First round I was up against the 3rd seed Kvatsabaia from Georgia. After seeing this I wasn’t too thrilled. Playing a top seed in the first round is always tough, but it is the best round to beat them. We were scheduled to play the evening match on Tuesday, so I had all day to wait. I went for a run in the morning then had a long warm-up around three and then continued to wait. I played so many games of solitaire on my phone that I won the achievement of 1,000 games played. Not kidding. I don’t know whether to be embarrassed by that or not. But of course I didn’t play 1,000 games that day, just ever since getting the phone in January. But still that’s a lot of waiting around for the eight months I’ve been over here. Anyway, the match scheduled before us finally ended and just as we walked out to the court the dark ominous clouds were rolling in and there was thunder off in the distance. It wasn’t looking good at all and both of us knew we weren’t going to finish the match that night. So we had our five minute warm-up and we started the match. She served first and I managed to break her serve and then I won the first point of my service game and the rain came pouring down. Play was cancelled for the rest of the evening so we had to start again the following day. From the first game I kind of got a sense of who she was going to play. More of a baseline game, run shots down, and every so often hit a big ball but not go for a winner on it. I figured if I play the way I’ve been practicing the last week days, with intensity and being unafraid to make a mistake I should do ok. But the next day when I woke up I felt like crap. Runny nose, headache, and nauseous. Not a good start for the day. In Hechingen the housing family had a son who was sick, so might have caught something there. But anyway I just tried to focus on the match and not how I was feeling. And it was working. I got up 5-2 in the first, but couldn’t serve out the set, then she got it back to 5-4 and she had a game point but I erased that with an ace down the tee, then won the next two point to take the first set 6-4. In the second set I went up 3-0 then she brought it back to 3-2, then I went up 5-2 and again I was serving for the match but couldn’t hold serve. So back to 5-4 and finally held for the win. Both sets when I was up 5-2 it wasn’t like I stopped doing what was working, I think it was more like this should be closer, I shouldn’t be winning this easily. Then you realize you’re ahead and you don’t want to lose now, so you get a bit nervous, you play the same but not as freely. So I think that was my mistake. But I played the match well. I served very well, and hit a lot of big forehands and played very aggressive.
In the second round I played a Polish player Baranska and won 6-4, 6-1. That match I still wasn’t feeling well. I was way more fatigued then the previous day, but no headache or nauseous feeling. During the match I got up 5-0 in the first set and it was like I hit a brick wall. To get to 5-0 I was trying to play it one point at a time. So like work really hard for one point, rest for the 20 seconds or so and do it again. Then my movement started to slow down, I wasn’t getting behind the ball enough to put any real power on my shots. So she was getting more back in the court and as the points were getting longer my legs started to feel like Jell-O. So she got it back to 5-4 and I was down a break point (so her game point Keri J) and I hit a forehand down the line that looked like it hit the line to me, but the umpire called it out, so I asked her to check the mark and it did in fact hit the line, so it was my point. Then I manage to win the next two points and the set. I got frustrated that set just for the reason of not feeling well and I didn’t want to play too many unnecessary games which I was doing. But the second set I again was winning 5-0 then I thought I don’t want a repeat of the previous set, but only lost one game then I won the set 6-1. I was lucky she started to miss more in that set. Had she kept the ball in play longer I’m not sure I would have been standing.
Third round I played against another Polish player, Zagorska
and won 6-4, 6-2. I certainly wasn’t as tired as the previous day but it still
was more my head that didn’t feel well. I would rather that then below the neck.
But at the start of the match I broke her serve and held. But then I got broken
my next service game but thankfully broke her straight back and we each held
for the rest of the set until I won it 6-4. On set point I ended up serving and
volleying and hit a low forehand pickup that I managed to drop just over the
net for a winner. It was a lucky shot, but oh well, it won me the set. In the
second set I went up 5-2 and 40-0 serving. I ended up hitting three double
faults in a row to bring it back to deuce (a little nervous) but on my match
point I hit a drop shot and came into the net and the whole time I thought
please don’t get to it, please don’t get to it. But she just barely did and I hit
the shakiest forehand volley of my life about 2 feet from her that she didn’t
even try for so I won the match. Crazy way to end the match. But I have to say
at the start of the match I kept thinking of Joan Rivers Fashion Police the ‘Bitch
Stole My Look’ segment because we were wearing practically the same outfit. And
obviously I wore it better! Hahaha It made me laugh throughout the match, so
maybe that was why I played so well.
