Not Enough Tuna

Set 407:

Stuart v. K. at Westlake High.  Winner: K. 7-6(2).

My Mojo:  Unfocused And Tired.

Here, it is, the last set of the year.  I was already kind of lacka-malaise-ical coming into playing today.  I worked out at the gym for about an hour and a half before coming to play at Westlake.  The last time I worked out before playing, it energized me, but this time, it sapped me some. Maybe it was because I did a lot of intensive stuff and did more resistance and cardio.  

First I played two sets of doubles, and, just in case you haven't read previous posts about it, I don't count doubles.  We got some people together to play three games, and my team was ahead 2-1, but then a couple of more people showed up, so we re-formulated and a couple of the doubles players went off to hit singles.  With the new teams, we lost the first set 7-5, and then won the second set 6-3.  Two of the players who were there didn't want to stick around to play a tiebreak set, so K. and I stayed and played a singles set.

I almost declined to play, which would have been out of character for me--usually I'm up for anything.  But I had more go than stop in me (just barely), so I went ahead and played.  I knew I would be in trouble, though.  I hadn't been playing too great when we played doubles; my anticipation was out the window and smashed on the floor, my serves were not in tune at all, and my groundstrokes were mediocre at best.  And every time I have played K., we have played really long, physically demanding, close games with him usually squeaking out the win at the end.  I can get frustrated by that, and today, my mindset was a little weak, so my frustration was there in full force.  This set was no exception.

My play was not not too different in the singles set from what it had been in the doubles sets, though I did manage to get a little focus for part of it.  For the first seven games, I only won two of them, though most of them were fairly close.  Then I came back with good offensive play (it offended me, anyway) to win the next three games, but got wiped out the next two.  I simply crumbled at the end and I could not come up with enough energy and mental toughness to put the signature on the document.  I guess I just ran out of tuna.

Sailing

Sets 403-406:

Stuart v. D. at Bowie High.  Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

My Mojo:  Just About Perfect, Ebbing At Times To Merely Excellent.

I worked out at the gym doing resistance training on my lower body before I played today.  I was afraid that I might sap some of my energy, but I actually was played better than I had played in a really long time.  When I started serving, I felt like the motion was just about perfect.  I was getting a great swing and good body movement, a superlative wrist snap, and the ball was hitting the sweet spot.  Of course, this faded in and out, but still, my serve never dropped below above-average.

My strategy and anticipation were lightning and thunder.  I felt like I was doing just about everything as right as I was capable of doing it.  I never felt like my energy dropped throughout the games, though it did ebb some every once in a while.  But I managed to win most of the games and most of the points.  

Getting One More Ball Back Most Of The Time

Sets 401-402:

Stuart v. W. at IBM. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-1.

My Mojo: Holding The Fort Down.

I like playing at IBM; they have really nice courts and also good lights.  It is a little out of my way, but what the heck.  But you have to work there to be able to use the courts.  At night that is truly enforceable because you can only turn on the lights with your employee badge.

For the first set, it seemed like we were locking horns a lot.  He was getting some good shots on me, and I got some on him.  I even felt at the beginning of the set that he had a slight edge but I was able to raise my level of play slowly and incrementally just enough to take the control of the court toward the end of the set.  So I ended up winning the first set even though I felt like we had been close to even at first.  

In the second set, I was able to hold most of the games.  I think he may have been getting tired, and he seemed to make more errors.  So I can't really say it was spectacular play on my part that created the winning margin for me in this set.  But it did help that I made few errors, and got most of the stuff back.  I guess winning just basically means getting one more ball back than you opponent, and that's what I did most of the time.

Decent Play But Nothing Special

Set 401:

Stuart v. P. at Anderson High. Winner: Stuart 6-2.

My Mojo: Nothing Special, But On Top Of It.

This was one of the Meetup group meetings, but only two people showed up--me and D.  P. was there also for something else, so he joined in on the play and we alternated playing king-of-the-court with two out of three games in singles.  I won all of those mini-sets, though I did lose a game here and there.  I'm not sure how long we played, but I would estimate we played about six (maybe more) of those two-out-of-three game mini-sets.

Then D. decided to leave, and I played a full singles set with P.  I had the upper hand throughout most of the set, though I didn't really feel much pizazz in my play, and he got in some really good wide-angle shots out of my reach every once in a while.  

Rapid Deflation At The End

Sets 398-400:

Stuart v. S. at Northwest Park. Winner: S. 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

My Mojo:  Started Out Energetic, But Lost Momentum At The End.

It was really windy for this match, and it was hard to predict where the ball would go.  There were big gusts, and then it would die down.  For the first set, I kept pace well, but got barely outplayed.  Then I surged back in the second set with good focus.  In the third set, I felt at first like I was playing well, but I deflated toward the end and lost the last two games decisively to lose the match.

A Curious Win

Sets 395-397:

Stuart v. Y. at Crockett High. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

My Mojo:  Able To Do What I Needed To Do.

This guy plays a really good technical game, but so far, I have beaten him decisively each time we have played.  Maybe I have a little bit better grasp on strategy and that, combined with consistency, gives me the edge.  It has baffled me somewhat that I have won against him with such wide margins each time we have played.  Maybe he has been a little off, and one of these days he will come back and wipe me off the map.

Of course, it helped me that I was playing consistently, and I was not making a lot of errors. He seemed to be more frustrated as the match went on; I think he was as baffled that he was losing as I was that I was winning.  I ended up solidifying my play toward the end and taking more of a lead.

This was the first time I had played at Crockett High.  It's not a bad place to play, but one of the nets is so messed up that the court is unplayable.  Maybe it'll get fixed and future generations who read these words will find them obsolete. 

Sets 392-394:

Stuart v. A. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

Sets 389-391:

Stuart v. Y. at Westlake High. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1, 6-1.

Like A Skier Who Loses Control

Sets 387-388:

Stuart v. K. at Hill Country Middle School. Winner: K. 6-4, 6-4, 4-1.

My Mojo: Downhill Skiing (Limbs Akimbo).

OK, I hung pretty tough for the first two sets, but I couldn't help feeling like my mojo was falling and hers was rising the whole time. And she was able to bring the energy necessary to the closing of each of the first two sets that I just could not muster. The third set (if you can call it that) just verified that I was losing my religion. Jesus and Buddha were off watching the bake-off instead of cheering me on. My play imploded, and the end, though unfinished, was expected (at least by me), but not accepted happily. Really, I would have taken the whole thing to its grisly conclusion (which probably would have consisted of me losing the next two games decisively), but my opponent had to leave. It was most likely mercy disguised as a beating. This was one time when I probably would not have turned it around at the last minute. Though I do manage to pull wicked upsets off sometimes, this was definitely not the audition that woulda made me a star.

Sets 385-386:

Stuart v. W. at Pharr. Winner: Stuart 6-2, 6-0.

Sets 382-384:

Stuart v. J. at Pharr. Winner: J. 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Set 381:

Stuart v. K. at Westlake High. Winner: K. 6-4

Also played Doubles--Stuart and Y. v. K. and S. Winners: Stuart and Y. 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Sets 379-380:

Stuart v. M. at IBM. Winner: M. 6-2, 6-3.

My Mojo: Calm But Not Quite There.

Sets 376-378:

Stuart v. P. at Pharr. Winner: Stuart 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Tenacious S

Set 375:

My Mojo: Tentative.

Stuart v. A. at St. Edward's University. Winner: Stuart 6-3.

I played a lot more than just the one set of singles. I showed up for this meetup group, and first warmed up with one guy, and then played doubles with five players where we rotated out one person each game, and then played straight doubles (lost the first one, ended up tied in the second one), and then I played a set of singles with A.

My hitting was tentative and I felt sluggish and unresponsive. I was hitting defensively and catching many of my shots too close to my body for good direction. But toward the end of the singles set I was able to relax a little and get more out of my defensive posture. I also rushed the net a little more, but that didn't work out too great for me as I watched a lot of winners and lob winners fly by me. Still, I managed to bring in enough stuff to win the set, mostly through sheer tenacity.

Sets 372-374:

Stuart v. S. at Bowie High. Winner: S. 6-0, 7-5, 6-3.

It Takes A Couple Of Sets For Me To Reach A Comfort Zone

Sets 369-371:

Stuart v. E. at The Courtyard Winner: E. (Continuation of last match) Third Set 7-5.

Two more sets: A Tie. 6-1 (E), 2-6 (S).

My Mojo: Constricted, Then Suddenly Free.

The beginning of our play was finishing up the previous match that we had started. I won the first game with some great serves and most of them were not returned. After that my serve got tentative and my whole game became kind of imbalanced. I got down by 5-2, and then I managed to pull together enough game and focus to win the next three games and tie it up at 5-5.

Then my opponent really pulled together his game. He played better than he has probably ever played agaoinst me. He won the next two games decisively to win the set 7-5. Then in the whole second set (technically, it was the first set of a new match, I guess, or just an independent set, since the last set was finishing up the third set of a previous match) I felt like I was completely unable to respond to his game. His shots were almost flawless and error-free and I was mostly completely on the defensive.

It also didn't help that around this time I felt a very slight pull in my lower back; it wasn't enough to keep me from playing, but was just enough to change my balance a little. It wasn't really bad enough for me to consider it an injury, but I can tell it has created a susceptibility to an injury. As I write this, I still feel a slight weakness in my back and I wouldn't be surprised if some little movement at some point injures it a little, or a lot, more. Fingers crossed, and I need to do some strengthening exercises to head this off.

