I came short one more time in the contest for #1. I lost to Vishwas in a very close 0-6,6-2,10-12 contest. I had two match points to close the contest and become #1 but it wasnt to be.
However it is surprising that i even came this close. I was blitzed and bagelled in the first set. Except for the first game on my serve, i never even came close to a game point in first set. I wasnt warmed up enough and i didnt follow a good plan. I also lacked depth on my shots. Vishwas repeatedly attacked my backhand and i couldnt defend well.
After first set, i am in two minds. Do i just play and fold or do i want to fight. I lost quite a few matches against Vishwas and i thought i needed to show some fight. I also considered that this is probably my last match before i go into rebuilding mode and hence give a good shot at it. I have considerably warmed up and i made some adjustments to my court positions. I held my serve after a tensely fought deuce game and Vishwas held his. From this point on, i took over the set and broke him twice to make it 6-2.
One set a piece and off to a super tie breaker. Vishwas did offer to play a full set but it is already 0820 and i didnt want to play late as i wanted to catch some AUstralian open tennis action on TV. I kept pace with Vishwas until 7-7 though i had mini breaks in between. I was leading 9-8 and was recieving when he hit a great forehand shot to make it 9-9. I was leading again at 10-9 when i was serving. My first serve,i believed was in but was called out and we rallied on second serve before i took an ill advised net approach. After 10-10 , it was all Vishwas. He broke me on my next point and then held serve (my return hit the net) to win the evening.
Tough loss for me but i am not terribly disappointed. I didnt think i would win considering how poorly i played the first set. That i came back and made a match out of it is in itself a good thing. It would have been great to win once and be a #1 for a week. But my objective isnt to be a #1 for one week or two. It needs to be sustained. Just like how i am consistently playing the #2 spot, i need to do the same with #1. It is a fact that my game needs more weapons.
Best approach would be to work on those weapons and come back even stronger next season. For all practical purposes , there is less than 6-7 weeks of real season left before its time to be ready for outdoor season. Out of these, my budget will only last half of them.I have already put in significant time on Cardio and waiting for a break to start working the weights. Unlike last season, i want to be ready and be in shape for the next season.
I am planning to sub for next week and will only be in action the week after.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Top seeds withdraw-- (Eric and Jack pull out)
Eric and Jack pulled out of the ladder effective today. Inside sources report that unresolved sponsorship issues forced the topseeds pull out. This change is all set to alter the landscape of the monday night ladder for the rest of the season. Eric's been undisputed number #1 at the top of the ladder. Jack's pull out is expected as he made his plans clear to his fans last week when he indicated that next monday would be his official last match for winter season.
With me scheduled to pull out from last week of January, the ladder will look much different in february. There will be three open spots at the top of the ladder and more importantly the exit of two counter punchers (Jack and me) will make many players draw easy and the #1 spot is within reach for many other players as Vishwas remains the only consistent top seed. While it is tempting for me to stay longer in the ladder and become the #1, i want to look at the big picture. I dont want to be #1 in a weak ladder. The objective for me in joining the winter ladder is to improve my game and match up against the best. In this ladder, i matched up against everyone but Eric (and Vishwas). My next steps would be to improve my game , work on the weaker areas, re tool and come back for another shot at the players of that calibre. I believe
I still plan to sub alternate weeks. Unless there is a major development, My current plan is to play on Jan 18, Feb 1 and Feb 15. After Jan 18 session, I will be in rebuilding mode. I plan to rebuild my forehand and i want to use the remaining 3 or 4 sessions to test a few things out and have the plan ready for Outdoor season in April. I will also be working on my fitness --especially adding some muscle.
This developments also mean that Jack and me may not meet again the winter ladder. We are exploring the slight possibility of playing each other while sub'ing.
In Summary, Its been a great run for Jack. He struggled a bit during early phase of the ladder but picked up steam in December (he always does!) , quickly became a fixture at the top of the ladder, became #2 and came within a whisker of reclaiming his #1 ranking. There are several players in the ladder who would exchange their season for jack's in a heart beat. Though primarily a counter puncher, He is one of the few "All court" players in the ladder and is very comfortable at the net as well as baseline.
