I did start my tennis action on the ladder 3 weeks ago. Since i was out of action for such a long time (8-9 weeks), I had to start at the bottom of the ladder. There is also the fitness factor. Since i got sick in December (Dec 02 to be exact) and lost the finals on Dec 06, i havent trained in about 2 months. It doesnt help that i added about 7-8 pounds to my weight , thanks to my vacation.
I however am determined to return to the ladder and make an impression. I started training again and its been 2+ weeks thus far. Traditionally i see noticeable difference in my fitness in about 12 sessions or so and i am almost there. However this only means that i am actually ready to train harder.I estimate that if i sustain the training program and intensity,it will be mid march before i can claim to be Mr.Fit.
The first two ladder sessions (feb 7 and Feb 14) were fairly routine. Since i am playing at the bottom of 0830 (feb 7) and top of 0830 (feb 14), i mostly stayed clear of the big guns who are feasting at the 7 pm. I know that i am going to win my matches but due to the nature of one-sided matchups at this (0830) level, to actually move up one needs to win them lopsided. In a traditional setup, we have scenarios where 11-12 points were enough to push people to the top but over this part of the world, that is not sufficient. We often see two players in a given group posting lop sided scores and it comes down to how big a margin was in their wins against players that lost.
In that sense, playing at 0830 was challenging as i set myself a goal that i need to be back at 7pm in 3 weeks (two good weeks is all needed to move up but i wasnt sure of my level of play). I was probably playing a little better than i expected and posted good results.
Feb 7 --> 6-1 (A llan) , 6-1 (B ruce), 3-2(Stev e) when we ran out of time.
Feb 14 --> 6-1 (T olu), 5-2 (B ruce), 5-2 (A llan)
Some of the matches arent as easy as the scores would indicate. I might have made it harder on myself by putting more pressure on me to win every game instead of playing normally and let the result become automatic. However the end result is to my liking and i have made my way back into 7 pm.
Fast forward to Feb 21 and for my first outing at 7 pm in 3 months, i got W ayne , J ason (sub by R obert) and D arren. W ayne is a bad matchup for me. He has lots of offense and generally goes for lines and placement with plenty of power. He is one of the very few players in the ladder that i have a losing record against. R obert sub'd for J ason and i have played him before. I did not play D arren but i had a false sense of confidence as i learnt that Jack had him 7-0 the week before.
W ayne was hitting hard and his serve was threatening. We stayed with serve for the whole match. I had a 3 break points on the second game of the match but i couldnt convert. Two good serves and then a decently constructed point. It was also that i wasnt sufficiently warmed up and my timing was off. I had scares on my serve and i came close to being broken on the 7 game but i survived all of them , thanks to some clutch serves. I came out 4-3. It came down to the deuce point on this 7 game and i didnt realize how important winning that point was until much later.
I didnt have too much trouble with R obert. However i am not looking to just win this match with him but to actually win as many game as i can so that i can establish a lead. I suspected that the winner of this group would be either W ayne or me. Since i had one game lead on my match with W ayne, i was hoping to maintain it , if not stretch it. I broke R obert on 2 game and soon i was leading 4-1 with his win coming from a very close fought game which i couldnt convert. He followed up with a very solid game after to make it 4-2. Serving the 7 game, i faced the possibility of losing one more game but i held serve comfortably to make it 5-2.
I later realized why i lost these two games. I lost focus and was paying too much attention to the other match between D arren and W ayne. D arren was playing really good and heading into the last match of the night with him, i wasnt so sure of my chances. After i learnt that he handled W ayne 4-3, i knew it will be a tough evening.
Like always i tried to summarize the equations and i had 9 points, W ayne had 6 and D arren has 8. It suddenly became a 3 horse race. My magic number became 13 , ie i need to win my match 4-3 or better. W ayne can only win (7-0) in his last match and he cannot score more than 13 and even if i tie with him, i own the tie breaker. Ofcourse, first i need to win my match or it would be W ayne or D arren moving up.
I have no idea how Jack handled D arren 7-0. My wife had a reason later on. D arren puts lot of back spin on the ball with a weirdo action and it was very hard for me to pick up. In addition, he was hitting his first serves a lot, with good placement and became very hard to control. He won the spin and won his first game easily. I fell behind 0-30 and then again at Deuce but somehow won the game. Even the second game had a similar story --he held serve with ease while i struggled a lot ,still it is 2-2. One shot he puts so much action on the ball that i expected it to land out. Instead it lands close to the net and then backspins. Since i cant get a read on these, i am often caught at baseline.As i tried to counter it by preparing to move in, he unleashed a few good forehands deep into corners. Add to this the fact that he was making lots of first serves and didnt seem to be tiring while i am huffing and puffing. One thing i did notice was that his backhand doesnt have the same action. The few balls i was able to get into that corner, i was successful in majority of them. I started to direct the action towards his backhand . It wasnt easy as he managed to run around or camp in that corner to hit forehands. This started yielding results. As the match went on, i could also read his shots better and when they landed close to the net, i was able to track them down and put them in tough spots for him. I broke him and went up 3-2. With two games remaining i needed one and i held serve comfortably by aiming at backhand. Now that i have 4 games, i knew i was going to move up. For a good measure, i broke his serve on the 7 game to make it 5-2.
With 14 points, i will move up but to use an idiom "out of the frying pan , into the fire". next week, i will be facing Carl, Rich and ofcourse Jack. It is a challenging round and if anything i probably will have the least chances. Both Carl and Rich bring plenty of offense and can take over the games with relative ease. Then there is Jack. He is playing pretty good and been extremely consistent at the top of the ladder. In addition he knows my game all too well. Add to it the fact that while i struggled against D arren , Jack schooled him 7-0. The reason why it was possible is because of his high level of play. I will need to lift my game couple of level above if i have to have any chance.
There is also a controversy which might impact me. There was a one game descrepancy in Jack's group , thanks to Dave---wonder why such things always have him. Depending on which version we consider, Jack could have moved up (and thereby saving me from facing him early in the draw) or Dave might move up. Ultimately it looks like Jack chose not to challenge and it means that i will have the toughest draw ever.
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