I continued my theme from the match with Y. about not being able to convert advantages in the games, as I got up 40-15 or 40-love and then watched the games evaporate away. Once again, this affected my mental state a great deal, and I started making more errors, especially on shots that should have been sure winners. This was driving me nuts, and the score quickly got to 5-0 in his favor. I did manage to serve one game toward the end in which my serves were focused again and powerful enough to win the game easily. So at least I didn't get bageled. But he took the next game pretty easily and won the set 6-1. To my credit, I was getting to shots that seemed almost impossible even though the ball was just coming off the tip of my racquet. I even remember seeing one serve thatI thought there was no way I would get to, saying "Good shot" as I thought it would be an ace, and expressing a cry of surprise as it actually got returned by my racquet as I got there just in the nick of time. But he managed to hit too many great shots to diverse places on the court, and eventually I would miss one and lose the point. The problem for me was once I barely got there, I was not able to direct the ball well, and I was just returning it into the court weakly, allowing him to take command. He was really getting good strategic direction on his shots and my defensive game was tried to the limit.

In the next set, I managed to get some focus back. I was catching more shots in front of my body instead of at the side or behind, and following through better. This was allowing me to be more aggressive and also close in to the net more. For the first four games we kept pace with each other, though I felt more confident in my play. Then I won the next four games to take the set 6-2. Some of these games were pretty easy, and some were tough. I asked him if he wanted to play another set as I felt pretty good physically (even though we had been playing some long rallies; this last set had probably the best rallies of the match). But he cited other commitments and could not play.

Just A Little Off

Sets 366-368:

Stuart v. Y. at Avery Ranch. Winner: Y. 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

My Mojo: Uncalibrated But Determined.

Sometimes you play a match where everything falls into place; your shots go right where you want them to, the stuff you aim at the line hits right on, your net bounces go right over the net, etc. This was not one of those times. My line shots were all going long, lots of my shots crashed into the tape on the net instead of going over, and I had to struggle for any kind of strategy. Still, what I did have in my favor for most of the match was perseverance and grind.

In the first set, I struggled to maintain parity, and crumbled at the end. I got a little behind, then caught up, then could not win any more games. It was frustrating me that my "edge" shots were not working, for the most part. I was also just a little bit slow on response, and that hurt me as I was catching too much stuff late. Another thing that was really frustrating me and affecting my mental state was that I was failing to convert advantages. There were many games in which I was up 40-15 or 40-love that he came back to win as I scattered when I needed to consolidate. My opponent seemed to be closing in more than I was, though I did manage to close in more toward the end of the match. My serves were decent but not spectacular. They were getting in the box, and where I wanted them to go for the most part, but didn't have a lot of oomph.

In the second set, I had a little more concentration but still was a smidge off on the money shots. My mental attitude was a little better, and my opponent seemed a little diminshed from what he had been in the last set, which allowed me to step up a little. Though we were neck-and-neck throughout most of the set, I broke out at the end, which improved my confidence (at least for a short time). The games were much more competitive in this set, and the fifth game of the set, which I won to get ahead 3-2, was very long, with Herculean rallies and many changes of deuce and ad points. I think winning this game gave me an edge in the set that I managed to hold on to.

I felt good going into the third set. I dominated the first game, but after that, I seemed to just about immediately deteriorate for a few games, and then again at the end of the set. Before I knew it, I was down 4-1, but I managed to win the next couple of games to take it to 4-3. I didn't win any more games, though, as my general malaise and lack of focus returned and scattered my play once again. Despite my inability to coalesce my game skills for most of the match, I felt that for the most part it was a very close match.

365 Sets, Or The Big Kahuna Shows Its Ugly Face!

Sets 363- 365!!!!!!:

Stuart v. S. at His Apts. Winner: Stuart 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(6)

My Mojo: Not Bad.

Well, I did it. I reached 365 sets in less than 365 days time. I thought that this would be a huge milestone for me, and that it would be an occasion to ding the bells and toot on the whistles. Fireworks in the living room, and all that. That's all I need, to terrify my family. But actually it is kind of anti-climactic. No parades for me down Main Street. I just go to work tomorrow an put on my shoes and shirt just like I do every day. Oh, and I'd better not forget my pants, or I might get fired.

But I'm not going to stop. First of all, I'm going to keep playing anyway. Maybe after the end of the year I won't play as intensely (or who knows, maybe I will?). I think soon I'll start incorporating more drills and lessons--the kind of stuff I've neglected while I played straight sets. And maybe I'll play some doubles for a change of pace. Second of all, recall that I "cheated" by starting in mid-November of 2006. Though I did get to 365 sets in less than a year from that time, I think I'll keep playing to get 365 sets during 2007, so it will actually be a New Year's resolution fulfilled. Which means I still have 34 sets left to go. I'll probably try to overshoot it; I'm just that over-the-top kinda guy.

Third of all, is there anyone who actually reads this crap I write? Actually, I know there are some folks who do drop by, because I hear about it, and sometimes from the most unexpected sources.

But I guess I should talk about the actual match, instead of sucking on a popsicle of nostalgia and reflection. Geez, it was windy. I knew the wind would be blowing, but it was whipping around every which way, and rising ferociously and then dying down, and doing all kindsa deceptive stuff. But I felt like I was reading it well, and getting into my wind-vector mode, where I try to figure out on the fly what kind of arc I need to put on the ball, what spin I need to use, and how far I need to correct to get the ball where I want it to go. I'm pretty good at that if I can remain calm and not lose my cool buzz.

I think one of my actual disadvantages today was that it wasn't hot as hell, it was cool and temperate, and the wind made just about any sweat that came out evaporate pretty quickly. For some strange reason, I do well under seriously adverse conditions. I shine when it's so hot that everybody else is passing out, or when I'm just on the verge of a serious hurl, or when I'm just injured enough that I can keep playing, but not too bad to need hospitalization. Really. Read my previous entries if you don't believe that.

A couple of things helped me, I think, in today's play (and have also helped me in the last few sets I played). One thing was having a coach show me how I tend to move sideways on a shot instead of lurching into it. I've been moving forward a lot more, and I think it's added some power as well as control to my stroke. The next thing is having soft hands on the volleys. That has improved my directionality at the net immensely.

During the first set, I got behind at first by 4-2, but then caught up to 4-4. We both played very tough for the next four games to tie it up at 6-6 and play a tiebreaker. I was trying to hit hard and deep as much as possible so as to avoid getting weak shots over that S. could take advantage of, which he does well. At first, he was able to move in on the net to advantage, but I tried my best to neutralize that by being a little more aggressive toward the end of the set. In the tiebreak, I took a lead, then he crept up a little, then I was able to take the win.

S. was getting a little more frustrated about the wind than I was, and I think this affected his confidence in the second set. I never felt seriously challenged in this set, and I think i not only had some of my best strategy, but also my best ability to second-guess where his shots would go, and my best use of the wind.

His frustration went away, for the most part, in the third set. He told me that he relaxed because he had already lost the match and had nothing to lose. This was probably his toughest play, as he once again began closing in well and also breaking out winners when necessary. But I still think he wasn't reading the wind as well as I was (with the exception of about three games where he really broke out and seemed really in sync,while I briefly got scattered). I pulled it back together toward the end enough to keep pace, and the tiebreak could have gone either way. He was up at first, then I eked out a point ahead, and at 7-6, he hit a topspin hotshot that the wind just caught the wrong way an put about an inch and a half outside the line. Which was probably just blind luck for me, because I don't think there was any way I would have gotten that shot, and if the wind had not been gusting, it probably would have been in. So instead of tying up the tiebreak at 7-7, I squeaked out a win at 8-6.

All in all, my play was not bad. It was much better than my average match a year ago, for sure. I definitely see improvement in my game. My power and directionality have increased a lot, as well as my ability to anticipate. My recovery is much smoother, on the whole, and I don't get intimidated by power games.

It Hurts!!! The Story Of How The Groundhog Almost Saw His Shadow

Sets 361-362:

Stuart v. M. at The Quarries. Winner: Stuart 7-6(3), 6-3.

My Mojo: OK Once I "Went."

The first set was ugly. I knew that before I started, I, um, needed to eliminate some of my earlier meals. But I tried to summon the demons before the match, and the love was just in the wrong place in my tubular bells to come out to party. So I had a feeling it would come to what it came to.

I'll spare you grisly details for the most part, except what is integral to the tale. Suffice it to say I've been on a huge fiber kick and have been gulping down at least fifty grams of all manners of sawdusty grit every day. And that's in addition to the huge amount of fruits and veggies (mostly raw) that I eat. It's all well and good, but when judgment day comes, it is immediate and swift, and there is no room for mercy.

And come it did. Around the second game of the match. I felt the sickening gurgle rear its ugly head and communicate to me unequivocally that the groundhog was trying to see its shadow. Actually, it was amazing that I hung on for the whole first set after that. I was in a huge amount of pain, which expanded exponentially as time went on. Try to imagine inserting an uninflated basketball where the sun will (hopefully) never shine, and then pumping it full of jello. That will give you a mental picture of exactly where I was right then (though that may be something you really don't want to picture). I just concentrated on blocking it out, and converted my close-to-rupture moment into intense focus on the tennis ball. I guess that gives Freud's whole trip a new meaning.

