Tennis Tournament – Senior USPTA 50 Singles
Twin Lakes, Indoor Tournament
Baltimore, MD
4-8-05
Round of 16:
I won in 3 sets! I was "cruisin" in the first set - was up 5-1, but couldn't close him. He had a big serve that started to hum. I finally won the first set 6-4. The second set MY first serve started to fail, and with it a bit of my confidence. He also started hitting more winners and aces, and I found myself down 5-2. At one point I had game point to break his serve, but a close line call erased that. He won the 2nd set 6-2. The third set I figured out what was wrong with my first serve, and began hitting it again. I also stopped being too "score conscious" and started hitting out/going for my shots and put him on the defensive more. I won the third set 6-3. It took two hours and an expected "toll" on my hip.
STATS: First Serve% = 65%, Unforced Errors = 21, Winners = 14, but the
most "telling statistic" of all is that I won 60% of my first serve points, and
only 28% of my second.
Good thing for me my match today isn't till 5pm tomorrow - I'll have time to
recover. My coach was pretty happy with my play.
Quarterfinals
I won my quarterfinal match - but just barely. It was the
ugliest, most embarrassing level of play that I've had since I started playing
seriously again last October. I let this guy play me, and I showed no courage
or conviction for my game.
He got up 4-1 in the first set, and I was frustrated beyond belief. He no
strong ground strokes and a weak serve that I pounded back, but he simply never
missed. I would have to win the point 2 or 3 times - he just ran everything
down, and softly pushed it back. Generating your own power and pace of that
stuff is way harder than using the other guy's pace. I climbed back into the
first set to get to 5-4, and was starting to feel "in control", but I still was
not playing my game - I was simply playing his game better than he was - a big
mistake.
I should have closed it by holding my serve, but I choked and it was 5 all. I
then clawed back to break him again and won 7-5.
The second set was even uglier. I never had more than a two game lead, and I
was missing set-up after set-up. I was also getting very tired, since we hit
the two hour match in the middle of the 2nd set, and the muscles around my hip
are basically "toast" after 1 hr and 45 minutes. I was up again 5-4, serving
for the match. I got to 40-30, with MATCH point on MY serve, and lost the
point. I went on to lose that game. You have no idea how depressing,
demoralizing and utterly frustrating that is. I felt at that point that I could
not win.
I had been praying through most of the 2nd set and at this point I just "gave
up" and said if I win Lord, it will be through your mercy, not my ability. He
is now serving at 5 all and gets up in the game 40 - love. Looks like he's
going to cruise into a 6-5 lead, and at this point I can no longer attack his
serve - I'm just chipping it back, I'm so exhausted. I basically figure he's
got this set.
I somehow claw back to deuce, and then I believe I might be able to "steal" this
game from him since by all rights it was his. One of the ways I did this was to
think I had already lost it, and I just started to hit my shots - hard, low and
with angles - the way I should have since the beginning. He couldn't handle it
and I broke him - and probably his spirit at that point, since he probably
thought he had that game in the bag also.
Now I'm up 6-5 and serving for the match... AGAIN. But I really have no gas
left at all. I serve the slowest spin serve I've ever served, as I have to
conserve my energy. He quickly goes up on my serve 30 love. It's looking like
I'm going to throw another chance away to close this thing. Somehow again, I
climb back to 30 all. Now I'm two points from the match again. I win the next
point and it's match point... AGAIN. But, I can't close him again, he wins that
point. ARGH!!! I was beside myself. I kept praying and reminding myself I
could get off this court if I can just win two more points. I win the next one,
and it's my advantage again - serving match point. I still have no juice to
serve hard, and I don't want to risk a double fault, so I just spin one in. He
gives me a short ball, and I come in with a half decently hard approach (instead
of a "guiding, cautious, wimpy" approach like I had been doing most of the
match), and it's too hot for him to handle. I win....... YIKES, that was UGLY,
UGLY tennis. Total match time 2.5 hrs!
But, as my coach says, I got 100 points for that win - that's something no one
can take away now, and I need to put this behind me and learn from it. I will
however remember how bad this feels, how ashamed I am of my lack of courage and
conviction, so that I will not do this again. I would rather lose and leave
with my head high.
Semi-Finals
Today's match is against the #2 seed. He has also won two
matches, but hasn't dropped a single game yet. It is highly unlikely that I can
or will beat him. I like this situation a lot. I can hit out, get into my
game, enjoy each stroke, and not worry about the score or consequences, since
I'm not supposed to win anyway. I want to be true to myself today, and by God's
grace I will. This is a semi-final match, the winners advance to the finals
tomorrow.
Well, I'm headed home. I had a much better time losing today though,
than I did winning yesterday. I had some great points, and stayed true to
myself. I was supposed to have gotten "blown out", but I lost 7-5, 6-3, which
is pretty respectable given the fact that the guy hadn't lost a game till me. I
pulled a muscle in my stomach serving, and could have potentially won the first
set but really struggled on my serve. Not that I would have won, but I believe
if I meet this guy in a sectional, I'll play better. Anyway, I'm happy for a
good day today.
I now know what I have to work on, and I'm really glad I had this experience
here instead of at a sectional or national tournament. I've learned a lot on
this trip - which is the main goal for the first tournament of the year.