Hope to see him back soon.....
With me scheduled to pull out from last week of January, the ladder will look much different in february. There will be three open spots at the top of the ladder and more importantly the exit of two counter punchers (Jack and me) will make many players draw easy and the #1 spot is within reach for many other players as Vishwas remains the only consistent top seed. While it is tempting for me to stay longer in the ladder and become the #1, i want to look at the big picture. I dont want to be #1 in a weak ladder. The objective for me in joining the winter ladder is to improve my game and match up against the best. In this ladder, i matched up against everyone but Eric (and Vishwas). My next steps would be to improve my game , work on the weaker areas, re tool and come back for another shot at the players of that calibre. I believe
I still plan to sub alternate weeks. Unless there is a major development, My current plan is to play on Jan 18, Feb 1 and Feb 15. After Jan 18 session, I will be in rebuilding mode. I plan to rebuild my forehand and i want to use the remaining 3 or 4 sessions to test a few things out and have the plan ready for Outdoor season in April. I will also be working on my fitness --especially adding some muscle.
This developments also mean that Jack and me may not meet again the winter ladder. We are exploring the slight possibility of playing each other while sub'ing.
In Summary, Its been a great run for Jack. He struggled a bit during early phase of the ladder but picked up steam in December (he always does!) , quickly became a fixture at the top of the ladder, became #2 and came within a whisker of reclaiming his #1 ranking. There are several players in the ladder who would exchange their season for jack's in a heart beat. Though primarily a counter puncher, He is one of the few "All court" players in the ladder and is very comfortable at the net as well as baseline.
Hope to see him back soon.....
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday Tennis results (11-Jan-2010) -- Classic
By titling 'Classic', i wasnt implying my performance. The title accurately describes Jack's performance playing for the #1 against Vishwas. In the end, he came up a bit short but he was tantalizingly close to reacquiring his #1 ranking--basically a tie breaker away. Jack lost to Vishwas in a champions tie Break after making it one set all. He won the first set 7-6, playing some outstanding tennis. Yes, i was playing my match on Court #2 while Jack's match was on Court #1 and i was able to watch some of the action very closely. Though there are some unexplainable ,passive shots by both players, for most part, they played top class tennis befitting players of #1 and #2 ranks. Jack outplayed Vishwas in many rallies, used his variety to throw Vishwas off balance forcing him to take low percentage shots. Vishwas eventually steadied the ship in second set and prevailed in the tie breaker. Jack played a classic match!.
My draw consisted of Carl, Paul and Roger R. A few weeks ago, i would have seen this as a slightly easier draw. However my game dipped in the last couple of weeks and my motivation is lacking. Apathy towards results set in and i was looking to see if i can jolt myself and get back to the fighting ways. My serve wasnt firing today either.
I broke Carl on his serve the very first game. I played an excellent reflex shot on Deuce to move up and then came up with another down the line one handed backhand touch shot on Deuce (on my serve) to go up 2-0. I broke Carl again to go up 3-0. Serving 1-5, Carl hit a great shot on Deuce point to make it 5-2 for me. I am glad i won this match 5-2 but it could easily be 2-5 if the deuce balls bounced the other way. My serve wasnt clicking , my forehand is consistent but nothing great. My backhand did a lot of heavy lifting. I also moved well. Historically against Carl, it was always my ability to get back balls into play that caused him trouble and it was true yesterday. I moved well and cut off his angles and returned them back.
I started with Paul even more tentatively , losing first two points for 0-30. I pulled back and won the game with some good consistent rallies. I broke Paul on his serve to go up 2-0 before he broke back to be on serve at 1-2. I broke him again and held mine. This pattern continued for rest of the match for a 6-1 score for me. Once i got up to 4 games, Paul , i believe got disappointed and appeared like he threw the last two games away(he definitely did threw away the last game). Paul's strategy , which he used successfully against many opponents, is to engage in rallies. He uses a back hand slice to draw opponents to the net and then he forces the action by a) going for a deep shot and attack the net b) another biting slice c) defensive rallying.
