Knokke, 10k

This week I played in Knokke, Belgium, a beachy tourist town in the northwest corner of Belgium. Of all the nice things I heard of this place I was glad it was my last tournament in the six weeks of playing. I got here on Friday thinking I was in qualifying because the acceptance list said I was two out of main the day before. So I go to sign in and they tell me I got into the main. So I had three days of practice before the main draw started. Well in those three days I only got to hit for about three hours. It rained every day so I was lucky to hit even if it was just for three hours. I thought it was great preparation for this tournament…

So finally the main draw gets underway and I have to play my doubles partner Elyne first round. Tough start to the tournament. We each know how the other plays and to play a friend makes it more difficult. But as I expected it was a close match. The first set was decided in a tiebreaker, which I lost 7-1. But I shouldn’t have. I was up 5-2 and 40-15 returning. The first set point I missed a running backhand and the second she hit a forehand winner. I ended up getting broken the next game, then we each held serve the rest of the set to force a tiebreaker. The second set was also close. I won it 7-5. I broke her at 6-5 and that was that. But I played that set very well, and I served great. Elyne even said after that I played that set amazing and all she did when returning was watch the serve go past her for an ace. But that set I was relaxed and just swung freely. I had a few break points but couldn’t convert any, but I was just focusing on holding really. Then in the third set I remember breaking her in the 3-3 game after what seemed to be about 15 deuce points, but then the next game I lost my serve easily. Then we each held until the tiebreaker which I ended up winning 7-0. I just wanted to get more points than I did in the first set, but I ended up with 7 straight. That was an improvement. But it was a great match, then two hours later we both were back on the court again to play doubles which we won 6-0,6-1. We wanted to win the doubles so she didn’t have two losses on the day. So we made sure to win, which we did.

The next day in my second round match I played an Italian Scimone and won 6-2, 6-1. But during the match I was up 4-1serving and I went to toss the ball to serve and felt my knee (the problematic one) pop a bit and just pain. So I grabbed the ball walked to the fence to see if I could walk it off, then go to serve again but still the same pain. So I thought just great! It always hurts when I’m winning. So I just serve the ball without bending and then I lose the game because I can’t run. But I won my return game by just trying to hit winners. On the changeover at 5-2 the trainer came out and put tape on it and I was good to go. It has happened before so I knew the pain would subside, which it did and I was able to serve out the set and win the second set too.

In the quarterfinals I played a Belgian Oyen and ended up losing in three sets, but it was a good match. I started the first set up 3-0 then I had a game serving where I missed a forehand wide and doubles faulted twice. Not good. Momentum snapped. Then it was 3-1, 3-2, 4-2 where I had a game point for 5-2 but missed my shot deep while running forward to get a drop shot. So then it went 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6 and I had a game point serving but she blasted a backhand return down the line on a first serve for a winner. Then I lost the game and the set 5-7. In the second set I played really well again. I didn’t miss much, she made most of the errors. I won the set 6-1. In the third set I wish I kept up my play, but it didn’t happen. I got broken in the first game and she held so down 0-2 and my next service game I was down 40-0 and somehow came back to win the game and stay in the match. In the next few games however I was unable to get the break back and she broke me at 3-5 for the match. It was a competitive match. I wish I got more shots in the court at the end but she hit a lot of good shots that I was unable to attack. Later that day we were back playing doubles against each other but I won this round. 6-2, 6-2. Not losing two times in one day. That’s a big no no for me.

Then in the semifinals of doubles we lost 6-7(4),6-0,8-10. I didn’t play my best doubles. Maybe in the second set we stepped it up but that tiebreaker for the third is tricky. One or two points can go either way to decide the match and I think that is what happened. We felt like we were the better team who came out of the losing end. Nothing we could do about it after, but I think we should have played more aggressive in the first instead of waiting on our heels. So that would be my only criticism, oh and for me to just play better. Ha.

Well that was this week. It was a good tournament. Had close matches. Won some points to move my ranking up. Now it’s back to the drawing board for two weeks, then I’ll start again. So until then…

Some pictures for you guys.

Entrance

Royal Zoute Tennis Club

Some strange statue on the jetty

Different angle

Main street on the beach

Lots of beach huts

Pictures of Alkmaar & Breda

Alkmaar, Netherlands

Crowd for doubles final

Breda, Netherlands

Church

Center Court, Breda

Middelburg 25k

Last week I was in Middelburg, Netherlands for a 25k and let me tell you, it was the most stacked 25 I think I’ve ever played. The number one seed Rezai from France was a former top 15 player in the world. Crazy. But I started in the qualifying draw and made it into the main draw where I lost second round to the 3^rd seed, Namigata from Japan.

In the qualifying, I was the 8^th seed and was told I had a bye in the first round. I was there when the schedule came out and when the draw was made it showed that I received a bye. However, at 10:30 Sunday morning I got a call from the ITF Supervisor that there was a mistake and I had to play a wildcard at 3pm that day. I was totally not prepared. Usually you go to bed thinking you have a match in the morning so you can mentally prepare, and schedule your day to get prepared for your match. I didn’t have that chance.  But at 3pm I played Van Der Wal from the Netherlands and won 6-4,6-3. I was lucky in the 1^st set. I was up 4-1 then she brought it to 4-4 when I was serving at my advantage it started to rain. So we had about a 30 minute break then headed back out to the court where I won the first and was able to come up with a better game plan for the second set. Second round of the qualifying I played Adams of France and won 6-2,6-2. There was no rain delay, just a straight forward match where I made more in the court than she. But I was happy to qualify, because I automatically got one point instead of having to win a round in the main like in a 10k. So that was a plus.

