Can't Get It Together

Sets 114-115 (of 365):

Stuart vs. J. at Northwest Park. Winner: J. 6-2, 6-2.

My Mojo: Below-Average

I have not been able to get it together for the past few matches. My focus has been dissipating and my concentration has not been good. In this match, I didn't feel like anything I did was working. I have to give opponent credit also for playing really well. He rarely failed to anticipate, set up and return just about any shot that I hit to him. His net game was not just a wall, it was an army garrison. I could not get anything happening at all and simply got outplayed both matches. He was tremendously effective with his lobs when I came up to net also. But I kept coming up to net when it was not justified--many times I had hit him high shots that he had plenty of time to respond to. At one point I ran into the fence trying to get a high lob and ended up with blood blisters below the nails on two fingers as a result. I also suspect that he was being quite generous on some of his line calls--I saw some that I thought for sure had gone out but that he did not call out. It made me feel almost guilty when I saw some balls go out by less than half an inch and I called them out, but I definitely saw space between the balls and the lines on any that I called, and tried to make the fairest calls I could. Also, my ear infections seem to be continuing in both ears, even though I keep working on my ears with hydrogen peroxide and alcohol.

"The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall." --Mitch Hedberg