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First Singles Win!!!

Finally I won my first singles match, and the best part was coming back from behind.

I signed up for my club's ladder and issued my first challenge to a player that is about my level, knowing from the clinics we both attend.  However, the match was much tougher than I thought it would be. 

This is ladder played based on Super 10 Pro Sets. We started with my serve as I knew I would serve better with the initial energy I have, and when my energy drops my first serves suffer quite a bit. As expected I was serving well, but my opponent wasn't phased by my flat or kick serves, and lost on my serve. Then I broke his serve, then he broke mine again and that's how it continued until 2-2. After that he kept breaking on my serves, but held his, shortly thereafter it was 2-5.

Part of the problem was even when my first serves were good, I stayed passive at the baseline and not take advantage of the weak return of my opponent. This is partly due to trying to conserve my energy and lack of experience playing singles I think. 

As I went over the level at which I feel my energy is drained and suddenly my energy just doubles and takes me to another level, I started focusing on minimizing my unforced errors, hit few winners and made sure I was going to the net few more times than I was previously. Suddenly it was 4-5, but my opponent also made sure to reduce his unforced errors, but his two-handed backhand being weaker, I kept playing to it as deep as possible using both top spins and slices.  Regardless, he kept the lead until 7-9. I started adding few drop shots to the game and hitting much more freely for several winners with my backhands, and the momentum changed. Eventually, I held the next four games for an 11-9 win.  It was so very satisfactory, I really enjoyed the feeling.

Hopefully more to come...

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