It definitely didn't help that there is no bathroom at these courts. I managed to stay with it enough to shimmy up a win in the first set (by a nose), and then I knew that drastic, immediate action was called for. I begged off to take a "bathroom" break. Of course, since there was no bathroom, I went off to an abandoned wooded patch, traipsing through poison ivy and beggar's lice, to eliminate my bad energy (matter converts into energy, right?).

Now, I thought that after I gave unholy birth to Satan's little brother I would immediately feel better. But my insides were still roiling. For the next three games or so, things felt like they were seriously "adjusting" to get back to normal. But after that, my man-womb calmed down, and I was able to concentrate on my play. I just tried to outlast the rallies, and break out for winners when I could, and make less errors than the other guy. And it worked, for the most part.

Game, Interrupted

Sets 359-360:

Stuart v. E. at The Courtyard. Winner: To Be Determined. 6-3 (E), 5-7 (S), 2-1 (E), S to serve.

My Mojo: Off, Then On, Then Tennis Interruptus.

The last time we played, it was very tight and intense. There was a lot of intensity to this match as well, but I felt like I was flowing a little smoother, and not as tight through the whole thing. My serves were working decently, and his were doing what they needed to do as well. It was another closely matched group of games. In the first set, I dropped my pace a little at the end of the set, and he picked up the slack to put the set in his pocket.

In the second set, I played with more assertiveness and aggressiveness and moved away from my usual defensive game to take the initiative a little more. It seemed to do the trick toward the end. We kept tying it up repeatedly, and I was up the odd game for a while. Then we traded leads around game nine, but I won the next game to tie again at 5-5. The next two games were very close and had some of the longest rallies of the match (so far, of course we haven't finished), but I squeegled it out for both games to win 7-5.

Shortly after that, we ran out of time on the court. I hate these places where you can only reserve and hour and a half of time; so often my matches just don't finish in that short of a period of time as I'm just a born grinder. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. So we tried to get on whatever empty courts we could to attempt to finish up the match. We kept getting repeatedly booted after just a few points and it was jarring my mojo big wild. We played the next three games on three different courts before I finally said it was enough. I have to get into a groove, and this was not doing it for me. So we'll just have to finish up some other time.

The Wizard Of Oz Shows Up For A Game

Sets 357-358:

Stuart v. S. at Caswell. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1.

My Mojo: Decent.

I almost hate to play someone when it's this mismatched. But I figure if it was me getting the short send of the stick here, and somebody was whomping me this badly, that I'd not only want to squeeze every drop of juice out of the match, but I'd be wanting to play four or five sets. But I'm just a "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" kinda guy.

And I always get something out of a match. If I'm the higher ranked player, and I'm not in danger, then I try new stuff. Here I was mostly trying out some extremely weird serves to see if they worked. Most of them kinda did. And I figure unless I'm winning every single shot (or the other player is), then there is still room for improvement. My opponent did win one game. She told me to talk about that one in my blog. So here it is.

I had won the first set fairly easily, with no real flashy shots, but just trying for solid stuff that got across the net. In the second set, I was up by quite a bit; I think it was 4-0. Then S. just came back and started hitting really solidly. She started returning everything and for some reason I was on the defensive through the whole game. It was as if my play just melted away for one game--the Wizard of Oz in his full glory came to threaten me with his intimidating bluster before I discovered the man behind the curtain. I was really trying hard, too, and before I knew it, I was down 40-15. I thought I had a chance to catch up, even if it meant winning four points in a row, but NOOO... I lost the next point and lost the game. I know that kind of thing would provide a moral victory for me if I was being outplayed that badly, and I bet it did for my opponent.

Anyway, she said she would sic her husband on me, as he is really good. I'm waiting for the email...

I Finally Hit Stride In The Third Set

Sets 354-356:

Stuart v. D. at IBM. Winner: Stuart 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1.

My Mojo: Shaky At First, Then A Gradual Crescendo, Then A Surge At The End.

All day, I had felt terrible. I felt not quite sick, but at the very least, super-dehydrated. i had been to a group lesson the night before where I was really fatigued for most of the night and couldn't even grasp the rules of the drills we were doing. I actually got in an argument (not really heated, just a dispute) about something that I was totally in the wrong about, and it took a long time to sink in because my mind was just not grasping anything; that's how tired I was. I never quite recovered and felt cruddy the next day, but I spent all day drinking a LOT of water. I almost canceled the match, but about a half an hour after I got off work, I suddenly felt better. I guess that I really just was dehydrated and the water worked.

Starting out this match, I felt like I was having a difficult time getting my bearings. My serve was complete crap. This was strange, because during the warmup, my serve was dead-on. But it just keeled over dead as soon as the first game started. At least my second serves were getting in (even though they had virtually no power at all) and I only double-faulted a few times. My ground strokes were not that great either, and I was hitting my backhands with slice just to get them to the point where they were fairly accurate. This was probably the high point of my game--the fact that my unusually sliced backhands were going just about right where I wanted them to. My service problems were really frustrating me. The first set was really lackluster, and I dropped the last half of it with an inability to get anything decent happening. My opponent was really moving in well, also, and was deadly accurate when he got to the net.

The second set started out much like the first, and before I knew it, I was down 4-1. I thought it was pretty much over, but I just took some relaxing breaths on the changeover and determined to try to be a little more aggressive and play for position. I squeezed back by my fingernails in a couple of games, but won the next three to bring it to 4-4. Then he won the next game. I simply steadied myself, prepared for everything as early as possible, and I managed to win the next game just by making less errors than my opponent did. We had a lot of long rallies in this game.

So it was 5-5 at this point, and then he surged back and won the next game. Now it was 6-5. My serve was still failing me. I resolved not to let that get me, and just decided to play a game that started with groundstrokes instead of serve. Once again I won another game to take it into the tiebreak.

Suddenly, in the tiebreak, my serve came back. I walloped off a few decent serves when I had the serve, and got advantageous positions off of them. I also managed to break his serve enough to get ahead. Though he started catching up for a couple of points, I kept the edge, and won the tiebreak.

So we were in a third set. I felt like my game was just starting to warm up at this point. My serve got a little better and I managed to pop off a few good ones, but it didn't completely get solid; it just faded in and out. But I was able to get advantages in most of the rallies and I won more easily that I had won the second set. Plus, my physical condition felt better than it had the whole match, and I had no problem sustaining long rallies and running like crazy to get to far-away shots.

A Tough, Close Match

Sets 352-353:

Stuart v. T. at Pharr. Winner: T. 7-6(3), 7-5

My Mojo: Steady But Outfinessed.

We had a very close match all the way down. He got ahead by 3-1 in both sets, then I caught up to 3-3, and then he got ahead by 5-3 in both sets, then I caught up in both to bring it to 5-5. It was kind of strange that both sets followed that same pattern. He was really good at closing in for the point, and when he got to net, or whenever I put across a weak shot, he managed to usually put away the point. The last few times I played him I felt like I was right on the cusp of my reaction time in responding to his shots, but I didn't feel like that this time as I tried to play a little more aggressively. I didn't think that the match would be able to be finished as we were running out of time at the tennis center, but nobody came to take the courts when our time ran out, so we were able to play for about fifteen more minutes. This worked to my detriment as I was late to a meeting and I was trying to rush it, so I lost the last two games of the second set to make the set 7-5.

Wow, i am coming down to the wire now. I've gotten to 352 sets out of the 365 that I amtrying to play. I am pretty sure, barring something really unexpected, that I will make my goal of 365 sets in a year. As I get to the end, I have been slowing down on the number of matches I play. It's not that I mind playing; I'd probably play just about every day if I could just show up for matches. It's taking all the time and energy to set up matches that I am burning out on. Also, less people are responding as I move along. Well, I plod on, and as a guy in a wheelbarrow in a Monty Python movie once said, "I'm not dead yet!" A noble sentiment...

Five Sets Taking It From Light To Dark

Sets 347-351:

Stuart v. P. at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.

My Mojo: Pretty Solid, But Wavering A Little.

This was kind of along night as we decided to try to get in five sets. I don't think we set out to play five sets, but it just turned out that way as we kept trying to squeeze in another one. In the first three sets I played well and most of the points I lost were aggressive plays that I got overzealous on. In the third set, I decided to play even more aggressively. I hit a good number of my second serves really hard, but I didn't double-fault any more than usual. That was a good sign. I also rushed the net a lot more, and it usually paid off. But right nesr the end of the set he picked up a couple of games. It was getting dusky, and the lights were not too great. There was also a light that was right in my eyes when I served from deuce court on the north side--it was right behind my opponent's head on the building south of the court.

In the fourth set, I was playing more solidly than aggressively, and I won all of the games fairly decisively. For the fifth set, darkness definitely settled in, and the lights were really crappy. Still, I took most of the games, even though I couldn't see too well. But when I was up 5-0, he suddenly surged back and smoked me out for one game where I didn't win any points and it was over faster than I knew what was happening. It seemed to be just a surge, and I won the next game fairly easily.

Big Time At The Meetup

Sets 345-346:

Stuart v. ? at Westlake. Winner: Stuart 6-2, 6-3.

My Mojo: Increasingly Strong.

I just cannot remember this guy's name. I wish I could. This was the first time I had gone to this tennis meetup group online, and there were a whole bunch of people there. The first thing I did was play a singles match with this guy. He seemed like a decent hitter, but just could not get behind the ball as much as I did, so I felt like I mostly had the advantage. He had good serves, but not a lot of accuracy behind them. When they did get in, though, they were formidable. Mine were only working for me when I put spin on them, for the most part. I could spin my serves every which way, side to side, up and down, and they would get in the box with some goombah, but most of my flat serves were not diddly.

