Monday Tennis results (27-Sep-10) -- Double Whammy

Unlike other posts, you dont have to read till the end to know the result. I am spilling the beans right away. Both Jack and I posted impressive results tonight. Jack finished with 15 games and I won both sets i played. Jack will make an appearance in the TOP 8 of the ladder while i will be at #2 and will have an oppurtunity to play for #1.

Both Jack and I are tucked away on different parts of the draw so there is no classic Jack vs me. My draw consisted of playing Carl in best of 3 sets. This is the new format our commissioner drew up this season. Not sure how long he will continue with this but essentially we have two singles matches at the top, followed by two groups of 4 at the 7 PM. Simply put,

#1 and #2 play a best of 3 sets match

#3 and #4 play a best of 3 sets match

#5,6,7,8 play the Top of 7 pm with each player playing 7 games each against other three.

#9,10,11,12 play bottom of 7 pm with each player playing 7 games each against other three.

The advantage of this format is that instead of traditional 10 slots at 7pm, it provides 12 slots.

The Night simply belonged to Jack.Jack draw is what i would describe as wild wild west. It originally consisted of Roger, Richard,Paul and Jack. This was tempered a bit by Richard's subsitution with Gabe. Regardless , Jack was playing in the toughest pool of the night. Squaring off against Roger to start the night, he fell in a 0-3 hole but came out 4-3 and followed it with a 5-2 rout of Paul and ended with 6-1 domination of Gabe to take his tally to 15 points. Though Roger kept close with 14 points, the night clearly was Jack's. I caught a few points during the breaks in my match and it was classic Jack counter punching, outrunning, volleying and some good hard court shots.

Congrats Jack..This win is definitely confidence boosting and could be the stepping stone in Jack's journey to the very top of the ladder.

Coming back to my outing, it is a bit different story.I played Jack on friday and won 7-5. I also played on saturday with another friend and had a good outing with 6-2 and 1-3 score line. I had a poor sunday. Jack and his friend Andy steam rolled me. They blitzed me with 3-0 score lines-twice. That is i lost all the 12 games i played against them. So i wasnt sure what to expect on Monday.

Carl and me were playing a best of 3 sets match as players seeded 3 and 4. I won the toss and elected to serve. The first couple of serves gave no indication whatsoever of the night i was going to have. Serving at 30-0, i hit the first ace of the night and from that point on, my serve lit up.

I broke Carl quickly to go up 2-0 and stayed strong to finish the set 6-0.

In the second set Carl held despite me having 3 break points to make it 1-0 on serve. Serving from behind, i fought off deuce points to make it 1-1. Then broke Carl, held my serve to make it 3-1 for me. Carl has a strong game and the score line read 3-2. We had to move to another court when i was leading "AD in" . We moved to another court and i finished the game with an Ace. I broke Carl again to go 5-1 and then blasted 3 aces and 1 service winner to finish off the night.

Once again, my serve was the key and it is an understatement. I dont ever remember serving this well. I thought i cant top my last monday's performance on serve. I was wrong. I must have hit a dozen or more Aces and a ton of service winners. It is more amazing if we consider the fact that i didnt win any points on my second serve. Every second serve i made today, Carl punished it with Winners. I am certain that i clocked close to if not more than 100MPH on serves. With Serve staying so strong, i was able to overcome an otherwise mediocre showing of my forehand and backhand.

Clearly there is something about Indoor courts that aids my game. Though i am serving a little bit better these days even outdoors, it isnt even close to how i am serving indoors. I have a theory that might explain. Firstly we use fresh balls indoors; These definitely help hard serves. Secondly, The Indoor club courts take the action on the ball. Ie if we put some spin on the ball, we can see it work In indoor courts better than outdoor courts.

Then there is the wind factor. Indoors offer the advantage of not worrying about Wind, Sun and etc.

Ofcourse there is another secret that i am not going to spill out now.

I havent figured out my next week's schedule. Originally i thought i would switch to sunday's ladder from next week for a few weeks to see how it works out. If it works out well, it would be a better fit for my schedule.

