When My Best Isn't Enough...

I had a singles match with someone I had played once before few months ago, at which time I lost 10-5 in proset format. I had taken some notes about his game, I hadn't played well at the time, but was looking forward to testing myself again. This time we played on 3-set format and I had my game plan.

First few games were good, held my serve comfortably, he did so as well. I had good shots, but it was apparent his court coverage was going to cause me issues. As the games went on he kept breaking my serves and I only broke his serve once each set. He was always at the right place to respond to my shots, I used heavy topspin, flat shots, CC, DTL, drop shots, steak-knive slices, and my first serve % was never higher. Admittedly I could have played some shots better, but due to his excellent court positioning it just forced me to take more and more risks, and consequently I made more errors than I should have.

I lost 6-2, 6-2. It is an amazing feeling to use everything you have in your arsenal, and see the tactics melt like butter on the other side of the court. He could just place his shots anywhere and at any pace he wanted, and I just could not cover the court anywhere near as good as him. The only thing that worked and gave me several back to back easy points were when I could hit hard at his feet with topspin or slice. He could not get out of the way of the ball fast enough, but that also meant I had to hit those shots close to baseline. Thankfully I had practiced those shots many times before, so my shot % was higher than normal, but I just could not do that every single time. And anytime I had anything less sent to him, he returned them as killers either with pace or placement or both.

I just felt helpless serving at 5-2 and ended the match with a double-fault. I have to say though, the struggle to find a way, being creative, trying to solve the riddle or puzzle was so exciting. I was exhausted middle of the second set and losing badly, but I just did not want to leave the court. It was so much fun; this is why I play tennis.

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