Recently, Pete Sampras was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Beach. Pretty nice, I guess, if you like that sort of thing. A lot has been made about how he was inspired by his 1992 loss to Stefan Edberg in the US Open final. I lost a match last night. Instead of feeling inspired or sparked or anything cool like that, I just felt pissed off. I was playing a men's open singles match in a tournament against some guy that lives here in Pueblo. He's OK, not a bad player. Good backhand, not much of a forehand, solid spin serve, really damn fast, covers the court well, very unpredictable, makes some amazing gets and shots. So really, since I didn't play my best tennis for more than 20 minutes, I should not be too upset with that loss. It was 4-6 in the third. It was OK. I guess now that I'm typing this I feel that I'm not satisfied with OK, but I'm still more mad than anything else. It's all about a lot of growing up to do, I hope.
I won the first set 6-3 and then got lazy and then got complacent and then started pressing and then I lost. It was annoying. I feel like I should be past that point at my career. I have been playing tennis for a while now. I haven't played much singles lately though...I feel like I am rationalizing to myself. It's an annoying feeling. But oh well. I have two doubles matches tonight and I want to play well.
I couldn't concentrate last night and I think it's because of everything that's going on at my house. I don't feel like complaining about that right now though, so I won't. But I want to be able to concentrate. Oh what do you do when you feel like you should be past something but you're not!? It's very troubling. Some nights you have it and some nights you don't. I'm in repair. I'm not done yet but I'm getting there.
Showing posts with label tournaments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tournaments. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
That was tiring...
I remember the second time we went through Kansas this past tennis season; we played I think five matches in like four days. It was pretty rough on everyone, and because we play singles AND doubles, it makes for a lot of tennis.This trip wasn't that bad. Not even close. But it was still really tiring. I played four matches in about two and a half days, and I split sets in two of them, one of them was a pretty tight little straight set match, and one kind of got away from me. Anyhow, the good news is that I finally won a little bit and got through to the semi-finals in Men's 4.5
singles.
Tonight I started court supervision at the City Park here in Pueblo. It is by far the sweetest job at the park -- I'm sure of it. Especially this week. The city is resurfacing the park courts next week so we are not charging any court fees or anything for two weeks. I am leaving next Wednesday, so that puts me in a perfect little span of time where all I have to actually do is inform people that come to play that we will be charging two weeks from now (when I will be thousands of miles away). You see, people get pretty cranky when I try to collect a $2 court fee from them. Some of them grumpily pony up the two bucks, some of them just get mad and leave, and some
of them threaten me with violence. Oh well though, I won't have to put up with it for a while!I just remembered that I took a few pictures of the courts and stuff in FoCo. They are not anything special -- I made no effort to take cool pictures, I was just snapping things off in a hurry. But whatever. The park that housed the tennis courts was an amazing place. Everything was so green, and the park itself was huge.
The thing I liked the most about the park was that the road to the courts was not a "through" road. At our park there is a road that goes all the way through the park and encourages cruising. At this other park, the road only went so far and then there was a parking lot. No one could cruise by and shout at the players, people didn't drive around and smoke...blah blah.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Alllllll byyyyyy myyyyyyyyyyyyyyseeeeeeeelf
All right, I have a lot of things to get out and I want to do it eloquently, but let me get this first thing out real fast. FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!! I was walking past the dresser in this little Super 8 room while I was throwing my Qdoba wrapper away and then BAM! I smashed my head into this little shelf that just kind of juts out into the room. SHIT.
But back to business. I am sitting here in a crappy recliner with a warm Qdoba burrito sitting nicely in my belly, a giant bump on my head (no blood, thankfully), Baseball Tonight muted on the TV, Until June oozing through my speakers, and feeling a little lonely. Humans are weird. Today was weirder. Let me tell you how I got here.
I woke up and strung a racquet, went to the Pantry with my dad and my sister and ate a ton of food so I wouldn't want to eat later, packed up my shit and hit the road. I left Pueblo at noon and got to FoCo at about 2:30. This trip is already a lot different than any trip I've taken for tennis before.