I was pretty steady through the second set as well, and even felt like I had a little more control in it even though I lost one more game. Such is life on the laykold.

Afterwards, he and I played a doubles set against two guys who kicked everybody's butt that night, and we were no exception. I felt like I was getting some good shots in, and it seemed like I was even playing better than I had when I played singles, but 'twasn't good enough. I think we lost 6-2. But doubles doesn't count here (on my long-winded blog); I might as well have been playing mah-jongg.

My Opponent Surges Toward The End

Set 344:

Stuart v. P. at Caswell. Winner: To Be Determined? 6-2 (Stuart), 5-5.

My Mojo: The Reverse Alchemist: Gold At First, Then Lead.

OK, so I have been somewhat of a slug about blogging lately. But I have had some unexpected stuff come up that has taken up all my time. You know what they say about life being something that happens while you are busy making other plans. Right now that seems to be an understatement, and right now it seems to be just about all I can do to carve out the time to just play the darn things. Plus, it seems that playing tennis all the time is putting me behind on about a year's worth of chores and errands, which I am slowly starting to catch up on. At this moment, I have about fifteen minutes of time to blog. Then I look forward to launching into another busy day where I work all day, play some tennis, deal with the matter that is taking up more of my time and life energy than I would like right now, and hopefully sit down to blog again. But I digress.

P. was a hard hitter who put a lot of arm into his stroke. I am fairly used to playing people who play with that style, and so my methodical play of getting it all back and watching closely for the tough shots so I could get to them served me well for most of the match. Though he had a blistering first serve that, when it got in, gave me some trouble in returning a little more than half of the time, I felt like the first set and (I thought) the second set were going my way fairly easily.

In the second set, I was up 5-1, and we were about to run out of time on the court we had reserved. Then I made two critical mistakes. The first mistake was to try to rush things to get the match over with. That probably led me to make more errors that I would have liked to have made, when previously I had not been making a lot of errors. The second mistake was to fail to notice and respond to his change in strategy fast enough. Previously, he had been playing to try to cut off the points quickly. Now he was going for longer rallies, and my rushed play and greater error rate was making those rallies work in his favor. By the time I realized what was going on, he had evened it back up at 5-5, and I had no chance to respond, because we were out of time. Hopefully we will get to finish later.

Crappy Days Are Here Again

Sets 341-343:

Stuart v. P. at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart. 6-4, 6-1, 6-1

My Mojo: Tinged With Melancholy Bile, But Present.

I've played this guy a bunch and I usually get the upper hand. But what I respect is that he is willing to play monjo numbers of sets. Now that's like my style. When I am getting creamed, I want to play even more.

Tonight I felt like crap while I was playing. I had felt vaguely under the floor all day. I'd been grumpy, and though I didn't quite feel cruddy enough to count it as sick, I was definitely not in top form. I almost thought about blowing it off, but just felt good enough to remain standing, maybe.

I somehow can play well a lot of the time when I'm feeling like steaming turds. the first set, I was a little more down that I was for the next two, but I still pulled my head out from the dark moist place loud enough to hear the pop. In the next two sets, my play was just steady enough to take a solid lead, but my stomach was not. Normally I would have played on, but this time I had to bow out after the third set. I almost thought about dumping after the second set and I don't know why I played a third or where the energy for continued vertical integrity came from. But, there it was, and here I am, still alive.

Intensity

Sets 339-340:

Stuart v. E. at Austin High. Winner: E. 7-5, 6-4.

My Mojo: Driven, But Drooping Near Each Set's End.

This was an intense match. I felt like we were both very focused, and wound tight. I know that at least I was. I was trying not to make missteps, but I kept subtly getting the short end of the strategy stick. There was a good deal of strategic interaction, and like I said, I mostly swam in the shallow end of the pool.

Not that it was a complete blowout. I was pretty competitive and close through most of each set, and then just kind of petered out at the end. He hit wit a lot of topspin and when he moved in, he was able to get some good angles and winner on me, whereas I mostly won more defensively. It didn't turn out to be good enough for me to take home the brass ring, but it was close.

Light Banter Among The Gazelles

Sets 337-338:

Stuart v. S. at Travis Country. Winner: Stuart 6-2, 6-4.

My Mojo: Heavy On Defense.

This opponent had a lot of move. I told her that, panting, on one of the changeovers. She asked me if I meant that she was moving around a lot or if she was making me run around on the court a lot. It really applied to both. Not only was she getting good court coverage, but she was playing me all over the court. But that is my game. To run like a wild animal all over the dang place, looking like I can barely get to the ball, when I hit the impossible shots from the very tip of my racquet. I thought this match was much closer than the score reflected.

S. was also very bright, sparkly and talkative on the changeovers, and that was definitely a different stroke for me...most of my (male) opponents are just kinda all business--let's get out there, and pound that ball, and get it done. But the conversation added a sense of a series of half-time tea parties to the match. Reminded me of how when I used to watch my daughter play with all of her junior tennis partners, how they would have a lot of light banter on the changeovers, and if they could get away with it, they would take long, chatty breaks. But I digress.

The second match was even closer, and I was even running around more, and she was getting around better. Wish I could say what it was that I did right, but it must have been something, because I won, albeit by a whisker. Or maybe she just made a couple more errors than I did. There was some discussion of a third set during one of our little chatfests on the change during the second set.

I must be about the only person in the world who relishes the thought of playing a third set. Almost every match, I think to myself that it would be nice if we can get another set tacked on. Usually I even entertain throughts of that even if I am dead tired. But I do have to admit that every once in a while I am so beat that I barely make it to the end of the second set. Still, it didn't happen on this night.

Almost Dead At The End

Sets 334-336:

Stuart v. K. at The Quarries. Winner: K. 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

My Mojo: Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Dead.

This was a really tough match and playing it took a lot out of me. It didn't help that I had woken up the night before at two in the morning and could not get back to sleep, so I was pretty sleep-deprived by the time I played.

My opponent was not a really hard server, and he was a lefty. He was not a terribly hard hitter, but the weird spin was bedeviling me, and he was also pretty consistent. I found that when I became unfocused, my errors became my own worst enemies.

I played very well for the first three games and won them so I was up 3-0. I was playing aggressively and not making a lot of errors. Then my focus drifted away and I started losing games, mostly through my own errors. Before I knew it, I had lost the first set. This unfocused play continued through the second set, in which I was down 5-2. Then I suddenly got really focused again, and also felt very calm and cool. I came back to win the next five games, incredibly enough, to win the set 7-5.

In the third set I started off playing well and got up by 3-1. Then my focus started slowly unraveling as he picked up games. He tied up the score at 3-3, and then won the next game so he was up 4-3. I managed to get one last gasp of steam to bring me some decent play to tie the score up at 5-5. Then my mental state really unravelled as exhaustion set in. We had been playing really hard for about three hours. I started experiencing the kind of frustration that accompanied a complete draining of my energy. My errors were just killing me at this point and most of the points that I lost were due to errors. Also,many of the points became long "safe" rallies that I didn't have the upper hand on at this point because of my deteriorating attitude. I let out long primal screams of agony a couple of times as my weariness led me to too many errors, and in the end, I just could not get enough energy together to stay on top of it as I lost the last two games.

After the match, I went and sat in the shade for about five minutes to regain my strength and dissipate the heat that was taking over my body. I then went home and took a long nap, replenishing my body with the sleep that it had been deprived of.

Bailed Out, Sick, In The Absolute Nick Of Time

Sets 332-333:

Stuart v. S. at His Apartments. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-4.

My Mojo: Strong And Swift, But Suddenly Ready To Barf.

For most of this match, I had some of the best play that I had manage to scrape together in quite a long time. I was really on top of my shots, my anticipation was excellent, my guesswork as to where the ball would go from my opponent's body position was almost 100%, and my strokes were aimed correctly and followed through well. S. usually beats me pretty badly, but I stayed on top for most of the match. I thought that I detected a little bit of a problem with his balance,but it seemed to get better as the match went on. The last couple of times that we played, when he had gotten down, he moved to a game where he varied the depth a lot and also aggressively rushed to net. But this time, I was ready for that, and I handled it much better. He also wasn't able to get in as much control in that type of game as I was able to make the rallies flow in such a way that it didn't work as well.

After about the fourth or fifth game I was ahead, and I half-joked that S. shouldn't worry--he'd catch up. And I believed that at the time. I have played a lot of sets with S. where I get way up, and he comes barrelling from behind to win. But my play kept on staying up there, and I ended up winning both sets. However, suddenly in the last game, I was gripped with an incredibly strong wave of nausea. It came on really quickly right in the last few points of the last game. I hung on, hoping to be able to win and stop playing soon, but there were a couple of deuce and ad points that intervened. I was just hanging on for dear life in the last few points. If he had won the last game and tied up the score, I think I would have had to retire. But I managed to get a critical point after it moved to my ad, and I won the match. Usually we would play another set or two at this point, but I was just too sick to continue. I barely made it up the hill to my car, and took off, but I did feel better after about a half hour and some fluid infusion.

A Quick Decline

Sets 330-331:

Stuart v. T. at Northwest Park. Winner: T. 6-4, 6-1.

My Mojo: Decent At First, Then Deflated.

