Match Point

Yesterday was a perfect day with bright sunny skies and a cool breeze. Finally no rain, and finally getting to play our first round of the Nationals. Renee and I were excited at the prospect of playing "girls", only because we've been playing and practicing with the guys! Not that there's anything wrong with that.....As many of you know, Renee has been battling a peraformus strain(?) in her butt for some time now. After our intense snowbird season, she was having physical therapy on it to help relieve some of the pain she was feeling. It was doing much better over the past few days and she felt ready to play. In the third game of our first round match, she served and volleyed and I thought I heard an "ouch" from behind me as she came in. After the point was over, she said she felt a distinct pop. She walked it off, feeling like she could continue. As the match went on we won the first set 6-1. Then somewhere early in the second set, her left shoulder begin hurting so bad she couldn't raise her left arm to toss the ball on her serve or to push through her backhand. Between points and games, I reminded her that win or lose today, we had to play at least one and possibly two more matches. There was no way. In the match we were playing, we were leading 6-1, 5-3 and on match point for us, we shook hands and conceded the match to the other team. We hated to beat a team, then retire in the next round. This way they had the opportunity to play on. I feel so bad for Renee, because she has been struggling with this injury for quite some time. We hung around the rest of the day and were able to watch Marilyn and Suzannah play. They both had tough matches, but they both played just awesome. It was so much fun to watch them!
Renee will be seeing the doctor this week and try to get to the "bottom" of all her injuries. Sorry couldn't resist!
I'll be posting again soon, as Phil arrives in two weeks, then we leave for Spain on April 23!