Squeaking It Out On Defense

Sets 80-82 (of 365):

My Mojo: In The Doghouse At First, Then Calm and Defensive, Barely Holding

Stuart vs. T at Private Courts. Winner: Stuart 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Honestly, as I sit here in front of my computer, I am still amazed that I won this match, and I have no idea how I managed to pull together enough mojo to do it. This guy was really good, and seemed to be getting the best of me (at least to me). I was constantly on defense, and returning his shots seemed right on the cusp on my reaction time. I definitely feel like he is a better player than me; the last time we played, he beat me decisively, but I did give him a run for his money in the second set. He was the highest player on the ladder that I have beaten so far; I am inching my way toward the rarified air at the top of the ladder, but I bet there's a wall to stop me much not much higher than T., unless I either get incredibly lucky, get better, or pull a miracle out of my pocket. But maybe every time I perform one of those "miracles," it helps my game a little from then on.

The first set was pretty much what I expected. I was no match for his great offense, and could not get to almost anything that he hit. My serve was decent, but not keeping the power on my side enough for me to win games. I came in winning the first game on the strength of my serve, and then didn't win another game that set. I was just on the run and helpless for the whole set.

In the second set, my serve helped me, and I broke his serve just enough to squeak out a win. I felt like I was losing, and in fact, for a while I was behind. We got to 3-3 winning our respective serves. Then he broke my serve and held to come ahead 5-3. I thought that was the end, but I did what is effective for me a lot when I'm behind, I just "relaxed into the loss." That is, I thought I had nothing to lose, so I concentrated on shots and strategy instead of where we were in the set. And it worked well enough that I won the next four games, which astounded me. He was hitting so many shots that were to places I could not get to, but it was definitely happening less than in the first set.

The third set had a similar feel to me as the second set. I think, though, that I was just a tiny bit more confident. But my confidence was mostly extending to feeling happy that I had won at least one set and thinking he would now come back with a vengeance and punish me for that second set. But he never did get ahead. I think I would have just been happy to win the second set, and if I had stopped to think about it, I don't think I would have contemplated I had a chance in the third set. But I was looking at it with blinders and just taking it one point at a time, and not thinking about the big picutre much. I broke his serve early to come out ahead 2-1, and then squeaked out two of the next three games to get to 4-2, and then I just held to win at 6-4.