Amelia Island 10k

So I finally played a professional tournament after a 5 month layoff. It wasn't the best result (lost 6-2 6-4) but I played a full match. I played and competed and it felt great being out there again. My goals for this tournament were to have fun, enjoy getting back into tournament play, and also just being able to compete against top ranked players again. Did I think I was going to win the whole tournament? no, but I just wanted to get out there, enjoy being out there, and to get some matches under my belt.

Stadium Court

My first round opponent was Tereza Hladikova (CZE), who I guess was top 200 a few years ago. So going into the match I knew the girl would be tough and knew how to work the points in her favor. We were scheduled to be 3rd on after 8am so you would think I would get on by let's say 11. Well not in this case. The two matches before me went 6-4 and 7-5 in the 3rd sets, and I didn't get on until after 2 in the afternoon. We also had to switch courts because the matches were taking so long. But I didn't really mind. However, I did have to warm up about 3 times thinking that I was about to play my match but ended up having to sit back down and wait for the match ahead of me to finish. That part sucked a bit. But on the plus side, I got to play on the stadium court which was cool because they use to hold the Bausch and Lomb WTA tournament at this same site for 20 years and that was the court that players like Davenport, Sharapova, and Schiavone played and won on. So that part was awesome.

Well anyway, we walk onto the court and it's like David vs. Goliath but David (aka me) loses. During the match I figured well she's tall so most likely she is going to have a big serve and indeed she did. It was like trying to return Isner's serve. I tried standing farther back from the baseline to try and get a good read on the ball but I ended up leaving too much court open and she would hit an ace or a monster serve far away enough for me to just get it back and she could tee-off on it with her forehand. Or I stood back and it would still kick up high over my head. All I could do was laugh at some of the serves just thinking they were too good. But a few games here and there I got good enough reads were I stayed closer to the baseline and just reacted to her serve and attacked the return and that worked a few times, enough to break her a couple of times. That helped my confidence a bit. I served ok during the match, but not good enough to hold every time, and when you play and opponent with a great serve the importance of holding is much greater. So I got broken multiple times and that did me in. I didn't play badly, I just was rusty. It was one of those matches were you're hitting the ball great but the ball isn't going exactly where you want it and need it to go. I also could have worked the points a little more, instead of bailing out and trying to hit a winner instead of rolling the ball back deep and starting the point over. But those things come with time, and a lot of match play and that's what the next few weeks are about. So I'm looking forward to my next tournament in Williamsburg, VA this week. :)

A walkway around the courts. So pretty! I had to add it.