I played a very nice player from Bend, Oregon. I don’t think she has played much singles lately, but she and her husband play some of the National Husband Wife events, and do well.
From the beginning of the warmup to the last point of my match, I had no nerves and had no fear of hitting the ball. I was calm, and kept myself in check with breathing and playing within myself. I broke serve the first game and held serve to take a 2-0 lead. Then she started moving better, and stopped missing as much. Our points were good, and I felt like I was moving, and hitting with no restrictions. I could feel myself making some tactical and strategic errors, but that had nothing to do with my physical ability to play. I will continue to improve on the mental part of the game with the more matches I play in due time. I lost the first set 6-2. I reset for the second set. We each held serve through the set, with me serving at 4-5 to stay in the match. The first three points found me down 0-40...three match points. I scrambled and won the next two points, now down 30-40. I hit a backhand wide to lose the match. I don’t like losing, but I was almost giddy inside.
I sat for a few minutes on the court afterwards and did a quick replay in my mind of what just happened. I PLAYED TENNIS. AND I LOVED IT. EVERY SINGLE POINT...the good, the bad and the ugly. What a joyful, liberating feeling. I can do this.
So now, I move into the consolations (or backdraw as they call it) and play a player from Hawaii tomorrow. Fran plays singles (she won 6-0, 6-2) at 7:45, then we play our first round doubles at 11:00, then will be my singles match at 1:00. A full day of matches tomorrow. I had no issues with aches or pains from elbow or shoulder. I iced after I played. However I may feel tomorrow the after effects of having played on hard courts...the usual day after soreness.
It’ll be a good sore.
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| Watching Fran play |
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| Iced tea by the pool at home |
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