In the semifinals I was up against the number one seed of
the tournament Lim of France. I saw her previous match and new it was going to
be tough. She had a big forehand and a good serve, kind of like me, so it was
going to be who could use their strengths better that day. Well we both held
serve until 2-3 when I got broken. On her game point I hit a serve down the tee
but she returns it to my backhand side where it hit a bump in the clay and
bounced way up over my head and I barely get my racquet on it but it lands
short and she hits a winner. Unlucky. But at 3-5 I have break points to get
back on serve but she hit an ace and a forehand winner for the first set. 3-6.
In the second set I just wanted to focus on serving well, which I didn’t in the
first, and try to play a bit more aggressive and look for more forehands. She was hitting mostly to my
backhand side but I wasn’t running around them much, so wanted to change that.
So we each held until 3-2 when on her serve at 15-15 she fell down and I hit a
shot for a winner, so now 30-15 for me. She takes her time to get cleaned up.
The umpire even takes one of my waters to give to her to wash away the clay
from her leg. The physio comes and puts a Band-Aid on to stop the bleeding on
her knee. But after that she comes out and double faults and then loses the
next point and the game so I go up 4-2. I held and broke her again for the set
6-2. After her fall she kept complaining about the courts and how dry they were
(which they were) and so in the back of her mind I don’t think she moved the
same, worrying about falling again. But her fall helped me so I wasn’t going to
complain. I did almost fall numerous times but I guess my balance is better. Hahah.
Anyway so we go to a third set. We had the option of taking a 10 minute break between
the sets because of the heat rule but neither of us took it, so they just
watered and swept the court and we started up again. Like all the previous sets
we each held until 3-2 where I broke her after a long deuce game. But during
one point that was my game point a ball bounces into our court so we have to
stop and replay the point, but a man watching tells me ‘shit happens’ in his German
accent as I go and retrieve the ball. I thought it was funny and start laughing
and then manage to win the game. So I end up holding the next game to go up 5-2
then its 5-3 and now I’m serving for the match. I win three straight points, up
40-0. Next point I slice a backhand deep and out down the line. So 40-15. Then I
miss an inside out forehand well wide. Now 40-30. Then I hit my serve she sort
of lobs the return deep up the middle I hit a high forehand back, but it lands
mid court, short and she misses her forehand inside out into the alley and I win
the match 6-3 in the third set.
In the final I was up against the second seed a German
Siegemund who was a former top 200 player. She played German club league for
the club the tournament was held at. I played doubles with her at the
tournament in Wiesbaden earlier in the year. So we knew each other. But our
match was scheduled for not before 3 and it was supposed to get to 100 degrees
in the afternoon, so I made sure to drink plenty of water throughout the
morning. The first set started off by each of us holding serve but then I got
broken first at 2-3 and then again at 2-5 to give her the first set 6-2. I
started off a bit slower than the other matches, but I also felt like I never
really got into a rhythm. I always felt pressured by her, whether it be when I
was serving, or just hitting ground strokes. She stayed close to the baseline
and took the balls earlier and took a lot of time away from me. I was hitting
good serving but she was hitting better returns. And during the points I would
hit a good shot but she hit an even better one, and lots of drop shots especially
on her forehand side and they were at times that you wouldn’t expect. Then in
the second set she held and I when I was serving up 40-15 the kid on the court
next to us (who I hit with before the match) fainted and started hyperventilating.
People were running around yelling across the courts for help. I was just
standing there I didn’t know what to do, whether to continue playing or to
stop. But I certainly wasn’t concentrating on my match anymore. I was just
worried about him. So I ended up losing the game and asked our umpire if they
called an ambulance for him, which they did. Then she says to us that we don’t
have to play anymore if it was too distracting, so we leave the court until the
ambulance takes him away with an IV in his arm about 15 minutes later. But it
was scary. He kept yelling something over and over, but I don’t speak German so
I have no idea what it was, but his face was purple and someone was holding his
legs up in the air and people were circled all around him. It wasn’t a pretty
sight. Once the ambulance took him away we went back onto the court to finish,
but it was still hard to concentrate. I tried thinking about my game plan while
waiting inside but I still was worried about the kid. But I figured she kept
killing me with her forehand drop shots so I tried to stay away from that side,
so I would hit more to her backhand but that left me in more of a backhand
cross court rally which I don’t really want. So it was more of a pick your
poison kind of decision. So I kept with the backhand strategy thinking I could
run around some and hit forehands, but not much chance of that. I ended up
losing the second set 6-1. Didn’t play like in the earlier rounds, but I made
it to the finals, so I can’t complain much about it. She saved her best for
last and me my mediocre for last. Oh well. I got my points, my ranking should move up
some more. So it was a great tournament. Hopefully this play from me continues
in the weeks to come.
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