Men & Women's 50 OUTDOOR HARD COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Reston, Virginia (Near Washington, DC)
I played against the guy who won the first tournament I entered, but we didn’t get to play, as we were on opposite sides of the draw, and I didn’t make it to the finals at that time. I played one of my best matches since I started playing tournaments, but still lost. I lost the first set 6-2 on some pretty sloppy serving – despite two full weeks of working on my serve. It seems that I can’t “make myself” relax during a match. I am so tight, my motion doesn’t flow, and don’t feel the same “pop” on the ball, nor the control. I’m starting to pray my way through more matches, in hopes of feeling the peace of Christ instead of the “angst of Gene”.
Anyway, I started the second set determined to pick up my game. I won that set 6-0, and felt like I had really elevated my game. We are now about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the match, and it’s getting a lot hotter, and I’m already feeling my hip start to hurt a bit. We got new balls, I changed my shirt, and we rested a few minutes before starting the 3rd set.
This set was a lot tighter, with neither guy getting more than 1 game ahead at a time. It was 4-4, and he was serving. I had him LOVE-40 on his serve – 3 break points!!! Yikes, I choked big time, and did not win that game. I should have been more aggressive on at least the first two chances, but instead I got cautious and lost the entire game. I would have had a 5-4 lead, with my serve, so that I could have served out the match. But instead, I had to hold my serve to stay in it. I was so dejected after that, I let the game get away from me and was down love 40 – giving him 3 match points. I saved all THREE!! That’s the second time I have done that, but still failed to win the game. There has to be more GRIT in my bones. I had him at deuce, and I did not win my serve – that is what made the difference. I could have still been in the match, but let my bad attitude and tightness get me down and defeated.
A couple of things learned from this match:
1. My chip return on the backhand is definitely the right approach on 1st serves. I still hit my second serve return with more authority, and overall it was a much improved part of my game.
2. I’ve got to play more actual matches so I can put my serve “under pressure”, so I can learn how to overcome tightness.
3. I need a lesson on slices to my backhand – specifically making sure I can hit it down the line. If I was able to take a cross court slice backhand, and hit it (roll it) down the line, I would have won a half dozen points
4. I still need to SEE the ball longer on my racquet
5. I need to use more wrist action on my forehand. I used a lot more in this match, and it definitely paid dividends. I won quite a few points because of the amount of action I had on the ball.
Next tournament will be my first Nationals, and this guy is also coming to play. We agreed to hit together the day before to warm each other up. That should be the start of a friendship – as I think we really enjoyed playing each other.