However because of today's results, I will have a chance to play for #1. It is a tempting offer and i will ponder a bit before i make a decision.

Tennis Ladder Opens for Season 2010-2011 (monday night 20-sep-10)

Even before i realized, it is time for indoor tennis season. I have no idea what happened to the Spring and Summer. Injuries consumed most of the time. I couldnt train nor practice and basically this outdoor season is a dud for me.

Unlike other outdoor seasons, i didnt play much tennis and played even less number of players. basically i played tennis samurai Jack and may be once or twice another friend.Added to that i caught some viral infection (or bacterial for all i care) and it hurt my cardio. I couldnt last more than 3 games on Saturday when Jack invited me to play him and a colleague.I tried to hit with another friend on sunday and that lasted even less time.

I was contemplating pulling out of the monday draw for sometime before i realized that i had some time to kill. So i thought i might as well show up and swing fearlessly with out worrying about the results.

Originally myself and jack are on different parts of the draw and arent scheduled to face each other. However some last minute adjustmens to the draw meant that myself and Jack were going to play each other at prime time.

I started out with lefty Mike. I won the toss and chose to serve anywayz. Since this is a 7 game match, by serving first, i can serve 4 games as opposed to my opponent who can only serve for 3 games. Even in the event, i lose my service game once, i can still keep the match close because i can serve 3 more times. For reasons i cant explain, my serve clicked pretty well. we went with serve until i lead 2-1 . I broke mike's serve to go up 3-1 and then held again (on a deuce game) to make it 4-1. Mike also appeared a bit rusty and in the end it was a comforatble 5-2 score for me.

I have no idea how i managed that score line considering that i got so gassed out at times that i stopped chasing the balls. Also i was coughing too much and definitely needed to dial it down a bit.

My next match was with Ding. Despite leading 30-0 on my serve, i ended up losing my serve. I however broke him back immediately to make it 1-1.I held and then broke him to go up 3-1. I held my serve again to make it 4-1. Ding held and i got the last game on my serve for 5-2.

Ding made me run side to side , front to back. Already running on empty tank, this left me even more out of gas and options.

Both with Mike and Ding, i was able to serve very well. In fact , today is the most number of aces/service winners i ever hit during indoor season. Especially i dialled in on the Ad court serve. From that side , i was able to hit down the T or Wide with relative ease. My forehand wasnt working well and back hand is below average. Simply put the score board doesnt say the whole story.

Finally, the match every one was waiting for. me and Jack squaring off on Opening night. This is what our fans are looking for ever since me and jack confirmed our entries into the ladder. Jack is always a tricky opponent for me regardless of H2H (head to head) record. Because we play each other a lot, things that i do which pose challenges to some opponents, have minimal impact on Jack. For example, Jack can read my serve better than any other played i played against. He also knows the spots i attack often (eg:backhand corner) and he probably knows my weakness.

I won the toss and started the serve. My goal was to win atleast 3 games. Walking into this match, i lead the pack with 10 games, Jack had 6, Mike has 7 and Ding had 5. If i can win 3 games then results of other matches doesnt matter and i will top the group--ensuring a 7pm slot the following week.

Like most matches between us, this match went on predictable lines until 2-1. Though there were some interesting rallies , in the grand scheme of things, neither of us did anything different. I kept the ball in play and deep in the middle trying to keep Jack away from Service line area. Jack does most of the damage when the opponent leaves balls hanging around midcourt close to the service box area. He can go cross court or Down the line or dropshot or hit an approach shot. Basically at that point, he dictates the rally and often it is a short rally.

I broke Jack's serve to go up 3-1 and then held mine to keep it 4-1. At this point, i knew that i got enough points to lead the group. I decided to be aggressive on the last two games and not worry about points. I broke Jack's serve to make it 5-1. I was too casual on the last game(my service game) and went down two break points. Two good serves bought it to Deuce. I couldnt get a good serve on my last game and Jack played a good point to draw me to the net and then hit a good passing shot. I didnt even bother to chase as by this time i am spent.

In the end, i won 15 points (5 each against Mike, Ding and Jack) and likely to move up. Ding finished at 11 while Jack and Mike tied at 8 with Mike owning the breaker.

