Final Day

Phil was sweet enough to get up this early morning to practice with me. It was a cooler, overcast almost foggy morning. The air was still and roosters were crowing as we walked to the courts to meet Mary and Fran. We had a good hit then met everyone for breakfast. It's so hard to wait all day for matches. Seems like all my matches have been afternoon times which makes the days seem so long. We watched some of the semis and finals of different age groups, but I didn't want to be at the courts all day before playing. Phil and I took a short walk up the hill to the little supermercado to pick up a few snacks, but more for the exercise. Then we sat on a hill by the beach and just talked and looked at the beautiful Mediterreanean water and scenery. By then it was getting close to match time. I was ready in my mind to play. I wanted to play loose and confident. I visualized shots in my head...overheads, volleys, returns and serves. Because the matches were winding down, we went on as scheduled.

The sun broke through the high wispy clouds as our match began. I felt good, but also felt a little tight playing such good friends. I knew it'd be a battle. I started out serving the first game of the match and held. Phew!!! Thinking back now, we may have been up a break early, but were broken back. Mary and Fran then held and broke to go up 5-3. I was serving at 3-5 and was able to hold in a tight game. We broke back to 5 all. Two service holds later we're in a tiebreaker for the first set. Mary and Fran get a quick start to go up 3-0 in the breaker. We fought and were able to tie the score at 3-3 only to lose the next four points and lose the set. So close. I'm playing well...hitting all my overheads and volleying extremely well. The second set we broke right away and held for a 2-0 lead. Then it seemed like they just turned it on and stopped missing. They didn't miss another volley or overhead the rest of the match. Not matter what we did, they had an answer. We lost the second set 6-2. Needless to say I was very disappointed, but because I thought we played well and still lost, the hurt is not so deep. They were the better team and won. I know the joy and excitement they felt all too well and I was happy for their success. Mary and Fran are two of the geniunely nicest people and players I know. It was their time to shine. Mary has won a World Championship before in doubles, but this was Fran's first. They have had a tremendous two weeks of tennis, winning both the team Championships and the Individuals. As I said about Phil yesterday, I played well and competed well and that's all I can ask of myself. The awards ceremony is in a few minutes from now.

Tomorrow will be a well deserved R & R day. I'll post again tomorrow, our last day in Mallorca. It's been a wonderful and special two weeks, but it's time to come home.