I played well for the first eight games. The score was tied at 4-4, and then I just started phoning it in. I became sluggish and could not move my feet any more, and my shots became erratic. I only managed to win one more game after that and I never did get any energy or focus back.

An Opponent Who Hadn't Played In A While

Sets 328-329:

Stuart v. R. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-0.

My Mojo: Placid.

This was a pretty easy two sets. There was not really a lot of running or exertion, and the points were cut off quickly. My opponent had not played in quite a while, and though she started off fairly sluggish, she got some good points in near the end. All I had to do was hit the ball back, but I did try to do more than that most of the time. Still, there weren't a lot of points in play; I took the vast majority of the points and all the games. Maybe after she gets a little more practice, she'll come back and whomp me to kingdom come.

I was trying to find opponents in different places. I have mostly been finding people to play through either one of the ladders or sometimes through the local tennis organization website, though probably 90% (at least) of the people I have been playing come from the main ladder. So I tried Craig's List and a local tennis meetup group on the web this week, just to see if I could get some variety. I found R. on the meetup group. She was a good sport (as I probably would be if I got galomped), and maybe she'll work on her game and play me again. I could tell her shots could be good if she got her game back.

A Golden Arm And A Tailwind

Sets 326-327:

Stuart v. J. at Pflugerville HS. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-2

My Mojo: Solid.

I felt really good through most of this match. For most of it, my arm and body were working together well to allow me to swing through my shots almost perfectly. There were moments when I lost it, but it came back quickly. I felt like The Man With The Golden Arm. Plus, I felt like I was not expending a whole lot of effort, in contrast to the last two matches I played, where I was barely able to stand. It felt good to be in control of most of the rallies, though he did pull me wide and get some really good winners and angles in that I couldn't get to. But those shots seemed to be happening less and less toward the end of the match as I felt I was able to anticipate more and more. Also, it seemed like he was losing steam as the match progressed, while I just felt like I was settling more into my game. As the match went on, I felt almost like I was running a race with a tailwind behind me. Everything was happening fairly effortlessly and I felt pretty confident about my play.

An Early Flameout Kills My Game

Sets 323-325:

Stuart v. S. at NW Park. Winner: S. 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4.

My Mojo: Early Burnout.

I started out playing well, and was on my toes with really good anticipation for the first set and the first couple games of the second set. My first serve was working well most of the time, but my second serve was not so good and I was reduced to just trying to get it in the box. I made more double faults than I would have liked, and I can't say that that in itself cost me the last two sets, but it didn't help.

The biggest factor that cost me the match was that my body just kind of gave out after the first couple games of the second set. After being up 2-1 in the second set, I lost all but one of the rest of the games in the second set. I must have still been dehydrated from the night before, and probably didn't fully recover. But I definitely checked out of the motel and just kind of hit a wall. It wasn't complete agony like last night, just an inability to summon up much energy, though I still felt able to stand and hit. I suddenly was not on my toes, my footwork became muddy, and my shots were not as precise. My opponent asked me a couple of times if I was OK, so my lack of energy must have been observable; I answered that I was all right, which was basically the case. I definitely didn't think I was in danger of keeling over. I had brought a quart of water and two quarts of sports drink with me, and drank them all by the beginning of the third set. Boy, I didn't think that I would need more than that, but next time I'll bring a gallon of fluids or more, just in case.

The third set went a little better, though I didn't feel any more energetic than I had for the last part of the second match. I was down 4-2, and was able to pull it together mentally to win the next two games to tie it up, which I thought was incredible, considering my physical exhaustion. In one of those games, which I served, I was able to come up with solid first serves and take all of the points. But after that little burst of clarity, I couldn't get my mind wrapped around the game any more, and did just about everything wrong; I watched in frustration as my control drained away and I lost the next two games to lose the match.

Playing Though Pain

Sets 320-322:

Stuart v. K. at Riata Park. Winner: K. 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5.

My Mojo: Resistance Is Futile.

I hadn't played in quite a while, since I had been on vacation, travelling up through Washington D.C to New England and then Quebec, so I had been out of the loop for a while. This was the first match I had played since I played in New York. I had been to a group lesson the night before to warm up and started getting it back a little, but today I could definitely feel a little rusty.

In the first set, it was extremely close. He took the lead at first, then I caught up, and we got the score to 6-6 and played a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, at first Itook a lead, then he caught up, but I managed to squeak it out by a score of 7-5.

In the second set, I dropped games early, and he started playing really good strategy, moving in for the point and often finishing with a winner. I thought I had a chance of catching up, but in the middle of the set I started having minor cramps that hampered my ability to get much going. I got a few good games in, but he mostly dominated this set. Before I knew it, I was down 4-1. I brought it back and kept pace the next couple of games, but it was too late, and I lost the set 6-3.

The third set was when the cramps really started kicking in. At many times, just about every muscle in my body was cramping up badly. My right hand kept clamping around my racquet, and I had to constantly keep stretching to just be able to remain standing. I thought about retiring several times, but then again, I wasn't dead yet. So I kept playing.

Early on in the third set, he took a big lead. We had much more difficult games than we did in the second or first sets and there were a lot of long, grinding games. I got the bad end of most of the first ones and once again was down 4-1. I really don't know how I remained standing, I was in so much pain from the cramps that were getting more and more intense. But I actually started coming back for a while. I won the next game to bring it to 4-2, then won the next one to get to 4-3. The next game was very close, but I lost it, so I was down 5-3. Physically, Iwas a complete mess, howling in pain occasionally when a bad cramp came my way. But, like I said, I wasn't dead yet. You're not having fun until you drop dead, I always say. I managed somehow to take the lead on points and win the next two games to bring it to 5-5. I just couldn't get it happening for the next two games, though. Not only did the continual cramps turn into a virtual hurricane in my body and mess up most of my shots, but he got some great line drives in that I could not get near in my state of muscular near-failure. By the end of the match, I was just glad I was still able to stand (barely), and made the drive home constantly seizing up. When I got home, I started chugging Pedialyte and vinegar, and after about 45 minutes, I was good enough to at least fall asleep.

Draggin' My Ass To A Defeat

Set 319:

My Mojo: Rusty And Sluggish.

Stuart vs. TennisTitan in Andrus Park, Yonkers, N. Y. Winner: TennisTitan 7-6(5)

It had been raining for a while during the time I was in Paterson, N. J. I had thought about calling TennisTitan during my voyage and decided to give him a call, even though it didn't look to me at the time like we would be able to play tennis. So I rang him up and he extended a gracious invitation to stay at his place in lieu of me staying at a hotel, and I accepted.

Lo and behold, by the time I got to Yonkers, the rain had pretty much let up. The ground was still a little damp, but drying up rapidly, and just in the almost-tolerable range for hitting some tennis balls. So we decided to try playing a set. I had thrown a tennis racquet into the car just in case, but when I went looking for it, it was nowhere to be found. I bet I left it at the last hotel I stayed at, but I have no idea what I did with it. Luckily (or maybe unluckily, as it turned out) TennisTitan loaned me a racquet to hit the ball around with.

We got to the courts, squeegeed for a few minutes, and started hitting. I felt like I was hitting OK at first, but I didn't really have any serious panache. I was having a hard time getting advantages, though I held most of my serves. And my footwork was not that great, compounded by my having a hard time getting my movement started on the wet court. I guess not playing for a couple of weeks turned me into a snail. But enough with the excuses. We kept pace pretty well back and forth, though he got ahead a game for a couple games, and then I caught up to get ahead at 5-4. But my luck from then on was not so good. Though the next few games were close, we tied up the set at 6-6 and then went into tiebreak.

I immediately lost the first couple points. I was really dragging my butt and needed to get into gear. I brought it back on a couple of my serves to get to 3-3, but from then on, my play just wasn't confident enough. Still, we got to 4-4, and then 5-5 in the tiebreak. But I just dropped my keys into the toilet at this point, and lost the next two points to drop the set 7-5.

One More Unexpected Match

Sets 317-318:

Stuart v. P. at Pharr. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0.

My Mojo: Solid.

This was the second unexpected match due to my failure to drop out of the ladder. I was playing really solidly this match. I felt like just about every shot I hit was launched from a solid base, and I got good racquet contact with very few shots that were faced the wrong way. P was getting in some good angle shots in on me every once in a while, They were hit from what looked like a total misface of his racquet, and they seemed kind of low percentage, but when he got one in it was tough. I just managed to stay solid and out play the points to win.

Some Unexpected Play

Stuart v. M at the Quarries. Winner: Stuart 6-6, retired.

My Mojo: Pretty Good.

I had not expected to play any more this month. But I forgot to take myself off the next round of the ladder, and I was surprised and shocked to get an email from the guy who ran the ladder saying that the next round had been posted. I knew immediately that I had been scheduled. So I emailed my opponents today to see if they could play by this weekend. M. responded and said he could play tonight.

We had a tough almost-set. Of course, I don't get to count this as a set toward my goal because it didn't quite finish. Oh well, I didn't expect to play anyway. He started out ahead 3-0, even though I felt they were close games with good rallies. Then I won the next two games to bring it to 3-2. I thought I was doing well in the next game, but then again, I thought I was doing well in the first three until I lost them. I lost the next game on his ad when a ball rolled on the court and I got distracted, and missed the shot. I uttered some words of disdain, and he asked me if I wanted to call a let. I didn't think that would be fair since the point had already ended without me calling it, so I said no.