I am impressed with the way i played and was happy with the results but at the same time the underlying issues arent resolved yet. My forehand/backhand didnt work well. My movement wasnt good but i hope once i recover sufficiently from my illness, i will be alright over there. Just waiting to get better to start the training.

I cant be too harsh on myself. It is just the begining of the season. Given the miserable outdoor season i had, i am really not expecting to make a dent at the top of this ladder. I will be happy if i maintain a presence at the top of the ladder. Hopefully i will do better next summer and add enough ammunition to make a good run next year. For this season, my goal is little tempered.

So it is a decent start for the season.

I am not even sure if i play next monday. It depends on the weather (and fitness/health). if there is oppurtunity to play outdoor, i would rather play outdoor and save some $$. Jack is not sure if he would return next week either. It is unknown at this time if he will play at 7 pm or 0830pm next week. Jack loves the 7pm time slot and may return if he stays at 7pm.

A word about 2009 Cricket for charity

Apparently there was a press release about my 2009 cricket for Charity appearence.

http://sites.google.com/site/cricketforcharity/blog/cricket-tournament-to-raise-charity-for-dana-farber-cancer-society

It talks about the last ball catch i took to help my team win the Trophy. Even though its been a year, This little one day outing somehow ended up as good memories of recent times.

I havent played cricket in a long time. I wanted to play this season. Early May i went to participate in my teams practice session. I bowled a few overs and batted a bit and looked good. Clearly tennis game has impacted my cricket game and it was more evident in my batting when i tried to hit every ball after it bounced [in the past i used to quick step to the ball and take it on the rise, especially against slow/spin bowlers]. I thought i would play more cricket but injuries and other commitments kept me away.

Coming back to this 2009 episode, I wasnt sure if i would figure in the Hunts county team (this isnt my regular cricket team but teamed up with a few colleagues ). with 30 people in each team (only 11 get to play), Team management decided that they would alternate players so that every one would get atleast one match to play [teams are guaranteed two matches so they can accomodate 22 players overall].

I didnt get to play the first match for our team. I played in the second match. I got to bowl 1 over and i guess i made the most of it. I didnt give any runs but got 2 (or may be 3) wickets. One of them included a senior executive of our company. I wasnt trying to get him out as i knew he wasnt a cricket regular like me. I was spinning the ball in so that he can get a bat.

I guess that performance convinced teams management to put me in their eleven for the final.I never got to bowl though i would have loved to bowl especially during the later overs. When the game is tightly poised , cricket offers a nail biter excitement far beyond tennis. I enjoy those conditions. primarily becuase such situations require precise execution of game plan. Ie, if bowling during those situations, one's got to keep a tight line and length and try to have the batsmen in check. One loose ball and batsmen can crack a 4 or a 6 and the game can turn on a dime. I have been through several such situations and came out successfully more often.

The game got so tight to the last over (6 balls remaining). finally they needed 2 runs to win off the last ball. All through the match, i was fielding at the point (square of the batsmen) but used to vary where i stand based on what i percieved batsmen was doing. For that last ball, i deliberately moved to my right by about 10 feet. This is strictly gut feel but i also knew that this batsmen is more likely to hit to where i was standing than to my left based on his batting stance.

The ball was bowled, batsmen tried to go square and ball was in the air, i was already running for the catch . The real question at that time was if i fumble the catch. At stake was , batting team making a single run and tie the scores. In case of a tie, batting team would have won based on their net wicket loss. I took the catch fairly comfortably and my team erupted in joy.

The captain needs to be credited as apparently there was a discussion to move my fielding position to opposite side but he persisted anywayz.

I took home the ball that i caught as a souveneir. That game definitely rekindled my interest in cricket and brought back some great memories. The most dominant MCC cricket team that i was part of during early 2000's here in USA, my victorious college team and school teams from the days as a teenager back home.

It is one of those days where i happened to be in the right place at the right time. I took two catches, got 2 (or may be 3) wickets for the 1 over i bowled and didnt concede any runs. I played 1000's of matches since my childhood but never had a winning cup with this little effort.