After the Fact

I wasn't able to post the last couple of days.  Once I got home on Sunday, I blinked, and now its Tuesday already.

The final recap of the tournament....Fran played brilliantly and won the singles against Shelly 6-3, 6-2.  It was a good match.  Fran was just too good this week for anyone.  I think this is Fran's 14th Gold Ball (national titles). Nice!!

In the doubles, our opponents defaulted in the playoff for 3 and 4, so we finished third with a Bronze Ball.  I'll take it. We watched the doubles final with Shelly and Rainy playing a good team (not great...but solid), I couldn't help but think it should be us out there.  Shelly and Rainy played well and won the finals.  I thought of our lost chances in our semis, but the better team won, and they won the finals.

We had a long day Saturday into Sunday morning.  The best flight to get us home as early possible was a redeye. We left Ontario at 12:40 am Sunday and got home at noon on Sunday.  A nap, some food, and I was ready to go.  Going back to work wasn't so bad.  It helps to get back into a daily real world routine.

I'm playing in Naples, for a change, in a couple of weeks!  I'm playing on the Florida Intersectional team at Sanchez Casal.  It'll be fun to see some of my friends again.

Thanks to all who follow me and for your supportive comments!  Back to the practice courts!

From Hanging on to Hanging Out

I knew today was going to be a good day.  Fran played a flawless, error free semifinal singles match this morning. She gave a clinic to her opponent, winning 6-0, 6-0.  She was awesome.

I felt good on the warmup court this morning.  Fran and I warmup again before our doubles and then I did a few more minutes with another player who needed a quick hit. I was ready to go. Playing against your friends is always hard, but you have to put all that aside when you walk on the court.

Our match was a carbon copy of yesterday...we lost the first set 6-0.  I have no words.  But we started fighting back. Points turned into games.  At 4-4 we were up 15-40 to go up 5-4 with me serving for the set.  Somehow we let the game slip away. Instead I was serving to stay in the match. I think we lost my serve at love.  We lost. 6-0, 6-4. Dang it. I really thought we were going to turn it around like we did yesterday.  We put ourselves in such a deep hole when we lose the first set so quickly.  Gotta figure that one out.

So now tomorrow Fran plays her singles final at 8:00.  We were to play our 3/4 playoff later in the morning but our opponents defaulted. We ended up finishing third in doubles with a bronze ball.

We’ve changed our flights to take the red eye home late tomorrow night.

Lots to think about and work on to get ready for the next one! I’ll enjoy the day watching tennis and hanging out.

Hanging on...

We have our daily routine down to a science now.  Preparing our own meals and not having to leave the condo is a huge bonus.  Fran and I warmed up early before her singles this morning.  It was going to be another hot one.

Fran won easily 6-1, 6-1. There were other good quarterfinal matches playing that I watched too. We had another 12:30 start time for our doubles. The angle of the sun is brutal that time of day. Fran and I have a deal...I will always serve first if she’ll serve in the sun. It’s works great for us. I never mind serving first...it helps me get my nerves out.

Today we got off to a horrible start. They were on fire and we were flat as could be. The set lasted about 12 minutes and we lost it 6-0. You could count the number of points we won on one hand. It was that bad. As the second set went on we started making more returns and they stared missing some. We were back and forth with games then found ourselves down 5-6, but we held serve to go into a set tiebreaker.  Again, back and forth in points. And all the sudden we were down 5-3 in points. Two points from losing. Some how we won the next 4 points to win the the breaker 7-5 and split sets.

We took our allotted 10 minute break to get more water and get out of the sun.  Fran and I came out ablaze in the third and rolled through to win 6-1.  So happy to have hung tough in that match and win.
On to the semifinals tomorrow. I’m sure we have the same play schedule as we did today.

Fran plays singles in the morning early, then doubles will be after that... Our lucky routine will stay the same!

Hot and Quick

The desert heat is relentless. No clouds with just 5% humidity and temps staying around 98 each day. Fran and I are doing our best to stay hydrated, but it’s a brutal searing heat.

Fran won her singles easily this morning. We played her same opponent with her partner midday. They were super nice, local players. We won 6-0, 6-1.  The hard courts were playing on are a medium to slow pace. It’s nice to play on a court with a true bounce, unlike a clay court where the bounces can be unpredictable at times.

Tomorrow we have the same playing schedule. Fran has singles in the morning followed by our doubles later. We play a tough team in the next round. They are all playing singles, except me...so I like Fran and my chances....

Cob Webby

Adjusting to West Coast time is always a challenge. After a long day of travel yesterday for Fran and me, we took it fairly easy today.  We are staying in a nice villa close to the courts in the same resort community that the tournament is being held.

We slept in a little, found the courts, hit for about 45 minutes and that was about it.  As usual Palm Springs is beautiful. Bright, clear sunny days, hot but no humidity. In fact the forecast highs for the next few days is 98*.  Sounds hot to me, humidity or not.

Normally we would find a restaurant that we like then eat there everyday...breakfast and dinner. Since our villa has a nice kitchen, we shopped for the week and are going to have breakfast and dinners in each night. Money saver and we know it’s healthy and we can make it just the way we like it! Dinner tonight was pasta and salad.

