Monday Night Tennis Feb 11

Yesterday was my first outing at 7 pm this year[I played at 7 pm before i went on vacation]. As you move up the ladder you will have to play more consistent and quality players. I only played against one of them (Bob) before and was really nervous. For my own good I wanted to play well and show myself that my 7pm appearance is no flash in the pan. From a timing perspective, I don’t like the 7pm starts. I usually start from my work around 1730 hrs and reach home around 1800 hrs (6 pm). In order to make it to 7pm game, I have to start by 1840 (0640 pm). This doesn’t give me enough time to finish my chores at home/play with my daughter/talk to my wife.

I reached barely in time for the match. There was a slight mix up of courts until the organizer arrived and sorted it out. My first match is with Bob. I played him before and I know that his strokes are consistent; he can volley well and has no obvious weakness that I can exploit. I lost to him 5-2 the last time we played. He won the toss and elected to receive. I started the serve and fell behind 0-30 as I couldn’t find good rhythm. I loosened up a bit and started hitting the spots better. Courtesy of 2 aces I was able to win the first game. I couldn’t get any read on his serve and we stayed 1-1. The entire match went with serve from then on. He managed to break my serve once as I had a very bad service game and one line call and one net chord didn’t go my way. I had two break points on his game twice but didn’t convert. The final score is 4-3. I served really well (7 aces) and used my forehand very well. I even managed to hit some good backhands with proper technique.

Next up is Rich. I never played him before but glanced at his game as he was in the next court. At the looks of it, he looked more formidable than my first opponent. He won the toss and served first. He has a very deceptive serve. It is a variation of slice serve but also has a side spin component (like kick serve). He varied his pace. One serve would be blazing fast followed by what I call as Dink serve with spin. His ground strokes have lot of pace (and weight) in them but are not as consistent as some of my other opponents as he isn’t a great mover. However he has a very good down the line forehand shot.

As we started the match, His serve didn’t trouble me that much and I managed to return well. Then I used my forehand to dictate the play. I hit two inside-in forehands (quickly turning to be one of my favorite shots) winners and followed it up with a cross court forehand winner to break his serve and go 1-0 up. I started the serve and he was up 0-30. I calmed down and hit some good serves to hold the game. From this point on I didn’t have trouble holding my serve. I got a few break points on his serve but didn’t convert them. I won the match 4-3.

Last match of the day is with Luciano. I assumed a few things as this guy has been a constant at 7 pm ladder. I was very surprised by what I saw. He has a passable serve that has little action and keeps low. He basically directs the ball (pushes/punches) on ground strokes to the corners. In my opinion he is a polished counter puncher/pusher. I lost the toss and he elected to serve. It took me the entire first game to get used to his style. He went up 1-0. I started the serve but fell behind quickly to 30-40. Then I took a gamble and went big on serve. This is probably one of the best clutch serves I have hit in the recent times. From the Ad court I went to his backhand. He could only stare as the ball whizzed past him and brought the scores to deuce. Another hard serve into the body and I pulled out the game to make the scores even at 1-1. I held my serve comfortably from then on hugely frustrating him. I went hard on his serve and broke him immediately. Basically my game matches up very well with his. His style is very susceptible to Hard pace and topspin as merely blocking them wouldn’t be adequate to keep the ball in play. Besides he needs to work the ball towards the corners to have any sort of advantage. I was hitting some huge forehands towards the centre of the court and he struggled to find angles. He tried drop shots etc etc. Though I won the match 4-3, it could easily have been 5-2.

I finished with 11 points just one point shy of the leader (bob who won 12 points and moves further up). Though I am a little disappointed about that I am glad that I am staying at 7 pm (the other two guys won 9 (Luciano) and 10 points respectively) and helping my confidence. I also hurt my right knee a bit during my last match.

As I ponder over the past two weeks and contrast them to my game prior to my vacation, I don’t see much difference. I haven’t improved much though the stats/results seem to be different. It’s just that my serve is working now and that is making the other parts of my game look good. I am holding my serve easily it automatically puts pressure on opponents serve. They are trying to be aggressive on their game and that is resulting in unforced errors. The game is now played against my forehand giving me a better chance.

I got some remarks on my serve and it appears like most of my opponents are concerned/worried about my serve (and to some extent forehand). I felt happy (and a bit confident) as I learned how to serve all by myself and all the practice/hard work I put in the past came good (even though it may not last forever).

If I do play next week, I am going to play with Ramon (who moved up from 0830) and Rich for sure. I haven’t made a decision on whether to play next week. I am serious about the ball machine (and already started looking in ebay and etc) and I can use some extra $$$. I may be able to save some money by not playing the ladder (at 20$ a session, it isn’t cheap). I am planning to make the decision by Wednesday. Initially I am planning on skipping couple of weeks and depending on how I feel, I will probably call it a season.

I met a new player who joined the league yesterday. He lives in Rocky hill and appeared to have a good passion for the game (though not sure what his playing level is). As of now we have about 4-5 players—enough for a spring/summer ladder which myself and jack are planning to start.