I really like the whole team camraderie thing. I didn't think that it was going to be such a draw for me, but I really like being around the team, knowing that we are all out to do the same thing, there is always someone to talk to. It's less chore-like. Driving 160 miles just to play tennis seems like an absurd thing to do anyhow. I kind of get the sense of what it must be like to be a journeyman tennis player, some guy who can never get his rank past 600 in the world or something. You're just kind of out cruising around, seeing different parts of the world while playing tennis. That seems pretty idyllic, right? Well I guess it can be if you are winning all the time, but if you can't crack the top 500, you probably aren't winning all the time, you probably aren't making that much money so you probably aren't traveling with a coach and a little entourage the entire time. Roger Federer I am not. It really makes you lonely to lose your match and then sit back and watch people greeting each other, talking, watching matches, having a good time -- meanwhile you are just sitting there wishing you were still playing tennis. It makes you feel like, "Well, I'm not winning, so what the fuck am I doing here anyhow?"
And something else. I was sitting in my dad's car today while he was at the bank before we went to eat -- yes, that was important -- and I was looking down the street and realized that I could name every building that I could see down the street. It got me to thinking about towns and cities and moving on and people getting excited about leaving and crap like that. Now, understand this. I go to college in my hometown at a school four blocks from my house. I learned to drive my car in the same parking lots that I walk through to get to class. I still go to my brother's high school tennis matches at my old high school. I am relatively happy with my situation as it is right now. I am not burning under the collar to leave this instant because I know a good thing when I am sitting in its lap.
Still though, there is a part of me that is just really anxious to maybe live in a city that I don't know like the back of my hand. Like right now, I am learning Fort Collins. I know at least three ways to get to the tennis court complex that this tournament is being held at, but that's just how my mind works. It leads directly to tennis too, because the tournament today was a new experience. I know all about the summer tournaments in Pueblo. I have helped run most of them. I am as big as they are. I know who buys the balls, I know who makes the trophies, I know who will enter what divisions before they enter. I know the tournament directors, I work for them, and shit, I play in all of them. But up here, I only knew one of the other players, and that was a guy that I met two weeks ago. There are all of these other studly players with fancy bags and new shoes and nice haircuts, and I know that a lot of it is because I am in Fort Collins (not exactly Pueblo). In college tennis, we don't give a shit who the tournament director is or who the other coach is. We are playing for our coach and for our team and things like that, but in this case, I am just up here playing to get better, playing because I want to, and it's a weird feeling not knowing.
I really like going out to the park in Pueblo and walking into the clubhouse and saying hi to Ed and going out and hitting with him for an hour and passing by a few other people I know and talking to them. I am established. I like that. Still, there is something very sexy about not knowing the people, not knowing anyone. Personally, I find it to be an uncomfortable feeling because it makes me feel really small. I am nowhere as big as Fort Collins. That is the root of the issue. Pueblo only occasionally makes me feel small enough to need to do something to make myself feel bigger. But going outside of the city limits, going to this strange, affluent, college place changes it all.
ANYHOW. Fuck. If you're still with me, kudos. The actual match today was less than stellar. I had to play some pro from Longmont and I lost 2 and 0. The first set started out shaky and then I closed it to 4-2 and then he just beat the fucking shit out of me. I played 10 minutes of good tennis in there, and I need to find that and try to make it 20 minutes, and then 30 minutes and then maybe even a whole match. The guy WAS really solid, but he wasn't amazing. Good pace, good depth on all hit shots, really consistent, solid ass serve. Still though, I chunked a lot of volleys, missed a lot of groundies that I shouldn't have. He said to me as we were shaking hands, "I could tell you weren't on -- I wouldn't want to play you when you are. You've got great volleys, are you gonna be in Fort Collins much more this summer? Let's hit." I guess that's nice, but fuck, it would be nice to just climb a tree and beat someone.
Last thought, which kind of nullifies some of what I said earlier. I asked the guys at the tournament desk -- before I left to go see a couple friends (who promptly left the city) -- if they knew of any public parks or high school courts that I could check out tomorrow. I told them I was looking to hit some serves at least, kill some time -- best case scenario, I would find someone to play with. They gave me a map of the neighborhood and marked out a park with 6 courts. Then the tournament director, Tom, who emailed me like four times before I even signed up, gave me his phone number, told me that he lives nearby the park and that he would hit with me late tomorrow morning if I called him. I told him that it sounded like a great idea and that I would be calling him. So that's good. I just want to get a little touch on the ball tomorrow, get a little more feel for it before my two matches tomorrow night.
So anyhow, I might be back later, might not, depends on what's on TV I guess. Might do a little workout and then get a shower and try to sleep. We shall see. Sorry if this is gay. I'm bored.
