USO: Saturday

06 September, 2009 | 04:09

Andy plays Taylor Dent in the early hours of Sunday morning for a place in the fourth round of the US Open.

Funnily enough, he's a guy the team have been seeing plenty of the last week or so, if only because he's staying in the same hotel. On Saturday alone he happened to be in the van taking them back from the courts, and Andy bumped into him in the hotel gym. Knowing each other well, they chatted about a few things, but tennis wasn't on the agenda.

Rewinding a day, some funny things happened in the local sushi restaurant after the Capdeville win. Physio Andy Ireland is to raw fish establishments what some are to curry houses: i.e 'hot food doesn't bother me, you're a wimp.'

A wasabi nut, he cakes the stuff on anything and everything ('I eat wasabi crisps at home' he said), so it's not surprising that he decided to take on a wasabi challenge that nobody else fancied. All it needed was the large dinner party to all offer up some crisp dollar bills to the tune of 300 bucks and he was primed to eat a tablespoon's worth of the stuff.

All he needed to do was chew for 10 seconds, then swallow it, and to be fair he started off well.

But after five seconds it was all over: the fumes got to him, his face went white, and same wasabi, well, came back out.

We haven't seen an entire restaurant fall about laughing like that in some time. Nenad Zimonjic and Ivan ljubicic were eating there too, but fortunately for them they missed both event and subsequent (long) recovery period.

There is still plenty of serious stuff going on however, and the pre-dinner routine was all about getting Andy a decent recovery after the match. ice bath's are a Wimbledon staple, but with no similar facilities in New York, you have to improvise. Strength and conditioning coach Matt Little near empties the 19th floor ice machine.

And the improvisation extends to how the ice is carried. When the clear plastic bags ran out, the New York shopping bags came into play. Not sure who the bag belongs to, but it wasn't Andy or either of those two.

And even then you've got to carry it a few floors down to Andy's room. All quite surreal and funny. Of course, the net result is that Andy got a solid ice bath, and that's a good thing.

Next morning they were out on court for a short session in the oppressive heat. Ross Hutchins, in his last tennis-football match before traveling home, looked a little unhappy at some of the calls.

He didn't lose though. Poor old Matty Little did, again.

The media who weren't covering Fed or Djokovic came down to snap some pics. Andy using the bands makes for a good photo.

By now, you kind of know what to expect from these tournament practice sessions: it's light work, maybe just an hour on court...

Give or take a minute or two devoted to changing grips.

They finished as they always do: volleys, then serves, then returns, and done.

Very relaxed afternoon for Andy, who spent some time getting a massage from Andy Ireland before relaxing in his room. Matt Little and Jez managed the eight mile around to Central Park and back, which is no mean feat in the heat. Early dinner, and early night for everyone too.