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This was the tournament that wasn't for me. I fly in on Saturday evening. It's rainy and dreary so no chance of getting any practice on this strange surface a day early. I haven't touched a racket in 17 days since I've been trying to give my right leg a rest to see if it can stop tightening up into a knot when I play (something that started 2 months ago). The next day it is raining worse (thanks to Hurricane Katrina) and so I go to the club around 10am to see what the plan is for the day. The pro shop is jammed with guys wanting to know the same thing, and so I hear that everything has moved indoors to make sure we get the first round in. Already my bubble is burst, since I came to play on grass, not hard courts. I'm told I'm to be the 6th match, and match #1 just started at 9am. Match times are generally 1.5 hrs each, so I head back to the hotel to wait it out.
I call in at 2:30 only to find out the pro shop really doesn't know what the status is in the indoor facility, and I should just come over. I decide that I'm still going to be 3 hrs early, and I decide to wait another hour before I leave. When I arrive, I'm told that they were looking for me for over an hour, and they disqualified me - "DQ'd" as they say - from the main draw. Wow, that was the fastest I ever lost, I didn't even hit a ball. Apparently, 10 feet inside the pro shop was a registration table where I should have checked in (instead of the pro shop office) and they would have taken my cell phone number in order to call me. It was a stupid mistake on my part, and a screwed up schedule because of the rain - nothing I could do about it. The tournament director is apologetic, and assures me that he will have a consolation match for me on the grass on Monday at 1:30pm. I hang at the hotel till about noon (after checking in by phone twice earlier to make sure no schedule changes have been made) and then come to the club to hang out and wait. I get to hit some on the practice courts while I wait, and it is really weird - the ball just doesn't want to bounce - even when I hit it with much topspin. While I figured this would be the case, it's still weird to see it. By 1:45 I ask that they try to call my opponent by phone to see where he is. They find out he is "at work" and never intended on playing in the consolation match. What is up with that? In this case, I find fault with the tournament director who should confirm each person who is to play in this "back round" as they call it - since many seem to not want to do this. I'm told I can move on to the next round of the consolation, but I would have to play tomorrow on Tuesday. I explain to them that I've been here since Saturday, and I still haven't gotten to play on the grass. Standing by the table was another consolation contestant whose opponent didn't show as well - Duane, a 100% Navaho Native American. He is a very fit looking man with a pleasant smile who agrees to play a couple of sets with me for fun. Thank God. I was about to lose my patience. We go out on the court, and as I have been doing at each tournament, I ask someone to take pictures the first time I am at each venue - so I can post them here. A young man who works there takes my picture many times as we warm up, but ZERO turn up on the camera. I have no idea what he was doing. I should have checked one or more, but I haven't had this problem in the past. The only shots I got here are the ones I took while waiting to play. After playing two sets, and losing 6-4, 6-4 - but not playing 100% all out - since there seemed to be little point to it, I was left with the distinct impression that this game was not meant to be played on this surface. The bad bounces were frequent and much more severe than the bad bounces on clay. The lack of bounce was maddening - making every drop shot twice as deadly (I don't have a good drop shot, and he does). It favors serve and volley players in a big way (of which I have never been), and you can't even bounce the ball on the end of your racket to pick it up between points. It was not my idea of "tennis". So... all in all, it was the tournament that WASN'T - and I don't think I'll be going there again. |
