Overpowered

1/2/07:

Sets 43-44 (of 365):

Stuart vs. J. at Shipe Park. Winner: J 6-1, 6-1

My Mojo: Below-average to Average

This was my second match of the day. This time, at least, I had plenty of time to eat and rest a little between the first and second matches. So for the first two days of the New Year, I've played five matches in two days. Not bad. I haven't played any matches that went three sets in a while, except when I can talk my opponent into playing a third set. One of these days, I'll play someone that I can talk into playing about seven sets or something like that.

Anyway, back to this match. I had a hard time getting a handle on his spin, which was either really fast topspin or backspin. I was not reading the spin well and so I was hitting shots off. I could not get an offense going most of the time and played defense too much. I also had a few lobs that fell short that he was able to take advantage of, though he hit one or two into the net. I did have a decent serve going for me today and it was the best part of my game. The bottom line was that he just overpowered me. I could have done a better job of anticipating; I noticed that I was not setting up early enough for my shots and that wasn't helping me with my aim. When i would notice this, I would start setting up better and it would help, but I kept drifting back to late setup. I just could not get a winning plan going and just consistently got munched.