I played my 2nd tournament of the year. I have a new injury now - shoulder. It has been getting better and I played the tournament. I was seeded #4. My first round opponent came to the match with 1 racquet and a towel. He did not have a record so he was an unknown. Fortunately for me, he was a player that did not know what he was getting into. Since he did not prepare properly - 1 racquet and a towel only, I knew going in that either he was very confident or just not a prepared player. It was the former. I won 6-0, 6-0. My second round match was tougher. I was down 4-1. I kept my cool, knowing that I could beat this guy because he made some mistakes. I finally got my act together and won 11 straight games. I won the 1st state 6-4 and 2nd set 6-1. My confidence continued to build. My semifinal match was even tougher. This guy had a huge forehand. He beat the #1 seed easily. The #1 seed talked to me and told me to stay away from his forehand. I tried, but it was difficult. Even his backhand was good. I lost the 1st set 6-4. In the 2nd set, I kept fighting and staying in the match. I noticed (in the 2nd set) he started to slow down. I asked him if he was ok, he said he was cramping up. He shouldn't have told me that. That gave me the opportunity to win the 2nd set and new life in this match. I won the 2nd set 7-5. In the 3rd set at 1-1, he took a medical timeout. He was hurting. After he told me he was cramping, I started to run him. I was serving 40-15 at 1-1 and he quit. He could not move. I found out later that he had to be carted out and stayed in the club house for about 1 1/2 hours before he was able to walk and go home.
In the finals, I came up against a brick wall. I lost 6-1, 6-0. This guy was no 3.5 player but a 4.0-4.5 player. He was smart and placed everything. I couldn't find a weakness in his game. I ran him from side to side, but he got to everything. Nothing I did worked. His game forced me to go for shots and I made alot of mistakes. After the match, his legs were hurting too. If I could have kept going, I probably would have hurt him to and possibly win the match.
Keep in mind - if you want to win matches, go prepared, stretch drink lots of fluids. Have the proper equipment. And go into the match thinking that you can win. This will increase your chances of winning - it builds your confidence and confidence is 1/2 the game. Once you win it builds confidence and confidence brings more wins.
Note, you will not win all the time, but having what I mentioned - equipment, being prepared, drink lots of fluids and having the confidence, you will win more matches and you will have more fun.
One more thing: If you get the chance, scout your opponents. This will give you an edge. You will notice their game and you can adjust - that is being prepared.
I will have more updates soon.
