’s gonna be very tough to play here. Its very, very humid and when the sun comes out it’s terrible. You just walk 50 meters and you’re already sweating.

But the conditions are the same for everyone so can't complain about it :-)

I went to the airport the next day again to pick up my coach. His name is Steve Elhaik and he is from France. But this week he is part of our Uzbek team :-)

As soon as he arrived, I gave him the uniform for our team and we went to the tennis courts to practice. We hit only once that day - we had the ‘flag ceremony’ at 6pm so we had to be in the village at 5 pm.

Some of you might never heard about it. At the Olympics they put all the flags up as soon as the team arrives. We had this ceremony together with Belgium, Hungary and New Zealand.