Catching Up

Yesterday started early and finished late, so I wasn't able to post. We had a brief delay in matches getting started due to overnight thunderstorms. I went on around 11:15 and won easily love and love. She was a very nice girl from St. Louis. I played well, and was just too strong for her. After I finished we left for the clay court site in another part of the park. Both Phil and Tom are playing on the clay, while I'm on the hard courts. Tom got a walkover and Phil won easily love and love. We grabbed some lunch, then headed back to the hotel to shower before their 8:00p.m. doubles match. Their opponents were good, solid players, but Tom and Phil were better on the big points and won 6-3, 6-3. We returned back to the hotel after 10:00 and hit the hay.

Today I had the early match at 9:30, with both Phil and Tom playing at 11:00. I got on few minutes early and finished in about 45 minutes, winning love and love again. Both girls I've played were good club 4.0 players and both very nice. Tomorrow I'll play my third and final match in the morning. I had a great cheering section....Don and Arlys Dayton and Norris Flagler, part of the Hidden Dunes winter tennis family that live in the St. Louis area, came out to watch my match, then went with me to watch Phil and Tom play their singles matches. It's always nice to have familiar faces in the crowd (not that there was a crowd....but you know what I mean).

Phil had a tough opponent today. Ray Pascale grew up a few years ahead of me in the Arkansas tennis world. He's a big lefty, that can be very dangerous. Phil played smart, controlled tennis, and won 6-3, 6-3. I was very proud of his effort today. Tom won his match in three sets. Now Tom and Phil play against each other in the semis tomorrow morning. They usually have epic battles against each other. But first they have a doubles semis to play this afternoon against Ray Pascale and Mel Collazo. Phil and Tom have a win over them from the Atlanta tournament in May. Just as Ray is dangerous in singles, Mel and Ray as a team are equally dangerous. Should be a great match.

My brother has been able to come out and watch most of our matches. He hasn't seen me play competitively in over twenty years. He and his girlfriend, Elise, have been great supporters during our stay here. Elise's mom even came out to watch today! It's always good to reconnect with family. I wish we could see each other more often. I miss my family.

Tomorrow will be a the final day, then we'll head out on part three of our road trip....maybe a stop in Little Rock on the way home.