First competitive match of 2019. Always nervous. Not because I'll get beaten badly but because I fear I won't have enough the stamina to last till the end. Hate being nervous cause I feel I have already lost a part of the match.
Played with a guy named Brian. Super cool dude, one of the best people I have played with yet. A great host too. I asked if there are any water stations near by to fill my bottle completely. He apologized there aren't any and offered me a Gatorade. Lost a few balls at the start (due to abysmal shot timing by me) and he said he is a bad host for not having extra set of balls and not being able to find water. Great person! Having such people makes you feel a little less disappointed about losing. (Yup, I lost)
Reached perfectly on time. While I was approaching the courts, I heard a tennis ball come right of the center of the racquet and hit the tape. The timing on the serve was perfect and I secretly hoped I did not play against that guy. I fear playing against guys with fast and powerful serves. Mainly since I am under-confident of getting the ball back. And obviously my worst fear came true. Brian had a phenomenal serve. Great placement and power. Warmed up well, hit some nice shots. My serve is an absolute potato and is a major disadvantage cause I believe games are won and lost based on how well you serve.
The game started poorly for me. Lost 4 games in a row. I always take a lot of time to understand the player, his style of playing, how he makes his points and his service. A shortcoming that I am working on. My serve, as mentioned before was a potato and easy to hit an extremely good return against. The only thing I had going for me was Brian double faulted a lot and I got a won a few games due to that. The first set ended 6-3 after I figured I could slice back easily on his serve and don't have to go for a powerful ground stroke.
Second set was better but a similar story. One more thing I had working for me was my forehand which I believe is my best stroke. Won quite a few points on the forehand. Hit a great shot where the ball came back on my court after bouncing on his due to a lot of backspin. Pretty stoked about that. Brian also had a lot of back spin on his shots which cause me to wrongly judge my positioning and had me stretch to hit a lot of balls. Poor composure on smashes and volleys also hurt me cause those were easy points for me.
Overall a decent match, much better than the beating I expected to receive. Hopefully the season improves the quality of my play regardless of the results.