A year or two ago, Paul had one of the best slice serves. These days , his serve lacks that sting and mostly gets the point started. His slice has very good bite and can easily throw off an opponent. My game matches up well against defensive sets and i was able to stay in the rallies and occassionally earned some easy points with my serve.
Entering the last match, I had 11 games to Roger R's 9 games. Incidentally he had good matches against Carl and Paul to get to 9 games. Carl has 5 while Paul collected 3 games. This basically meant that either Roger or me would be the winner of this group. I need three games to become the winner as i have a two game lead over Roger (Winning three games makes my tally 14 while Roger would only have 13 even he wins the other 4 games). I started out by breaking Roger's serve and went 1-0 up. He broke me back to make it 1-1 and then we held our serves to make it 2-2. At this time, it was 0830 and the next group of players walked in. After some shuffling, our match was moved to court #1 where Jack and Vishwas were playing. We had to wait a bit for them to finish before we could start off. I knew i needed one more game and i can then call it a night while Roger assumed that we were even in games (ie he thought i had 9 games entering last match). After a brief warm up, we started off and i broke Roger to go up 3-2 and also secure the group win. I then held my serve and then basically experimented in the last game--which back fired. I won the match 4-3. Even in this match, my serve worked only in parts but it definitely worked when it mattered--serving at deuce. The key however was my movement and ability to put the ball back into play.
With 15 games, i will be moving up to challenge Vishwas for #1. This victory also ensured that i will finish January at 7 pm regardless of how i play. Another interesting stat for me is that this will be my fourth week as #2. Outside of this academic stuff, in reality, i believe that i am probably a top 3 or top 4 player right behind Eric and Vishwas. Considering that i struggled agains these two players and mostly won against every other player, the results do attest that.
Jack will still play at the top of 7pm and try to move up for another shot at #1. I wish i could beat Vishwas next week and Jack to win his group and we both play for #1. That would culminate a strong Winter tennis season for us. We both plan to start sub'ing from last week of january and very unlikely that we would contend at the top beyond January.
My draw consisted of Carl, Paul and Roger R. A few weeks ago, i would have seen this as a slightly easier draw. However my game dipped in the last couple of weeks and my motivation is lacking. Apathy towards results set in and i was looking to see if i can jolt myself and get back to the fighting ways. My serve wasnt firing today either.
I broke Carl on his serve the very first game. I played an excellent reflex shot on Deuce to move up and then came up with another down the line one handed backhand touch shot on Deuce (on my serve) to go up 2-0. I broke Carl again to go up 3-0. Serving 1-5, Carl hit a great shot on Deuce point to make it 5-2 for me. I am glad i won this match 5-2 but it could easily be 2-5 if the deuce balls bounced the other way. My serve wasnt clicking , my forehand is consistent but nothing great. My backhand did a lot of heavy lifting. I also moved well. Historically against Carl, it was always my ability to get back balls into play that caused him trouble and it was true yesterday. I moved well and cut off his angles and returned them back.
I started with Paul even more tentatively , losing first two points for 0-30. I pulled back and won the game with some good consistent rallies. I broke Paul on his serve to go up 2-0 before he broke back to be on serve at 1-2. I broke him again and held mine. This pattern continued for rest of the match for a 6-1 score for me. Once i got up to 4 games, Paul , i believe got disappointed and appeared like he threw the last two games away(he definitely did threw away the last game). Paul's strategy , which he used successfully against many opponents, is to engage in rallies. He uses a back hand slice to draw opponents to the net and then he forces the action by a) going for a deep shot and attack the net b) another biting slice c) defensive rallying.
A year or two ago, Paul had one of the best slice serves. These days , his serve lacks that sting and mostly gets the point started. His slice has very good bite and can easily throw off an opponent. My game matches up well against defensive sets and i was able to stay in the rallies and occassionally earned some easy points with my serve.