So now the score was 4-2. I decided I needed to play more aggressively and won the next game on really good serves. They all went in hard and fast, and he didn't get any points off of them. I think he only returned one, and It was placed weakly enough for me to keep a strong advantage. Then I won the next two games to bring the score to 5-4.

I started losing focus after that, and he started getting everything back with strong placement. He won the next two games to bring the score to where he was ahead 6-5, though these were the longest two games that we played, with long rallies, and one game had lots of deuces and ads back and forth.

Then I won the next game easily to bring the score to 6-6. I expected to play a tiebreaker and was ready to do so and was feeling strong and aggressive. But he suddenly announced that he was not feeling well and had to retire. I was kind of surprised because he seemed like he was playing pretty strongly and didn't show any outward signs of feeling ill. But we shook hands (I have been reflexively putting out my left hand now and shaking upside down), and I wished him recovery and good luck in this other ladder match.

A Short Match, A Good Attitude

Sets 315-316:

Stuart v. K. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0.

My Mojo: Better Than Average.

It's funny how your play and your attitude can really vary from one match to another. One day, you might be playing poorly and feeling really grumpy, and the next, it might be all sunshine and flowers, and you can't go wrong when you hit the ball. The even more amazing thing is that sometimes this can all vary from game to game, or from point to point. I bring this up because yesterday my play was not so great, whereas today, it was much better. And my attitude today was great as opposed to lukewarm yesterday.

This was the last match I will play for about a month. I've got some stuff happening in the next month and I don't think I'll be able to play, but I'll come roaring back in September ready to finish this series. I'm ahead of my monthly goals by a pretty good margin, and even though last month and this month I won't have made par, I'm still on target.

I had another match scheduled this afternoon but had to cancel due to pressing stuff. I hate cancelling a match and this was the first time I had to cancel not due to weather or illness/injury, but it was unavoidable. Right now I can hardly believe that it is barely 9:30 a.m. and I've already finished a match. 8:00 a.m. was the earliest I have played all year. My opponent wanted to start at 7:00, but I didn't think I would make it out of bed in time. I probably wouldn't have, and barely got it together to get to this one.

I was playing well on the aggressive side when I set my mind to do so, but about half the time I was playing my usual defensive game. I had good directionality today, but did lose focus once or twice and hit a few long or cockeyed. On the whole, my shots were good. But what was great was my attitude. My mental state was really positive and together, and my plans were executed well. Almost every point, I had a good plan, and they worked most of the time.

In the second set, my opponent decided to get a lot more aggressive and play a chip and charge game for a while. I responded to this by hitting a lot of lobs when he came to net, most of which either landed out of his reach, or forced him to make weak returns off of his back foot to give me control of the point. And when he came to net reflexively but inappropriately, I was able to pick out the territory to hit a low-whizzing winner to that was out of his reach. I was able to adapt to his "B" game well. Towards the end of the match, I became more confident in my shots, and put it away easily, to end the match in about an hour.

Killed By Angles

Sets 313-314:

Stuart v. M. at The Quarries. Winner: M. 6-3, 6-1.

My Mojo: OK At First, Then Too Unresponsive.

In this match, I was playing decently just briefly, then he came back and just started shooting angle shots at me that got me running around so hard that I could not get any control on the points. I won the first two games of the first set, then only won two more games the whole match. I was getting really frustrated by just having to barely respond to these angle shots, which I knew were coming, and I could not get responsive enough to do anything about it. He kept shooting balls to areas that were just out of my reach, but I couldn't seem to get to areas that were hard for him. When I tried to hit angle shots to his side of the court, they either went out, or went into his comfort zone. Also, my serves were not letting me take control of the points. I wouldn't say this was my absolute worst play, but it definitely was not my on game.

Fast Points, A Score Quandary, And I Just Could Not Stay On Top

Sets 311-312:

Stuart v. R. at Private Courts. Winner: R. 6-4, 6-3.

My Mojo: Decent, But Barely Getting There.

This guy was a hard hitter with the ability to aim with precision with either rapid topspin or wicked slice, though he made some unforced errors that made it a little more competitive than it would have been if his play had been error-free. He put me on the very edge of my senses and I was having to respond very quickly just so I could get to the ball. I could tell it was going to be tough from the warm-up, and it definitely was. Once we got into the match, I was playing mostly defensively, and was at least getting to most of the balls, but he had an edge that just kept up throughout the match. I was just barely getting to a lot of his balls, and consequently, I had a lot of weak returns. I could possibly have done a better job of returning hard, deep shots that didn't let him take advantage of the point as much. Most of the points were cut off pretty quickly and there were not a lot of long rallies, although there were a few.

When we got the the second match, we played one game that got to at least ten deuce/ad combinations. That threw us off on the score, and I had thought the score was 1-1, but that could not have been right, because the serve was off if that was the score. The problem is, neither of us could remember anything about the second game. I definitely won the first one, and he won the long third one, but what happened in between? He finally said that he remembered that neither of us had won serve this set, so I just agreed to call it 2-2. This didn't exactly sit completely right with me, because I didn't think I had lost a game in the second set before the long game, but I didn't feel like continuing to try to figure it out. Also, I really had could not summon any evidence that supported my version of events; the second game, if there was one (though probably there was), was a complete blank to me, and I had no recollection (At least I'm glad I don't have to say that to a Senate subcommittee...). Anyway, I pretty much moved on at this point, and it didn't throw me off enough to really jolt my play, but I did weaken some after this. All in all, I was more satisfied with my play than not, except for the losing part.

I Get To A Mostly Calm Place Long Enough To Win

Sets 308-310:

Stuart v. D. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

My Mojo: Average, Then Mostly Calm And Playing Great, Then Slightly Above Average.

I started this match just barely slugging my way through, and not feeling like I was keeping my head above water. Before I knew it, I was down 4-1 in the first set. I wasn't playing as badly as I did yesterday (like I said, there was practically no place to go but up), so I was slightly encouraged. But I wasn't exactly comin' to Jesus either. And I was starting to get frustrated with not being able to get an edge.

And then I just stopped getting mad, and thinking of it more analytically. Also, I made an effort to reach a calmness that I probably would have been able to get to if I'd had more time and a quiet room. But I did get to sort of a "ninety-five-percent-calmness" with just an undercurrent of ennui running underneath like the groundwater that was seeping up from the court we were playing on. Today the groundwater wasn't bad; it was only about a foot-long, quarter-inch wide very slight dampness. I've seen it bubbling up into the court before and had to sop it up only to have it come back a few minutes later. No, it wasn't that bad today.

When I got to the (mostly) calm place, I was able to concentrate on my stroke more, and I was able to get better footwork, placing myself for shots and not shooting wildly, but actually hitting the ball right where I wanted to. I was playing better than I had in a long time. And I won game after game; I won the next six games of the first set to win 6-4.

The second set was much the same, only with a different result. I was once again down 4-1, and came back to tie the score up at 4-4. But I lost my groove and tightened up, and lost the next two games to lose the set. And he was starting to get the most phenomenal shots.

"OK", I told myself, "He is just going to get to spectacularly impossible shots and return them. Plan accordingly." And I did. Now I was ready for him to return the spectacular shots. I also told myself that this was going to be hard and it was not going to be easy, and once again, I resolved to plan accordingly. And the next few games were incredibly tough. I briefly spazzed in the first game of the third set and lost it with no points on my side. But then we played mostly really long rallies, back and forth from deuce to ad, and stayed neck-and-neck. I was taking the odd game for a while after ties, and then he came back after it got to 4-4 and won my serve, so he was up 5-4. Then I knew that every shot would have to count. I made sure I set up early, faced perfectly, and hit the shot from underneath, moving up with a good follow-through using my whole body. I concentrated hard on getting it right every time. I still missed a couple, but I got most of them back. Suddenly, long rallies were ending in my favor consistently. And I think his attitude corroded a little; he was starting to show a little more anger. At the beginning of the match, I had expressed some anger, but now I was as cool as menthol. And it took me into winning the next three games and winning the third set 7-5 to win the match. And I finished yet another match that lasted nearly three hours in stifling, sweaty heat.

Playing Like An Infant On Quaaludes And Reinjuring My Pinky With A Handshake (AGAIN!)

Sets 306-307:

Stuart v. D. at Austin High. Winner: D. 6-2, 6-0

My Mojo: So Low There's No Place To Go But Up.

I just cannot put out my right hand to shake at all for a while. I keep re-injuring it by putting it out reflexively and having people's grips crunch it back to where it is hurt again. I stuck my right hand out at the end of the match and realize too late in horror that it's going to get shaken and I hope this guy's grip is not too hard. No such luck; It's just a little too firm and I feel things snapping below my pinky. Crap, I wonder when it's going to heal up. Probably never, if I shake hands with anyone in the next six months. This is really messing up my piano playing. The weird thing is that at this point, a hard handshake is about the only thing that really hurts it, though I can't bear much weight on my pinky and playing octaves or more on the piano is not too comfortable.

My play was dismal and it was making a huge black cloud appear over my head. During the warm-up, I didn't hit hardly any backhands right. I even tried to concentrate on it, and it just got worse. Uh-oh, I thought to myself, that's a bad sign. During the match, my backhand was about an 0.2 on a scale of 0 to 10. And I could not get my serve happening either. I think I got maybe five first serves in the whole match, and my second serves were my B-serves which he was able to direct to my definite disadvantage.

