New World Order , Double Impact and Monday Tennis 04 Oct 2010 resultsetc

When the Computer rankings come out next week, we will have a new #1 and a change at #4 in the ladder. (Drum roll and applause please). Both Jack and I won our respective matches and therefore I have clinched the #1 rank after beating Dan 6-2,6-3 while Jack will move to #4.


Congratulations Jack. Jack is showing the form that catapulted him to #1 ranking two years ago, except that he is playing even better. He is one of the best counter punchers in the ladder and when he is playing this well, he is almost unstoppable. He will be playing Dan next week and I fully expect Jack to win that duel and move up to challenge the #1 rank in two weeks from today. He is playing Smart, serving well, playing the net well and his court positioning is awesome. if we manage to hold form, who knows?. we both might be playing at the very top of the ladder.


As you all know, Except for a little outfit that goes by the name ATP (Association of tennis Professionals) where players like Nadal and Federer play, every one else recognizes our ladder rankings ;)


#1 spot eluded me for quite some time and i have been at it for about 3 years now. Its been quite a journey. I still remember the first day i played in the ladder in 2007 October (when i threw away the last 3 games after i won first 4 against Warren thinking that i have won the match , not realizing every game counts). Finally i can check off the #1 ranking off my list.


Though the end result (6-2,6-3) and score seems like easy work, it was far from that today.
My serve wasnt firing today and i really had to do it the hard way. Dan ran me from side to side and front to back. Rallies were extremely long and there was a rally that i believe was like a 50 shot rally or something --i wasnt counting but that rally lasted 4-5 minutes. Despite being outgassed, serve not firing, No particular weapon clicking, i still managed to win. I did it with lots of defense and ofcourse some trade mark tactics.


Despite telling myself several times to chill a bit , i guess i put some pressure on myself. Last couple of weeks i played as if i got nothing to lose. This was predicated on the fact that i didnt have a good summer and tennis wise i did nothing to add to my game.I came to the court this evening very tentative having lost several finals before (last season i played for #1 rank 6 times--3 times it was Eric,Vishwas once , Luciano Twice. I had match points against Luciano and Vishwas but didnt convert). I knew tonight was a great chance as i am playing an opponent i have beaten before. Despite not wanting, these past facts were circling in my mind and made me nervous and tight.

Another rule change in the ladder also contributed to my nervousness. Unlike the past where winning sets carried a lot of weight, our commissioner switched to "Number of game won" approach. For example, if Player A won the first set 7-6 but was down in the second 1-3 when the play stopped, it is advantage Player B (as B has 9 games to A's 8) and he will be considered winner for the night. Though i think this is a bit unfair, there are really no good options here. We are playing in a time bound ladder where the courts need to be freed up for the next batch to come in and play.


The biggest disadvantage in this format is , if a player loses the first set by a big margin, it is almost impossible to stage a come back in the second set. In fact winner of first set can "run out the clock" (almost like running out Shot Clock in Basket ball) in the second set and virtually leave the other player no chance.


With this in back of my mind, i knew first set is extremely critical and that only added to the pressure.


After a brief Warm up Dan won the toss and elected to Serve. I did pick up couple of things from the warmup. Dan has an improved backhand and that he has got good slice. This was something different from when i last played Dan. Ofcourse this didnt change my game plan per se but was something i knew i had to factor in.


The first game was uneventful and Dan held despite me keeping it tight till 30-0. Serving from behind (as i lost the toss), i fell in 15-40 hole. This is when i said to myself to take it easy and if i lose the match, it is not the end of the world.With serve not clicking, i played some great defense to win the first point, hit a passing shot on second and at Deuce (we are playing No AD) i hit a service winner into Dan's Body to even the set at 1-1. I broke Dan at 2-1 after losing a rally which i believe was a 50 shot rally or something.


Entire night followed the same tone. I couldnt really hit winners off the rallies. Dan played very tight and i couldnt over power him as i was tentative and couldnt really rip winners. Serve wasnt particularly clicking but at the same time worked in patches to bail me out.The key was my defense which stayed sharp and really forced Dan to be conservative. i pinned him to the middle of the court to cut off the angles that his lefty forehand can come up with.After a while he realized what was going on but couldnt really counter that tactic.


Once i broke Dan and held my serve to make it 3-1 Dan was playing catch up and i broke him again and held to make it 4-1. I finally had good serving game to close the set out 6-2.


Now with a set under my belt, i looked at the time and we had about 30 minutes left. Normally this is enough to play out a set (Jack and i average around 23 minutes a set when we both play each other). My goal now (and this where this new rule change is not good for coming from behind) is to win 3 games and i will have effectively won the match as Dan won only 2 in the first set. I however have to watch out for some things. By winning first set at 6-2, i have a 4 point lead however i dont have the tie breaker in case we tie on the game won (as Dan was the prevailing #1 and he would hold the tie breaker) . What this meant was i only have a 3 point advantage. In other words, i have to make sure that i should not have more than 3 point differential.


Eg: If Dan was leading 5-1 OR 4-0 OR 6-2 in the second when the play stops, He would tie me on the total games and hence will win the evening.


Dan held serve albeit easily and played a great second game on my serve that went to Deuce. Luckily i managed to pull the game and even the tie at 1-1. I broke Dan on the next game and brought me a 2-1 lead. It is almost 0830 and i knew if i stop the play then, i would be the winner anywayz. Dan wanted to continue playing. I was tired and Dan's top spin shots started to wear on me. Players who got the court at 0830 walked in. Dan wanted to continue playing on another empty court. Despite my brain saying not to(tactics wise), i agreed to play.


The real reason why i agreed to play was to stay true to the spirit of the game. I am fortunate to play some good players who are extremely sportive. I remembered Jack , who still calls questionable calls in opponents favor , despite him being break point/match point down. I also remembered Carl ,Paul and Dan himself. All these guys are good sports and play the game in a fair and square manner. So i decided to continue and take the result whatever it may--even if it costs me #1 ranking. It isnt really that risky considering that i already have a 2-1 lead in the second and just need one more game to put the match away from Dan.

Luckily , despite me losing serve one more time, i managed to break Dan's serve enough times to win the set 6-3 and make it a convincing victory. Looking back at this very young season which is just 3 weeks old, i put up some impressive numbers. I played 52 games (39 won, 13 lost) for a 75% win.

I didnt expect to become #1 this season , this early. So how did i do it?. Sit on couch all summer and add 10 lbs to my weight. No running (ankle injury) , No works outs (not enough equipment or time at home. Not a lot of tennis matches (Ankle injury and Jack's availability).
Now that this has been done, what are my next goals? I will reflect on those items on another post.