Entering the last match, I had 11 games to Roger R's 9 games. Incidentally he had good matches against Carl and Paul to get to 9 games. Carl has 5 while Paul collected 3 games. This basically meant that either Roger or me would be the winner of this group. I need three games to become the winner as i have a two game lead over Roger (Winning three games makes my tally 14 while Roger would only have 13 even he wins the other 4 games). I started out by breaking Roger's serve and went 1-0 up. He broke me back to make it 1-1 and then we held our serves to make it 2-2. At this time, it was 0830 and the next group of players walked in. After some shuffling, our match was moved to court #1 where Jack and Vishwas were playing. We had to wait a bit for them to finish before we could start off. I knew i needed one more game and i can then call it a night while Roger assumed that we were even in games (ie he thought i had 9 games entering last match). After a brief warm up, we started off and i broke Roger to go up 3-2 and also secure the group win. I then held my serve and then basically experimented in the last game--which back fired. I won the match 4-3. Even in this match, my serve worked only in parts but it definitely worked when it mattered--serving at deuce. The key however was my movement and ability to put the ball back into play.
With 15 games, i will be moving up to challenge Vishwas for #1. This victory also ensured that i will finish January at 7 pm regardless of how i play. Another interesting stat for me is that this will be my fourth week as #2. Outside of this academic stuff, in reality, i believe that i am probably a top 3 or top 4 player right behind Eric and Vishwas. Considering that i struggled agains these two players and mostly won against every other player, the results do attest that.
Jack will still play at the top of 7pm and try to move up for another shot at #1. I wish i could beat Vishwas next week and Jack to win his group and we both play for #1. That would culminate a strong Winter tennis season for us. We both plan to start sub'ing from last week of january and very unlikely that we would contend at the top beyond January.
You can check out our scores (usually a week delayed) here.
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=24230:6:2554599036473778::NO
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday Tennis results (04-Jan-10) -- Disappointing
My first tennis session of the new year ended on a sour note. For the first time, i had a legitimate chance to become #1 as Eric pulled out this week and it was a match between me and Vishwas.
Simply put, i needed to win two sets against Vishwas and i am the #1. However my busy vacation week caught up to me. Too many movies, late nights and lack of sleep left me physically and mentally spent and Vishwas took over the #1 with 6-2,6-1 demolition. My serve was way off and my forehand and backhand were too weak.
It is disappointing but i guess i have to pick up the pieces and move on. Even if i were to be a #1 for a week, it wont change the fact that Eric is really the true #1. I wish i could have kept these games competitive.
Before this season, i am most comfortable with standard Tennis sets (ie win 6 games with difference of two and with AD). Now i have adopted to the Ladder format and i am struggling a bit with Tennis sets.
All said and done, it boils down to my serve. My backhand , which has improved since last season (due to the Two handed backhand switch) and my serve are really keeping me in contention. My forehand is consistent but not powerful. My fortunes fluctuated with my serve and when it is down, my results are down.
Regardless of results, i will have two more weeks at 7 pm and with One good performance, i can complete January at 7pm. I am fast running out of Budget dollars and will need to start subng pretty soon. I estimate that i have 4-6 sessions left and if i play continuously, i will run out of it by second week of february. one school of thought is to play alternate weeks thereby stretch into Mid March.
The Big news of the night is the arrival of new world #2 -- Jack. Yes, Jack topped the 7pm group and will be playing Vishwas for #1. Exactlty a year ago, Jack was ranked #1 and now he is one good week away from reclaiming his spot. Gentlemen, It is the change of Guard at EHRC. Jack is contemplating subng as well due to budgetary reasons and so he will do his best to stay at the very top as long as possible before he pulls out.
Here is the website to check the scores.
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=24230:6:5159308771439474::NO
Simply put, i needed to win two sets against Vishwas and i am the #1. However my busy vacation week caught up to me. Too many movies, late nights and lack of sleep left me physically and mentally spent and Vishwas took over the #1 with 6-2,6-1 demolition. My serve was way off and my forehand and backhand were too weak.
It is disappointing but i guess i have to pick up the pieces and move on. Even if i were to be a #1 for a week, it wont change the fact that Eric is really the true #1. I wish i could have kept these games competitive.
