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 3rd seed, Namigata
from Japan.
In the qualifying, I was the 8th 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 1st
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 3rd 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 1st to 2nd.
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…
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