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Final Tournament of the Year I arrive on the same day as my first match. I’ve not done this yet this year, for a national, but I’m sort of “worn out” with all the tournaments and travel this year, and part of me just wants to “get it over with”. Work is getting VERY intense (more intense than in many years past), and any time away from home/work is getting difficult. Nevertheless, I’ve begun to think that the clay surface is truly “my surface”. It stands to reason, since I like to pound it from the baseline, I have a poor service return (so it helps that the clay slows the ball down to help me out on that), and in general the ball sits higher which is most conducive for my beloved topspin. So, there is also a bit of anticipation/excitement that I might just do well this time. I’ve been training fairly hard for the last 2 weeks on clay at home, so I’m anxious to see how I fare.
I find out that my first round match is against Warren Girle – the local pro, who used to world ranked from Australia. While he is not seeded (since he hasn’t played enough tournaments this year), I am told that it’s basically “tough luck” for me to draw him. Hmmm, sounds like I’ll have my hands full. Being the local pro, he has plenty of friends in the area, and before we get started, we have about 25 people bringing chairs around the court to watch us. Warren might be the only guy here shorter than I am. I’m delighted to play someone that’s not a full foot taller than me, and someone that seems to be happy to bang it from the baseline as well. I’ve improved my ground strokes quite a bit this year, and I’ve been winning most battles when my opponent stays back. I’m thinking this will give me a real chance here. Warren begins serving, and I get a couple of early break points. I do not however, capitalize on them, and he pulls out a good (but long) hold in game one. The fact that the first game took 15 minutes, makes me think that we are going to make this a close one. At least the crowd seems to be entertained.
On my first service game, I didn’t miss a first serve, but ironically, still didn’t manage to hold serve. He basically doesn’t make mistakes. He is not only steady, but when I “up the ante” with power, he is able to answer with just as much. We continue to have good games, with one point having me hit 4 overheads to put it away. It seems like it should be close, but I can’t get a game. I basically continues like that for the next 1.5 hours – good points, but no games. I get blanked 6-0, 6-0 for the first time this year. It’s a bit embarrassing, but many people come up to me after the match to shake my hand, and tell me they enjoyed watching and the score doesn’t reflect how good a match it was. They also remind me I would have beaten quite a few other players in the draw, but I happened to draw Warren. It’s only a mild consolation, but I do actually feel pretty good about the way I played.
This leads me to a firm and relieving conclusion about 2005. I simply do not have the skills to compete at the national level – and be a “serious” contender. I still make too many unforced errors. There are a number of things I need to do better, and I have taken good note of them this year: 1. Improve my service return dramatically 2. Improve my overhead 3. Reduce my unforced errors; especially on the ground strokes 4. Learn to drop shot This will really give me a lot to do this winter. I will not enter any national tournaments in 2006. I will play locals and regionals until I can make it to some of those finals. If I don’t I do not think I will ever play the nationals again. However, I think I can continue to improve, and put this back in my sights – perhaps for 2007. I improved more than I ever thought I would in 2005, so there’s no reason I can’t continue to do that in 2006. |
