Past Two Weeks

Sorry for not updating anything. I didn’t feel compelled to write after a dismal showing in the singles in Alkmaar two weeks ago. However, we did win the doubles title which some of you saw. So now that a week has past and I did fairly well in my next tournament I’ll just recap for you the past two weeks.

Alkmaar:
In the singles tournament I  played a Dutch girl Podda first round. I won 6-1,6-1. I’ve seen her play before and she is a grinder, gets a lot of balls back and doesn’t miss much. But when I played her it was windy and she made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. However, I was up 5-0 and had a few match points that I couldn’t convert and at 5-1 I had even more that I couldn’t get until what I was told by the umpire was the 11th match point. The last two games were 35 minutes. Crazy. I was just glad I managed to win two points in a row finally. It wasn’t like I was nervous or anything. She made me play and I went for it a little too much, and she played those points well. I remember I double faulted on one, but of the others she passed me at the net, another couple she hit winners, and the rest were misses by me. No big deal.

Second round I was up against Burger, the player I lost to in the second round of the previous tournament in Meppel. Before the match I was confident in my game plan, hitting to her forehand and be aggressive by looking to get to the net. My game plan was exceeding my expectations early in the first set when I found myself up 4-2 and break chances. On my last break point opportunity I hit a slice backhand return deep up the middle and followed it into the net. Then she hits a normal (not easy, not difficult) shot to my backhand side and I manage to miss the volley deep passed the baseline. A volley I can hit with my eyes closed ‘most’ of the time. After that point I cracked mentally and she wins the next two points for the game and eventually the set. I think in the second set I started to continue to replay that point in my mind, which isn’t good, and lost sight of the present and what I needed to do in the second set. She also changed up her tactics again, by hitting a lot more to my backhand side. As the match wore on I was hitting less and less forehands and feeling less comfortable on the court. But it was over soon, I lost the second 6-3.  And that was that.

But we won the doubles so that put a smile on my face. It’s always good to win something! This was the fourth tournament Elyne and I have played together and our second win. So not too bad. Hopefully more in the future.

Breda:
Last week was a 10k in Breda, Netherlands, which is located about 15 minutes north of the Belgium border. A very nice looking town, friendly people, and nice tennis facility. I also got to house with a Dutch family who lived only a short 5 minute bike ride away from the tennis courts. And after the day of tennis was complete I got to tour the city with my own personal tour guide, had a cup of tea in the market square, and even played a few rounds of golf. It made for a very enjoyable week.

But back to tennis. I had to qualify for this tournament and won my first two matches 6-0,6-0 and 6-3,6-0 against two Belgian girls. In the main draw, first round I played against a French girl Pons and won 6-7(4),6-2,6-0. I was up a break in the first set 5-4 and served for the set but got broken, then we each held to force a tiebreaker which she played well and won. But I battled back and took the next two sets and the match. A good comeback for a win is always nice.

Second round I played a Dutch girl Burgmans. She was a big lefty and had a monster serve. I managed to win 6-2,7-6(3). Playing a player like her I knew I needed to hold serve and just try to win one return game. But I played the match smart. She return from standing right on the baseline, I knew it would be difficult to ace her, and she was a big girl so it would be difficult for her to get out of her own way, so I served body serves most of the time, and I worked rather well. After a while I would try to play a serve to her forehand or backhand but not straying too far away from the body serve. I managed to break her twice in the first set, one was just a poorly played game by her, she missed 4 shots quick into the points, the other, a multiple deuce game that I just manage to get the ball in the court more times than her. But in the second set I was down a break early (definitely not a spot I wanted to be in) but I managed to break her later on in the set. Then she needed hold to the stay in the match at 5-4 and she sure did. She aced me twice, hit a winner, and I missed a return. Then we each held until the tiebreaker. The tiebreaker was even at 3-3 until I won the next 4 points to take the match. It was a good win, didn’t get into much of a rhythm but oh well I’ll take the win over that any day.