But back to business. I am sitting here in a crappy recliner with a warm Qdoba burrito sitting nicely in my belly, a giant bump on my head (no blood, thankfully), Baseball Tonight muted on the TV, Until June oozing through my speakers, and feeling a little lonely. Humans are weird. Today was weirder. Let me tell you how I got here.
I woke up and strung a racquet, went to the Pantry with my dad and my sister and ate a ton of food so I wouldn't want to eat later, packed up my shit and hit the road. I left Pueblo at noon and got to FoCo at about 2:30. This trip is already a lot different than any trip I've taken for tennis before.
I really like the whole team camraderie thing. I didn't think that it was going to be such a draw for me, but I really like being around the team, knowing that we are all out to do the same thing, there is always someone to talk to. It's less chore-like. Driving 160 miles just to play tennis seems like an absurd thing to do anyhow. I kind of get the sense of what it must be like to be a journeyman tennis player, some guy who can never get his rank past 600 in the world or something. You're just kind of out cruising around, seeing different parts of the world while playing tennis. That seems pretty idyllic, right? Well I guess it can be if you are winning all the time, but if you can't crack the top 500, you probably aren't winning all the time, you probably aren't making that much money so you probably aren't traveling with a coach and a little entourage the entire time. Roger Federer I am not. It really makes you lonely to lose your match and then sit back and watch people greeting each other, talking, watching matches, having a good time -- meanwhile you are just sitting there wishing you were still playing tennis. It makes you feel like, "Well, I'm not winning, so what the fuck am I doing here anyhow?"
And something else. I was sitting in my dad's car today while he was at the bank before we went to eat -- yes, that was important -- and I was looking down the street and realized that I could name every building that I could see down the street. It got me to thinking about towns and cities and moving on and people getting excited about leaving and crap like that. Now, understand this. I go to college in my hometown at a school four blocks from my house. I learned to drive my car in the same parking lots that I walk through to get to class. I still go to my brother's high school tennis matches at my old high school. I am relatively happy with my situation as it is right now. I am not burning under the collar to leave this instant because I know a good thing when I am sitting in its lap.
Still though, there is a part of me that is just really anxious to maybe live in a city that I don't know like the back of my hand. Like right now, I am learning Fort Collins. I know at least three ways to get to the tennis court complex that this tournament is being held at, but that's just how my mind works. It leads directly to tennis too, because the tournament today was a new experience. I know all about the summer tournaments in Pueblo. I have helped run most of them. I am as big as they are. I know who buys the balls, I know who makes the trophies, I know who will enter what divisions before they enter. I know the tournament directors, I work for them, and shit, I play in all of them. But up here, I only knew one of the other players, and that was a guy that I met two weeks ago. There are all of these other studly players with fancy bags and new shoes and nice haircuts, and I know that a lot of it is because I am in Fort Collins (not exactly Pueblo). In college tennis, we don't give a shit who the tournament director is or who the other coach is. We are playing for our coach and for our team and things like that, but in this case, I am just up here playing to get better, playing because I want to, and it's a weird feeling not knowing.
I really like going out to the park in Pueblo and walking into the clubhouse and saying hi to Ed and going out and hitting with him for an hour and passing by a few other people I know and talking to them. I am established. I like that. Still, there is something very sexy about not knowing the people, not knowing anyone. Personally, I find it to be an uncomfortable feeling because it makes me feel really small. I am nowhere as big as Fort Collins. That is the root of the issue. Pueblo only occasionally makes me feel small enough to need to do something to make myself feel bigger. But going outside of the city limits, going to this strange, affluent, college place changes it all.
ANYHOW. Fuck. If you're still with me, kudos. The actual match today was less than stellar. I had to play some pro from Longmont and I lost 2 and 0. The first set started out shaky and then I closed it to 4-2 and then he just beat the fucking shit out of me. I played 10 minutes of good tennis in there, and I need to find that and try to make it 20 minutes, and then 30 minutes and then maybe even a whole match. The guy WAS really solid, but he wasn't amazing. Good pace, good depth on all hit shots, really consistent, solid ass serve. Still though, I chunked a lot of volleys, missed a lot of groundies that I shouldn't have. He said to me as we were shaking hands, "I could tell you weren't on -- I wouldn't want to play you when you are. You've got great volleys, are you gonna be in Fort Collins much more this summer? Let's hit." I guess that's nice, but fuck, it would be nice to just climb a tree and beat someone.