In the main draw I was match up against Eva Waccano of the Netherlands. And if some of you have good memories, she and I played doubles together in a few tournaments in the past. We won a 10k in England last November and made it to the semifinals in France a few months back. So we knew how the other plays, you just need to put the friendship aside and play the ball. The start of the match I lost my serve and she held, so down 0-2 which wasn’t the most ideal start, but only down one break so it wasn’t so bad. Then I managed to hold serve, break her and hold to go up 3-2. Then 3-3, 4-3 then I got another break to go up 5-3 and serve for the set. That game she played great. She took my serve and returned them close to the lines and put me on the defensive right away. So now we were back on serve until I broke her again at 6-5 to take the set 7-5. The second set started off just like the first, I starting down 0-2 but won the next five games to be up 5-2. Then she had the best serving game of the match, an ace, two unreturned serves and a winner. Then in the next game I was serving for the match. The game had multiple deuce points and on one of them I missed a forehand inside out by about an inch then lost the next point when she hit a forehand winner. Now back on serve, identical to the first set. Then it went to 5-5 and another really close game. At deuce I hit a backhand return down the line that landed in the corner of the court but Eva stopped playing, then decided she wasn’t sure if it was in or out, so the umpire came out and looked at the mark and said it was out. But clearly from my angle it hit the side of the line. But I managed to win the next point and eventually the game to go up 6-5. We changed sides and I got a second chance to look at the mark and it was in, so I’m not sure what the umpire was looking at, but it didn’t matter because I won that game, but if I hadn’t it could have changed the outcome of the match. But I held serve to take the second set and the match 7-5. It was a close one and could have gone either way. But I used my backhand slice to keep the ball low so she couldn’t get a good whack at the ball and I hit my forehand. I think when I was up 5-2 I played it not to lose and she took control. My shots didn’t really have a purpose behind them so she could attack and be on the offensive. But at 5-5 I realized what was happening and told myself to hit the ball and try to win the match because she certainly wasn’t going to hand it to me. So I made a late adjustment but it was just in time.

A funny thing after the match was the next scheduled match on my court had already taken their seats on our benches just as we shook the umpire’s hand. Eva and I had just shaken hands when they were walking onto the court. Like it’s a sprint to sit on the winner’s bench. It’s crazy. Let me at least enjoy my moment and put my things in my bag without you breathing down my neck. Like geez give me 2 minutes. hahaha

In the second round I was up against the 3^rd seed Namigata from Japan who was 190 in the world. The match started off ok I guess. I had three chances to break her in the first game but couldn’t convert. Then in the next game I got broken although I had game points, but I broke her back in the third game. We each held until I again got broken at 3-4, but the worst part was at 3-3 I was up 40-0 and lost the game. Then at 3-5 down I was up again in the game 30-0 but didn’t manage another point in that set. In the second set I found myself down 1-4 rather quickly. But got it back to 3-4 then in the next game I was up 40-15 but again she managed to erase the break points and held and then broke me to win the match. It was a close match, but the break chances just killed me. What amazed me was watching the top 5 seeds play and how well they play the break points and how well they return. Namigata returned everything about a foot from the baseline, immediately putting me in an awkward position on the court. And even on the break points I figured out where she was going to serve but still managed to lose the point. Like on the deuce side she would like to serve out wide then hit the next ball to the open court, so I would know it was going there so I took a step to my right and I would get a forehand and no matter where I hit it she wacked it to the open court for a winner. They all just seem to step up to the plate in big moments and hit a home run. But it was a good experience, I felt like I kept up, just those few points I needed to play better. But it was a good tournament to make it through the qualies and into the second round. That means a bunch of points are headed my way which will move my ranking up in the right direction. Hopefully, I can continue to play well for the next tournaments.

Memorable Moment.
The tournament had shuttle drivers to pick us up from the hotel to the site and to the practice site. Well the driver that I had to take me to the practice site had never driven an automatic before in his life and what a ride. We got into the car and he turns the engine on and looks at the pedals like ‘where is the clutch?’ then looks at the stick and says ‘what does the ‘d’ stand for?’ I started laughing, told him it meant drive, and all he needed to do was just use the right pedal for the gas. We ease out of the parking lot and as the engine revs he thinks he needs to change gears from 1^st to 2^nd. So he slams on the brakes and tries to move the shifter into a gear that isn’t there. He was like ‘oops I’m sorry! Glad you had your seatbelt on.’ I thought to myself maybe I should drive. Then throughout the rest of the ride he wanted to use his left leg to change gears but I kept saying he didn’t have to and when we safely made it to the practice site he wanted to just put the car in neutral. But I told him that was what the ‘p’ was for. Need to put it in park or else the car will roll without the emergency break. After that I didn’t see him drive anyone else…