Not that he wasn't a very good player. He hit with good power, topspin and depth and exerted good direction. But I've played people who hit like that before and been able to at least be in the game somewhat. In this one, I had completely checked out of the motel. All I could do was helplessly watch myself flub shot after shot and, though he forced many errors, I managed to make a huge amount of unforced errors.

I won the first two games, and then didn't win a single game after that. I don't think I even had the offense on hardly any points after that. I figured it was over by about the second game of the second set. This is the kind of thing I just want to put behind me and tell myself, "Be dang thankful you don't play like that all the time." If I did, I'd probably quit playing...

A Peaceful Mindset Pushes The Win

Sets 304-305:

Stuart v. S. at Westlake High. Winner: Stuart. 6-3,6-2.

My Mojo: Steady And Solid, With Almost A Dream-Like Calm

Mmmm...I can hear the brown rice bubbling in the background. I don't know why, but I was craving brown rice and vegetables on the way home from this match. So I fired up the rice cooker.

I almost thought I would be late for this match. I spent almost twenty minutes traversing one particular mile on the way there. Luckily traffic opened up like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon and sped me right to my destination.

This was the first time I had played S. She was new to town, and said she hadn't played since April. I could see her playing a little bit loosely toward the beginning, then tightening it up a bit to become more precise, then toward the end, we were both playing intense-heat-tennis, that is, just doing what it takes to try to get the ball over.

I felt really peaceful and centered throughout this match. There was none of the agitation that sometimes hits me and turns my mental state into gelatinous goop. Occasionally, I did let out a little yelp when I misjudged a shot, but none of them were really angry; I was just trying to get the little bit of extra oomph that would get me to the shot. My serves were solid and sometimes drifted into outstanding. My groundstrokes were getting the job done, and I felt like I had a slight advantage in long rallies, though I did lose some. And even though the score was a bit lopsided, many of the games were closer than the score reflected.

The placid state I was in almost bordered on hallucination when the heat funk really started blasting in the second set. Not in a bad way, though, I was still pretty centered and solid. I played my usual game well; that is, there were not a lot of big forehands or winning blaster shots, but I played a good positional game and shifted into defense easily when it suited the situation. In both sets we started off close, than I took the lead at the end.

Slow Going Towards My Goal

Set 303:

Stuart Vs. Y. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 4-2 (retired).

My Mojo: A Couple Of Shades Above Average.

Dang, another retirement. I haven't been able to play much lately, since it's been raining alternating with heat-that-makes-people-not-want-to-play-weather. And these conditions are probably why nobody's been responding when I ask people if they want to play. I guess they're afraid that it will either be too hot, or it'll get rained out.

I felt like nothing out of the ordinary was going on with my play today, but it was solid enough. My serve was mostly good but fading at times, and my anticipation was decent. One thing that I really had going for me that I usually don't get was my ability to pull my opponent wide and then hit blazing angle shots to his blind shot. Usually people do that to me more than I do it to them, but today I was mostly the protagonist.

As I got to playing better, my opponent was fading. Maybe I was making him run a little more than he was used to, because i was getting pretty good court coverage with my shots. It was pretty darn humid, which made it feel hotter. I think it was only in the eighties, but both of our shirts were soaked after just a couple of games. On one early changeover, I wiped off all the sweat, took a drink of water, and then was covered with sweat again!

He looked like he was having a difficult time recovering during the changeovers, but I was kind of surprised when he retired. I didn't know he was feeling that badly, and his outward cues didn't reflect any major problems. But right after retiring, he went over into the grass and leaned his head over like he was going to throw up. I asked him if he was all right, and he indicated that he was OK, but he took a minute to recover. I packed my stuff slowly to make sure that he wasn't passing out, and left when I saw him gather enough strength to get his stuff together.

Crossing A Bad Line

Sets 301-302:

Stuart v. D. at Caswell. Winner: D. 6-4, 6-0.

My Mojo: Starting Strong, Quick Deterioration.

I was really feeling good when I started this match. At the beginning, I was playing really well, and I was really happy with the amount of offensive play I was getting in. At first, we were trading leads. I won the first game, feeling like it was fairly easy. Then he won the next two games, and I was down 2-1. Then I picked up the next two, and was up 3-2. Then he took the next couple, and I was down 4-3. During the changeover, he asked me if I was seeing a pattern. I agreed.

I had been happy with my play, and chalked up my losses to nothing big; I just failed to correct a few times and I thought that I could easily adjust. But I didn't win any more games after this. It was like I just suddenly crossed a bad line. All of a sudden, I was not anticipating well enough to get to the balls early enough, and he was taking control of the points almost all of the time. I was also taking longer than usual to recover on the crossovers; probably it was because of the heat. He seemed to be having the same problem but was handling it better. I was trying to get good shots in so I wouldn't have to run so far, but my shots were all backfiring on me. He was hitting with really good topspin, and stayed consistent even though his shots were not terribly hard. And I was watching his form, which was very good. He was doing a good job of taking the offense, closing in, and closing the deal. I was being pulled to corners and then failing to properly recover, and then he would hit the predictable angle shot to the area of the court I couldn't get to. I was seeing this happen over and over, and still I was unable to do anything about it. I kept telling myself that I need to hit hard shots near the baseline, and then watching my returns come back weak too often from just barely getting to the ball in time to hit it, and then just barely returning it without the ability to control it. Toward the end, I felt like there was just about nothing I could do. And my serve, which had been in and out for the first six games, just checked out and went on vacation. At least I wasn't double-faulting a lot. I was getting my serves in the box, but not hitting them with enough pizazz to rumble on the points I served.

Though the score in the second set was lopsided, many of the games were close. I wasn't completely gazorched, but I was failing to get an edge, and that made the difference. Several games I was up forty-love or forty-fifteen, and he came back and won the game. This ate away at my mental state, and though I wasn't in a state of fury, I was mildly to moderately disgusted with my play. I was probably a little harder on myself than I should have been, because he was playing well and not making too many errors, and using great strategy.

I've now crossed the "300" line, so I'm pretty far ahead on the way to my goal, even though I'll take some time off for a vacation soon. I have been slowing down on how often I've been playing, but when I do play, I have gotten in a lot of sets with many of my opponents. I haven't been as aggressive as I was a few months ago on looking for opponents, but I'm also getting a higher number of people either turn me down (always the reason is "too busy right now") or just not respond. It must be the summer heat, I'm guessing. Afternoon matches are getting to me sometimes (today was no picnic, and part of the collapse in my playing quality was probably heat-related). But I'm definitely on track. I think I'll have met my goal but the end of October, which will make it within a year even though I started early, having started playing last November. I just hope that I can stay healthy and avoid severe injuries. Once I have met my goal, I think I'll try for 365 from the first of last January until the next first of January, which will add another 34 sets. Then I'll slow down on the number of matches I'm playing, try to get on the ball machine more, and try to get more lessons and drills in the mix. And I think I'll find something else to obsess on for a year and start another blog with some goal. I'll keep this one going; I'm definitely not going to quit.

A Marathon Match

Sets 296-300:

Stuart v. P at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

My Mojo: Enough To Do The Job.

This was a marathon match. We played for nearly three hours, but luckily, the points didn't go long most of the time; if they had, there probably would have been no way we could have played five sets. We were playing a game that cut off the points quickly, either in my favor or his, but I was the beneficiary of most of the treasure.

Most of the play was pretty straightforward. I managed to pull him out of position a lot and then shoot bullets to unprotected areas of the court. In most of the sets, he got in one or two games where he took the lead, but I was pretty confident in my ability to win. It wasn't that my play was superb or brilliant, it was more that I just managed to hit one more ball into the court than he did. And we both were holding up well enough to agree to more sets. It's been a while since I played five sets.

By the time it ended, I probably could have even played more, but he said that the set ended just in time, because he had pulled a calf muscle. It must not have been too bad (at least not crippling), because he was walking OK back to his car, but I know how it feels to have an injury that makes you stop playing.

Man, I Just Can't Get Anything Going...

Sets 292-295:

Stuart v. S. at His Apts. Winner: S. 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

My Mojo: Up Against An Impenetrable Wall

I came to this match ready to play some of the best tennis I've ever played. I mean, I knew I would have to really bring something to the table to beat S. He is one of the toughest players I play and I've only beaten him once. Not only would I have to play at a pretty high level, but I would have to be innovating as well. That's a tough bar to jump over.

So I started off playing really well. I was not unsatisfied with my level of play, but he seemed to be playing absolutely flawlessly. His play has been going well for him lately, as he has recently rocketed to near the top of the ladder, while I've been going up too, but at a slower rate.

In the first two sets, my serve was occasionally on fire, but I could not get the blazing-hot serves in consistently. My groundstrokes were doing better than usual, but I felt like at least 25% of the time that I hit a shot over, he did something with it that I had no chance of getting a response to. And I had a very small percentage of offensive plays, but when I did get them, I managed to hold on for a good number of those points. Even though the score was lopsided in the first two sets, we didn't have a huge number of blowout games where I got skunked and didn't get any points in. So I was about as satisfied as you can be when you're losing.

In the third set, I started surging forward a little, but was still coming up against an impenetrable wall. I think this was the set in which we both played the best. There were very few errors in this set, but when they were there, I made more than he did. Also, in this set, I didn't get back as many weak returns as I had in first two sets, although I had a few.

The fourth set was where I surged forward; at least, I did so at first. And he was starting to get a little tired. He made a comment that this was the set he was there for. My serve became better, my groundstrokes were catching well in front of me, were well-planned and went deep consistently. His passing shots were catching more errors, either long or into the net, and I was also recovering better. I won the first three games of the set, and then we each won one, so I was ahead at this point by 4-1.