In the quarterfinals I played another Dutch girl Van Der Meet. And again a tall girl, with a big serve and even bigger forehand. The start of the match it was drizzling the whole time so her shots didn’t have much on it. But the first game of the match she served and hit four forehand winners. I’m thinking oh dear! Just hope she can’t keep that up. But to my luck she didn’t. I won the next five games to go up 5-1 until she held and then I held to take the set 6-2. Then in the second set after she came back from what seemed to be an eternity of a bathroom break, it stopped raining, the sun came out and it got hot. Not the best combinations when playing a player who hits it big. I got broken in my opening service game and went down 3-0 quickly and couldn’t get the break back. I lost the second set 6-3. In the third set I wanted to just focus on holding serve and try to break her. But easier said than done. I got broken twice and found myself down 5-2. Then I finally managed to break her serve by just getting the return back and she tried to win the point on one shot but it didn’t work like it had in the previous games. Then I held to keep the pressure on, but she served a big game up 5-4 to win the match. I felt like she just outplayed me. The closeness of the score lies. First set I was in control, but the second and third sets were hers so she deserved to win. I was bummed I lost, but to lose against a player that hit a lot of aces and winners there is nothing you can do about it.

It was a good tournament, to make it through qualifying and into the quarters it’s pretty good. As the saying goes “eyes on the forest, not on the trees,” Time to look at the big picture more, instead of seeing just a loss. So I’m happy with that tournament. Now I head west to Middelburg, Netherlands where I will play in the 25k. I’m in qualifying so I should start Sunday or Monday. Hopefully I continue to play well and get some more confidence. Let you know how it goes.

And I'll try to upload some pictures of the places later in the week!

Meppel 10k

This week I played in Meppel, Netherlands, which is a little under an hour away from Apeldoorn. It’s in the northern part of the country, and it’s mostly farmland and not much else. However, the tennis facility on the outer edge of the town is pretty nice. The only problem is it is a very open area and no wind screens, so you have the wind whipping around all day. It’s not terrible but it makes matches a bit more difficult.

First round in singles I played against a German girl, Bosnjak. It was a tough three set match that I ended up winning. At the start of the match I wasn’t nervous or anything. I practiced pretty well leading up to this tournament, so I felt good with the way I was hitting and figured it would continue here at the tournament. The first two games I won at love, and then I was up 40-15 in the third game until she hit some well placed serves and took the game. After that things settled down and I managed to break her again but got broken the next game, which was ok because I was still up a break. So I managed to just keep holding to take the first set 6-4. The second set I played the same way however the wind picked up and the sun disappeared and soon my shots that were pushing her back weren’t doing anything. They were just sitting up nice and high, mid court for her to hit where ever she chose. My 1^st serve seemed to take a break as well. In the net and deep, I couldn’t seem to get a hold of it. But I had some chances in to get back on serve in the set, but never was able to get the break. Her level went up a bit, she hardly missed, and hit a lot of well placed serves and used the wind to benefit her. I lost the set 2-6. In the third set, I just told myself to focus on holding serve, and when on the side of the court with the wind at my back to go after the returns and hopefully get a break. I did just the thing. We each held serve until 4-4 when I broke her and surprisingly it was facing the wind that game. We changed sides at 5-4 wind now at my back, I again told myself to make my first serves and use the wind to my advantage, meaning to push her back off the baseline and look for a short ball to attack and make her run. I made my first serves, stuck with my game plan and at 40-15 on my first match point I won it with a volley winner. It wasn’t a pretty match, but I won so that’s all that matters.

Second round I played Burger, a Dutch player and lost 3-6,7-5,3-6. The first set she simply out played me. She took advantage of all my shots that landed short in the court and made me pay. She hit a big ball and with the wind I had trouble. For me, on clay especially, I like to hit with more feel. Slice, angles, high spin. And against a player who really whacks the ball it’s tough to do that. In the second set I changed my tactics up a bit and played more to her forehand instead of her backhand, which was killing me. She started to make a lot more mistakes off the forehand side so I just kept attacking it. I was down 2-4, 15-40 serving and managed to hold and that swung the momentum in my favor. The next game I broke her and then held again for a 5-4 lead. The next game returning I had two set points but missed a return and she hit a backhand winner on the next, then she won the game. At 5-5 serving I knew I needed to hold because after losing the previous game after having two set points could change the momentum again favoring her. So I managed to win my service game and broke her to take the second set. Heading into the third set I wanted to continue with my game plan of playing more to her forehand side and do my best to hold serve. If only things work as planned in your head… She didn’t follow the script I had in mind and decided to play more to my backhand side which made it difficult for me to run around and hit my forehand and put pressure on her. But that can’t be my excuse. I got broken early in the set, so was down 2-3. The next game I had two break points but she hit a big forehand winner and the next I missed a backhand down the line. So down 2-4. Then serving to pretty much stay in the match I had a game point, but she hit a drop shot and followed it in and I slid into the shot and missed the passing shot wide by an inch, then lost the game. Down 2-5 I manage to break her serve. So now 3-5 I’m serving and again I have game points. The first I hit a backhand slice long and the second my backhand landed short in the court and she hit a backhand winner down the line. Then at deuce I double faulted, which was probably the best time to double fault ever… Not. Then on her match point she runs me to my forehand side then stepped up and hit a forehand winner down the line. Game over.