Hitting and a practice doubles match is on tap for tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from today...

Views from our villa

We play at pretty places!

Packed and Ready to Go

It's been over 6 months since I played or wrote anything...my bad.

There wasn't much tennis to write about.  Phil had a knee replacement at the end of May that curtailed his tennis.  We decided to take the summer and live it one day at a time.  By doing that we were able to go to Hawaii (Kaui) for a family wedding...not to shabby.  Then we went to Phil's 50th high school reunion in Ponca City, Oklahoma.  It was fun seeing where he grew up and started his tennis career, plus I was able to see his home town through his nostalgic eyes.  Really a fun weekend.

Now it's back on the court.  I'm heading off to California tomorrow to play the National 55 Hard Courts. I am only going to play doubles, with Fran.  I feel like I'm in good shape physically singles,  but my mental game for singles is AWOL.  I'm going to play only doubles until I feel like I can play singles like I know I can.

Work is starting to get busy again.  Fall leagues have started, so those who participate are back in town.  Phil will be in charge of work and Ellie...oh boy.

I'm going to blog from Palm Springs.  It looks like our first doubles match is on Wednesday afternoon

End of the Week

Today was a good day. Mainly because I woke up feeling much better than I anticipated. I slept ok, and did a body part check when I woke up. All passed, but my neck was a little tight and sore.

I warmed Fran up for her match and then I saw the massage therapist who gave me a quick work over on the area, then she passed me on to the on-site chiropractor who did a quick assessment and gave me am adjustment or two that felt really good. Not sure what all it was, but a snap, crackle and pop later I had some relief.

I knew Ericka was not going to play our singles match today so I won by a walkover.  I was able to watch Fran play her final. She won in heavy wet conditions in two tough sets against Vicki. I was so happy for her. She’s been fighting her way back to playing and it was inspirational to watch her play and win!

I decided I wanted to play our 3/4 playoff doubles match. I wasn’t sure after yesterday if I’d be able. I knew Fran was tired from her singles, so we went in ready to get a good match in and do the best we could.  We lost the first set 6-3, then came back to win the second in a tie breaker. By the third set Frans fuel tank was empty and I was just happy to have played eight matches in 5 days. We lost the third 6-2.

We’ve packed our bags and ready to head home tomorrow. It’s been such a fun week, but it’s time to get back home to Phil and Ellie. I sure miss them both.  I’ll take a day or two to absorb all the weeks adventures and write my thoughts later.

So long for now.

And...The Light Post Wins

I won my singles earlier today fairly easy, 6-2, 6-0. She was a nice girl from Houston who belongs to the Houston Racquet Club where we are playing.  She was rusty after a long layoff, but could slap a few winners here and there. Once I saw she was prone to errors I was able to relax and play pretty well. I’ve been serving good all week.

Our semi final doubles match this afternoon had an interesting finish. Fran and I played very well and won the first set 6-2 against #1 seeds and our friends Mary and Erika. They started playing better and stopped missing so much.  We went down a break. We were still having great points. Somewhere in the 5the game we had a crazy point with me lobbing and retrieving Mary’s overheads. I knew she would aim wide with her last overhead so I took off to my left. I had it...or so I thought. I felt like I was returning the ball, but just before my racquet could touch the ball I ran head on to a padded light post on the court. I was stunned and fell over. A brick wall couldn’t have stopped me any harder. After taking a few minutes to gather myself, I tried to continue playing. In a short time my neck and shoulder started to stiffen. After a visit from the trainer, and a tough conversation with Fran, I decided to retire. I was (and still a little ) devastated.  I have been working so hard, and started playing well, especially in doubles this week, and for something like this, that is so random, to happen is hard to swallow.

The trainer work on my neck for a while and it seemed to have help relax my muscles. I may be sore, and might have a bruise tomorrow,  but I’m ok. Probably a little stunned trying to figure out exactly what happened....I know I worried Phil to death, but Fran made sure he knew I was ok. We’ve talked a bunch and I can feel his love all the way to Houston.

Fran plays her singles final tomorrow morning, and chances are we won’t play our doubles 3/4 playoff.  If I’m feeling ok and Fran has it left in her, then we’ll play.

Too much to think about right now. Tomorrow is a new day.

The Fight Continues

I won my consolation singles this morning 6-1, 6-2. I played a nice girl from Austin. My play was not stellar, but I’ll take the win.  When practicing I can hit out on the ball with no fear.  But when the match starts my shots get tight and short. I can’t believe the psyche of the mind can have such control to keep you from doing something you’ve done for 50 years.  It makes me crazy.

Fran and I played a doubles team that I expected more from.  I’ve played them once and thought we’d have a little more trouble with them.  We played as good as we needed to and won 6-3, 6-0.  Now we’re in the semis of the doubles.  We play #1 seeds and friends Mary Daily and Erika Smith. Both big hitters and very aggressive.  I like our chances because we have nothing to lose.

I play singles in the morning at 9:00 against a player from Houston that I don’t know. Fran is in the semis of the main draw against Shelly Works. They’ll have a battle.

The week is coming to an end and I’m still hanging in there!