Of course, I was thinking about the last time we played and this exact thing happened, and he came back to win the set. I thought that I had to be careful, and I could still blow it. After this point, I was still playing well, but he changed his game around a lot. He started playing less for pace and more for consistency, and he also relied a lot on drop shots after he had pulled me deep. It was starting to piss me off that this drop shot technique was working for him. I was unprepared for the change in his tactics, and by the time I realized what was going on, it was not only too late, but my confidence was shattered and my mental state was in ruins. By the time he caught up to 4-4, it was pretty much over. I think I had already disgustedly tossed my racquet out of my had a couple of times by this time. The last two games, I wasn't even close. I have to be ready to respond to changes in tactics. I think if it hadn't been so hot, my mind would have worked a little better, but I do need to work on recognizing a changed plan.

A Solid Match Not Quite Interrupted By Rain

Sets 289-291:

Stuart v. R. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.

My Mojo: Solid.

I was worried that this was going to get rained out. We had gotten rained out once on this match, and I was hoping it wouldn't happen again. One thing or another has seemed to happen a lot lately to keep me from playing. Not only has there been a lot of rain, but I've had back problems, finger problems, and a painful kidney infection that has all cramped my style and my ability to play huge numbers of matches. So I haven't been able to get out and play as often as I would like.

Though it was cloudy, it wasn't raining. That was a good sign. I started off playing strongly; Iwasn't playing super-aggressively, but I was getting good placement and making him run a lot. My serve was not blazing most of the time but it was solid. I was also anticipating well enough to set up strongly for my shots. At the beginning of the first set, he got very few points in, but started getting a few more in towards the end of the set.

In the second set, he was playing a little bit stronger and trying for more assertive plays. He won one game and there were a lot of games in which there were several deuce and ad points back and forth. I had a little trouble in one game after the sun suddenly came out briefly, and only for that game, and it was right in my eyes whenever I served on ad court and whenever I hit cross-court on ad court. It gave me a bit of a bother, and I did win the game, but it was one of the ones that there were a lot of back-and-forth deuce and ad points.

I asked him if he wanted to play a third set, and he agreed. He is one of the more energetic players that I play against, and he is good at running a lot of stuff down. I like playing people like that, because I do that too. In the third set, I did my typical late-in-the-long-match surge, and was playing almost as well as I could hope. My serve became stronger, and I was able to play more offensive points. Also, my energy level really crescendoed upwards. Late in the set, it started raining, and it got a little wetter than I usually like to play, but it stopped quickly. By the time the set was over, it had almost dried out again. But I don't think we would have been able to play another one; on my way home it started raining again, and this time it was enough to soak the ground.

I Grind Another One Out, But Briefly Go Nuts

Sets 286-288:

Stuart v. M. at The Quarries. Winner: Stuart 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

My Mojo: Tenacious, With A Momentary Mental Collapse.

This was another really long match. It was stifling heat yet again, and we played for nearly three hours. My opponent was another guy who had really good ball control,though he lost it a little toward the end of the match when he got tired. I pretty much just played tougher as I went on, though I completely lost my mental state for a little while in the third set.

In the first set, we kept pace with each other at first, then I started slowly drifting into worse play as his play subtly got better; the worst combination for me. I lost the last three games of the set to lose 6-3. My serve was great during the warm-up and so were my groundstrokes. But my serve was not as hot when I started the match, and my groundstrokes were good at first but deteriorated as I lost momentum. I started cussing myself under my breath.

My loss of momentum continued into the second set. He was getting some really good shots in, especially when he would pull me to ad court and then slam a hard low whizzer cross-court in deuce court. Those seem to get me a lot, and I was falling into my usual trap with them. Before I knew it, I was down 5-2 in the second set. Then composure and energy hit me like a rock in the head. I told myself that I had to take this into a third set. I just kept repeating the mantra in my head. "every shot counts." And amazingly, I patiently won the next five games. I could feel strength and composure growing with each point and each game. On the changeover, all I could think about was calmness. I had even been recovering to the right place in the court from hard angles to ad court, so i wouldn't get slammed with cross-court deuce winners. I had been getting to almost all of those!

When the third set started, I was still keeping that momentum going. I lost only one game out of the first four, and was up 3-1. I was just cool and relaxed, playing with great anticipation, fantastic body position, and good strategy. Then in the fifth game something happened that just immediately reversed my mood.

I was up 40-love in the fifth game, and I played the next point aggressively, taking the initiative from the beginning, and each shot was better than the last. The last shot was just a burner cross-court down deuce court that there was no way he could get to. So I'm thinking I just won the game and it's 4-1.

But suddenly I notice that there are about 10 balls in my opponent's court from the cardio tennis class in the next court. There is a sheepish-looking woman from the next court saying, "Sorry, that point is a let." Wait a minute. You can't call a let after a point has gone out of play. I wouldn't have minded if he had called it during the point. He didn't even call it; the player from next door did. And I was so into playing that I have no idea how all those balls got there or when. So I said to him, "That's game, isn't it?" And he responded that, no, it was a let.

I wanted to say, "YOU CAN'T CALL A LET AFTER THE POINT IS OVER!" I was really steamed, but I let the let stand. And for some reason, I completely lost my mental composure. It just shook me that I hadn't just won the game to bring it to 4-1. So it was 40-15. And then I just was so rattled that I didn't win any more points that game. Nothing was going right for me. I lost that game to bring the score to 3-2. Then I couldn't do anything right in the next game, and the score was 3-3. Then I fumbled all over myself, getting even angrier, and suddenly I was losing 4-3. He hadn't been going for winners any more; he was just trying to be consistent, and I was just blowing it every time.

I let out an agonized scream and hurled my racquet over the fence, into the grass on the other side. Everybody around stopped to look. Oh, crap. That was the most unsportsmanlike thing I've done probably ever. But it snapped me back to reality. I felt immediately embarrassed, and more composed. A woman from the next court asked me, "Did you mean to do that?" and the only answer I could come up with was to sheepishly mumble, "Sorry."

How could I immediately go from being calm and on top of everything to mentally shattered just instantly like that? Why did I let something unexpected bother me so much that it just instantly cremated my composure? Anyway, I built my composure back piece by piece over the next few points, playing methodically and consistently, only doing a little bit better than he did with the same type of game because I had a lot of energy, but I think he was just about out of gas. This was my game. I grind out the long ones in intense heat regularly, and run for everything. That's what I do best. And I started being able to do it again. I won all the rest of the games; the first one felt tough and competitive, but the last two felt easy. I felt like I had a huge amount of strength for the last few games and was able to run difficult shots down and even place them well when I got there, while he was hardly even running at all any more for anything that was out of reach. I was able to get my head back and win the third set 6-4 and win the match.

An Early Finish

Set 285:

Stuart v. D. at Northwest Park. Winner: Stuart 7-5, 1-0, D. retired

My Mojo: Strong And Tenacious.

I felt pretty good this match. The last couple of matches I had not been feeling too good; I didn't realize it, but I was kinda sick. I think I had some bug that got to my left kidney; I didn't realize it because my back had a muscle spasm and I thought that my back just was taking a long time to get better. But it has been definitely more than that, with the chills, weakness and cramps that I had been feeling. So I drank a bunch of fluids, got some pure cranberry juice and started chugging that, and got some antibiotics from the doctor. Now I'm much better, but still have some pain in my side that is starting to diminish.

I got to the park early and all the courts were open. I picked out the court next to the shade tree. I figured it was hot and we would want the shade. The problem was, there was a little bit of ground water percolating up into that court. It wasn't a huge problem, but there was a line about two feet long that was kinda damp. With all of the rain that we had been getting in the last few months, I guess the ground water is getting close to the surface there.

When D. got there, he didn't like that court because of the water, so we moved one court over. Okay, I thought, but it's going to be hot. I was worried, too, because of my recent weakness. But I held up with my customary resilience to the heat, so I must be over my recent malaise at least enough so playing a vigorous round of tennis won't sap my strength. D. seemed to have a hard time with the heat, though. His shots were really good when he lined them up. He had great ball control, and used both topspin and slice well. My advantage was my consistency and ability to get to the impossible-looking shots. My hard serve did not seem to be working for me that well, so I switched to a higher serve with more spin, which seemed to at least get in the box more.

In the first set, I took an early lead, getting to 3-1, and then 4-2. Then his play seemed to surge and he was overwhelming me strategically for a few games. He got good momentum going and I felt briefly frustrated by my inability to break through in any of those games. From 4-2 he won the next three games, so he was up 5-4. Then I managed to come back in the next game, which was a good psychological point because I broke his momentum and evened it up. After that, I won the next two games pretty easily. He seemed to be not handling the heat too well; he asked for longer breaks on the changeovers, which I didn't mind. I felt cool as a cucumber, and strong in the heat. I could definitely feel the heat bearing down on me, but it didn't bother me at all and I held on well. I was doing some mental relaxation exercises on the changeovers to stay cool and focused.

After the first set, he said he was having a hard time in the heat, and he needed a break even though we were on an even game. He said he might have to forfeit, but he'd play at least another game. In the first game of the second set, I won every point, and he threw in the towel, conceding at that point. We sat in the shade of the tree by the first court for a while and talked while he recovered. He would probably have a better game against me in cooler conditions.