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The Chris Scott Memorial Well, for the second tournament in a row, I’ve lost in the
first round – even with my serve back in shape. In this case, I also flew to
Chicago to get beat. If it wasn’t for the cheap $83 fare, I might have been a
bit more upset. But frankly, I’m not upset at all, because once again, I’ve
found the silver lining in that cloud. This was the first tournament that I was
excited to play instead of afraid and so nervous I couldn’t breath right for the
first 3 games. This time though, I truly enjoyed playing, despite losing 6-2,
6-1. I hit my forehand more relaxed than I’ve ever done before. I used a new
serve the entire match, bending my knees way more than ever, and it gave me both
more spin and more power – and despite the fact that it was the first time I put
it “under pressure”, I only double faulted 3 or 4 times over the two sets –
which for a new serve is pretty good.
The real benefit though is the way I enjoyed hitting the
ball. I had this same kind of “attitude breakthrough” in golf about 10 years
ago. I went from feeling like it was “work and frustration” to “joy and
sensation”. My golf scores didn’t improve, but I had a far better time golfing
than ever before. It was almost like doing a brand new sport again, only
starting at a much more proficient level than a beginner. This sort of
transformation was beginning now for tennis at the Chicago tournament, and I
hope to continue it in West Virginia the next weekend. If this transformation
happens in tennis like I did in golf, every bit of work I’ve put into this
season so far will be well worth it. From a technical or tennis analysis point of view, my
return of serve was one of the big reasons I lost so poorly, as well as missing
7 out of 7 forehand “sitters”. Yes, I was hitting it well from the back court,
but I didn’t stay “calm” and graceful when I got a chance to put it away –
instead I was “jumpy and over-excited” – which is why those are often called
“sucker balls” – they look like you can just eat them up, but they are very
easily misplayed. I hope to keep my wits about me the next time around.
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