Last thought, which kind of nullifies some of what I said earlier. I asked the guys at the tournament desk -- before I left to go see a couple friends (who promptly left the city) -- if they knew of any public parks or high school courts that I could check out tomorrow. I told them I was looking to hit some serves at least, kill some time -- best case scenario, I would find someone to play with. They gave me a map of the neighborhood and marked out a park with 6 courts. Then the tournament director, Tom, who emailed me like four times before I even signed up, gave me his phone number, told me that he lives nearby the park and that he would hit with me late tomorrow morning if I called him. I told him that it sounded like a great idea and that I would be calling him. So that's good. I just want to get a little touch on the ball tomorrow, get a little more feel for it before my two matches tomorrow night.
So anyhow, I might be back later, might not, depends on what's on TV I guess. Might do a little workout and then get a shower and try to sleep. We shall see. Sorry if this is gay. I'm bored.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Inbetweenthings
Another Tuesday, another hellacious thunderstorm, another USTA league match washed out. Last Tuesday we got rained out, and then today was just crap. I left the house at 4:45 and it was fine. I noticed it was getting darker as I was driving to the courts, and after 5 minutes of driving I no longer needed my sunglasses. By 5:00 pm when I was at the facility it started to rain, and then by 5:15 it was hailing and blowing really bad. Didn't stop until almot 7:30. Fuck that.
Anyhow, I have that tournament in FoCo this week and was hoping I would get at least one match in beforehand. Guess I will have to get a couple of unofficial sets in and then be on my way. I am going to try to get up there and eat and then check in to the hotel, maybe take a fresh little nap, then head to the site and check the place out, play my first match, and then I might meet a friend for some dinner. I hate to plan things out that specifically in advance, but it seems like a solid schedule right now.
Anyhow, I have that tournament in FoCo this week and was hoping I would get at least one match in beforehand. Guess I will have to get a couple of unofficial sets in and then be on my way. I am going to try to get up there and eat and then check in to the hotel, maybe take a fresh little nap, then head to the site and check the place out, play my first match, and then I might meet a friend for some dinner. I hate to plan things out that specifically in advance, but it seems like a solid schedule right now.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Raining...
It is officially summer tournament time for a couple of reasons. One, we started playing the Paper Cup tournament last night, and also because tonight's matches were completely rained out. What a pain.
I played a pretty long singles match last night but it was a solid effort. A nice little three-setter, saved a match point even in the final set (but it really wasn't that dramatic). The match was on serve most of the time and I just got the breaks when I needed to and that was that. I was a little rough around the edges and I needed to clean up a few parts of my game, but I got through it against a good opponent so I'm relatively pleased. Then Greg and I had to play two amazing guys in dubs, and despite playing the most stellar doubles we've ever played, we lost 7-5, 6-1. No matter though. There are still some sick teams in consolation, so that will be fun.
Tonight though...balls. Completely rained out. I strung some racquets this afternoon and I'm glad I didn't just sit on my ass waiting to play. I have to play Beau (from the college team) in this next match, so I will probably lose, but I wouldn't go out there if I didn't think something retarded was possible. I am going to hop on a bike in a little bit I think, or at least do something physical tonight, so I'm gonna get going. In the meantime, pray for no more rain -- it's really annoying.
I played a pretty long singles match last night but it was a solid effort. A nice little three-setter, saved a match point even in the final set (but it really wasn't that dramatic). The match was on serve most of the time and I just got the breaks when I needed to and that was that. I was a little rough around the edges and I needed to clean up a few parts of my game, but I got through it against a good opponent so I'm relatively pleased. Then Greg and I had to play two amazing guys in dubs, and despite playing the most stellar doubles we've ever played, we lost 7-5, 6-1. No matter though. There are still some sick teams in consolation, so that will be fun.
Tonight though...balls. Completely rained out. I strung some racquets this afternoon and I'm glad I didn't just sit on my ass waiting to play. I have to play Beau (from the college team) in this next match, so I will probably lose, but I wouldn't go out there if I didn't think something retarded was possible. I am going to hop on a bike in a little bit I think, or at least do something physical tonight, so I'm gonna get going. In the meantime, pray for no more rain -- it's really annoying.
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