Three hours chasing a ball around for a loss hurts. Having so many game points and losing them really hurts. I just really wish I could have pulled out my service game at 3-5. Maybe at 4-5 she could have gotten nervous and I could have capitalize and taken the set and the match. But I can’t do anything about it now. She played really well and her change of strategy in the third really helped. So congrats to her. I know what I need to work on for the next tournament. But I can be happy about making her earn the match. I could have easily folded in the second set, so I’m proud of myself for not going down without a fight. Have to look for the positives I guess. But the next tournament is a few days away and hopefully I can make some improvements and hope for a better result next time. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Warsaw 10k

I just got back from a week over in Poland. I played in a 10k that was held at the Legia Sports Complex. It was a nice site. It had two courts inside of a stadium, and they also had two rows of four courts in the back of the stadium and a stone’s throw from the Legia soccer stadium. I’ll have to admit that I was quite surprised. I have never been to Poland so I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but it was the nicest facility I’ve been to so far. The surrounding area maybe not the nicest but I not there to be a tourist so it doesn’t matter.

I finally got into the main draw without having to qualify, thanks to my ranking finally moving up! So I was wicked excited about that. But it also meant that there was no easing into the tournament. It’s a one and you’re done situation so you better be prepared from the very first ball. The first round I played a girl or woman I should say (she was in her 30s) from the Czech Republic, Vymetalkova. I was bit nervous before the start of the match, but once the match started I felt pretty good. The first set was a bit close but towards the end of it I played a bit steadier than my opponent. And in the second set I played better. I won 6-4, 6-2. In the second round I played a Polish girl, Frech. I won 6-2, 6-1. I felt like in this match I was very consistent. I didn’t make many mistakes and I played aggressively. The one game she won in the second set I was up 40-0 and managed to lose it, so I made sure from then on I wasn’t going to let that happen again, and I ended up winning the next 6 games and win the match. In the quarterfinals I played against a Ukrainian, Kolb. I lost 6-2, 6-3. There isn’t much so say about this match. I played pretty bad. I missed tons of first serves and returns, the two most important shots in tennis. They get the point started. You aren’t going to give yourself a chance to win if you don’t make your opponent play so I deserved to lose. I was angry at myself after that one, but I won two rounds, got some points to keep my ranking moving in the right direction. So I can’t be too upset. I just know now what to work on.

I also played doubles in Warsaw. I partnered up with Elyne Boeykens from Belgium. We played once together in Bath, England but we lost to the first seeds in the first round, so I guess you could say that one doesn’t count. But we played well all week. We ended up winning the tournament. First round was 6-1, 6-1. Second round was 6-3, 6-2. Semifinals was 7-6(5), 6-1. This was a good match. Had we lost the first set we weren’t sure what could have happened. Our opponents (two Dutch girls) came out firing in the first set, but when the tiebreaker came into play things started to lean our way. We held a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker, then lost 2 close points to make it 5-5 but squeezed out the final two points to take the first set. Once we took the set their energy waned and they started missing. But we played really well in the second set, staying aggressive and on our toes looking to poach at the net. In the finals we won easily 6-2, 6-2. Elyne had just lost a close 3 set match in the singles semifinals so I could tell she was a bit upset, so I just tried to keep my energy up and keep her positive. She let me do the thinking out there and I came up with a game plan and we stuck to it and managed to win the title. Not bad for what I consider our first time playing doubles together. :)

Overall, it was a good tournament. I got some matches in, won some points, won the doubles, and learned what I need to work on. Nothing I can complain about there. Up next are about 8 weeks of tournaments in the Netherlands and Belgium so hopefully I can continue to play well. I hope to play well enough to get past the quarterfinals in singles. But we’ll see. I just need to focus on playing my game and not worry so much about results. Until next time.

Stadium Courts



Back courts with soccer stadium in back

More back courts