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.