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.
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