Round 5.

well I'm back after a couple of weeks off due to other commitments

Rnd 5. Home match

Lined up to play the bottom team after 5 rounds, they haven't had a win thus far. Generally a bunch of young guys playing above their weight division.

I was lined up against a 19yo, seemed to have reasonable groundies in the warm up, volleys were ok, looked capable but not threatening. I hadn't had any warm up but felt pretty comfortable that I was going to be fairly comfortable in this match.

I win the toss and elect to serve, serving into a mild wind coming diagonally across the court from SE - NW. First point I serve wide and punch a cross court BH volley. Winner and aggressive in nature, really felt like I was proving a point straight up. Three more serves later we are switching ends. His serve is weak and I have a little breeze behind me, I put my nose down to break in this game to really put him on the backfoot, no time to settle in. A few points later its a break of serve.

2-0, serving with the breeze, its blowing R-L so for my first serve I swing one out wide, ace. Let the punishment continue. Ball toss hasn't been ideal yet but the timing feels good and as I feel very comfortable in my level against his I am not trying overly hard to serve huge. Another hold 3 - 0. Next game I miss 3 of 5 returns and make a stupid UE off an attacking FH and he takes his first game.

I fault my first serve, realising that this is the first second serve I have had to hit in the match. He finds some range on returns but nothing to stop me from rolling thru my serve game. He decides that he needs to stop me getting to the net so he has a crack at S&V, unfortunately his serve isn't good enough and I can make some accurate returns past him, another break, 5 -1.

Serving with the wind, nice timing, first set is all over. He has the honour in the second set but I am not letting him get off on the front foot. I get away with some lucky UE from him and make an easy passing shot to break again. Luckily getting to swap sides means I am back with the breeze and the serve just keeps working for me, two aces and two non returned serves. 2 - 0.

Blowing returns by overhitting with the breeze then clipping the net in an attempt to keep the ball lower, he holds serve. The match is being played totally on my terms, I am winning points off my racquet and he is winning only when I make the error. After a couple more holds from me and one more from him its 4 - 2. I actively decide to get aggressive in this return game with the idea of breaking now and serving it out. He doesn't serve well enough, missing first serves, throws in a double fault then I jump on anything he does get in. Break point comes along and off a second serve I run around the backhand and power an off FH, he is scrambling so i move in and across, he pushes down the line and I knock and easy volley to the open court.

Serving for the match, I don't want to waste time or effort in being tricky or over the top, just solid tennis to get off court. He can only win one point with a net cord that flops over. Strong serving finishes it with a non return. And were done.

W. 6-1, 6-2

Evaluation : Comfortable match, with expected results. Happy with serve rhythm and volley control. Disappointed to some degree that I made enough errors in three games for him to win, basically he didn't have a way to beat me. Passing shots were ok, a more efficient return still would have helped. Not much to complain about overall

TTDL.
- hit on hardcourts for next match
- practice 2nd serve accuracy and depth

until next time... You cannot buy that relaxed feeling when in a tight match or against a stronger opponent who you are desperate to beat. You can actually feel it when you are playing and it makes you realise how tense you can get in the other situation. Unfortunately I don't know the solution to get into that frame of mind all the time.