10k Bath, UK

This past week I was in England for a 10k. I started in the qualifying because this was a completely stacked tournament and my ranking isn’t where I want it to be. But that’s what happens when you lose your ranking, you have to start back at square one.

So in the qualifying I played a girl from Switzerland, Michel and ended up winning 6-4 6-4. I was a little nervous and didn’t allow myself to play relaxed like in practice. The week before this tournament I practiced and I was playing great. I beat up on a few boys and felt like I was hitting solid, moving well, and serving well. This first round however was not like in practice. A little nervous excitement really can screw up your game. You start going for your shots a bit too much, missing by inches or you slow your racket down and the ball lands short in the court for your opponent to take advantage of. You footwork also isn’t right, so your timing to the ball is either too slow or too fast and that can mess your swing up. So these little things make a big difference in how you swing and your accuracy. But anyway I managed to settle down after a few games and managed to break her more times than she did me to win in straight sets.  

The next round I was up against the 1^st seed in the qualifying, Smitkova from the Czech Republic. And to be honest I got man-handled 6-1 6-2. My worst loss of the year so far. She played much better than me, she went for her shots and I didn’t. But really, I just didn’t play my game. Had I, I’m not sure what the outcome would have been because she was a good player, but I could have at least given myself a chance to win the match.

Later in the day I looked at the draw for the Main and realized that I was a lucky loser again. So in the 1^st round of the main I played Spremo from Serbia and ended up winning 7-6(5) 5-7 6-1. I was down 0-3 in the first set but managed to play my way and came back and take the set. In the second set I got broken late. And in the 3^rd set I served really well and on her second service game it was about 10+ deuces and I broke her and I think that’s when I turned the match to my favor. I was serving for the match at 5-0 but got broken after she decided to tee off on all her returns, but I broke her the next game for the match.

2^nd round I was up against the 3^rd seed Vrljic from Croatia who was ranked about 280. We had a close to 3 hour 2 set match which I won 7-6(2) 6-4. We both held serve in the first set, with each of us saving a few break points. In the tiebreaker she made more errors on easy shots and I was able to capitalize on it and take the first set. Then in the 2^nd it was 1-1 I was serving down 15-40. Won the next point and at 30-40 I missed my 1^st serve and knew if I kicked it to her backhand she was going to run around and hit a forehand as hard as she could up the line. (She did this a few times throughout the match so I picked up on it.) So me being as ballsy as one could be I kicked my 2^nd serve to her backhand and serve volleyed. She did exactly what I knew she would do. She ran around and hit a huge forehand up the line and I hit a solid forehand volley cross court for a winner. She definitely was not expecting that and after a big sigh of relief I won the next two points and the game. When it was 4-3 I broke her but then lost my next service game when I was serving for the match at 5-3. I made one 1^st serve and that’s what I get for making one 1^st serve. But the next game, after a few deuce points and 3 math points she missed a backhand wide to give me the match.

In the 3^rd round I played Piter from Poland and ended up losing a close match 6-4 7-5. I got broken early in the match and couldn’t get it back. Then in the 2^nd set I was up 4-3 up a break and lost my serve twice in a row to lose the match. I went for too much with my forehand and missed a bunch. But she played steady and pressured my serve with her returns.

Overall, it was an ok tournament. Both players I lost to managed to make it to the finals so you always want the player that beats you to win the tournament, and this time around both are in the finals. I wish it were me, but not this time. Anyway that does it for England. I play in France this coming week. And it is on clay (which I haven’t played on in over 6 months) so it should be very interesting.