Before this season, i am most comfortable with standard Tennis sets (ie win 6 games with difference of two and with AD). Now i have adopted to the Ladder format and i am struggling a bit with Tennis sets.
All said and done, it boils down to my serve. My backhand , which has improved since last season (due to the Two handed backhand switch) and my serve are really keeping me in contention. My forehand is consistent but not powerful. My fortunes fluctuated with my serve and when it is down, my results are down.
Regardless of results, i will have two more weeks at 7 pm and with One good performance, i can complete January at 7pm. I am fast running out of Budget dollars and will need to start subng pretty soon. I estimate that i have 4-6 sessions left and if i play continuously, i will run out of it by second week of february. one school of thought is to play alternate weeks thereby stretch into Mid March.
The Big news of the night is the arrival of new world #2 -- Jack. Yes, Jack topped the 7pm group and will be playing Vishwas for #1. Exactlty a year ago, Jack was ranked #1 and now he is one good week away from reclaiming his spot. Gentlemen, It is the change of Guard at EHRC. Jack is contemplating subng as well due to budgetary reasons and so he will do his best to stay at the very top as long as possible before he pulls out.
Here is the website to check the scores.
http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=24230:6:5159308771439474::NO
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year 2010
Happy New Year every body!!
Another year ends and a fresh year(and a decade) begins. As i look back on my tennis in 2009, it appears as a mixed bag.
I probably had the most inconsistent summer in 2009. I played very less, I lost more matches and for most part, my wins arent convincing. My work consumed a lot of my summer and that is a significant reason in my results. But another reason is that i lost my TopSpin forehand. Yes, most of my game is about forcing opponent to hit one extra shot, but i also used to hit a few winners here and there , based on the oppurtunities. This year, i rarely hit winners, if any. Even my serve was off most of the summer.I scraped through matches mostly on defense.
The only positive change is that i started playing more two handed backhands. I have gotten more and more comfortable with the Two handed backhand.
At the end of summer/mid fall, my weight ballooned up by almost 12 pounds and i didnt even like the look of myself. With Winter about to set in and the winter ladder about to begin, i needed some serious work. I realized that I cant really improve my game by much (not enough oppurtunities for practice) but i thought i will work on my fitness and i did. Fast forward to Jan 2010 and I am into my fourth month of my regular work outs. My weight returned to normal levels and ofcourse my cardio is very good.
The improved fitness and the Two handed backhand helped me get to my personal best showing in the ladder (at #2). Last year i never played for #1 and i only made a couple of appearences at the top of 7pm. This year, despite increased competition due to influx of new talent, i am a 7pm player so far (I played 0830 two weeks to clear the 0830 blocks and move up).My serve has returned for most part though it isnt as consistent. I still dont have my forehand but i guess i will have to live with it for this winter sessions.
All in all , i guess i improved as a player in 2009 especially with a Two handed backhand and some good results in the winter ladder.
I have been playing non-stop in this winter ladder and i am planning to take it easy towards late january and eventually drop out of ladder sometime in february. While a difficult decision, i have to do this as my tennis budget more or less runs out. Other reason is that i want to focus on muscle building (and ready for Spring-summer 2010) and i cant do this while playing the ladder in a competitive manner. As some of you know, My tennis performance dips for few weeks if i do muscle building. Lastly i want to use some of the monday evenings to play and train my daughter so that come summer, she can be ready to be coached.
Finally, my buddy Jack had a solid season. He had a strong outdoor season in 2009 and except for a slight early wobble in the winter ladder, he is back to where he belongs.
Time to get ready for New Year and New challenges.
Monday Tennis results (28 Dec 09)--back to #3
I didnt offer much competition for Eric and with a 0-6,0-6 effort, i am back at the Top half of 7 Pm (at number 3 spot).
Jack did very well and guess what? The first tennis outing of the new year features the marquee matchup between Jack and me. The group consists of Carl, Paul D, Jack and me. Another tough night to survive.
My outing with Eric is uneventful. I came up very lethargic and he came out sharp. I could have won a couple of games by playing defensive and some junk ball tennis , but i chose not to, as i didnt see the value.
That rounds up my last match of the Decade.
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