Sets 545-547:

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

Sets 543-544:

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

Coming Back After Some Down Time

Sets 541-542:

Stuart v. C. at South Austin Tennis Center. Winner: Stuart 6-4, 6-0.

My Mojo: Steady and Tenacious.

It's been a while since I played. I need to start playing more often again. I don't know why I've drifted away from playing tennis more often, but I need to start trying to play at least once or twice a week again.

I guess I only have a certain amount of mojo to spread out among all of the physical things that I do. Now that I've gotten back into running more often, it seems like that has taken more of the edge off of my tennis game. But I felt like I played pretty well today.

One indicator for me was that my volleys were really on. Every time I came to net, it paid off. I had good directionality, didn't flub any into the net, and had "good hands" on the returns with just the right touch almost every time.

In the first set, I was a little worried. This is the third time I have played C., and he had beaten me both times before. In each of the previous matches, I felt like our play was close, but he just out-ground me. It seems like he is a grinding player, which is a lot like the way I play. Just stay in there and out last if you can, that's the strategy. Three-hour slugfests are the norm for my type of player, and if both of us play that way, it gets long and ugly, with each of us getting to everything, and long, engaging rallies.

But this time I was able to get a little more aggressive play in and cut off more of the rallies. Starting out the match, we were playing a little more evenly, but I felt like I was able to out-finesse him just a little. I didn't make a lot of errors, but I did double-fault a little more than usual, which was a minor annoyance, but not a deal-breaker.

The second set was when I really picked it up. Everything came into focus well, and I was able to have a good psychological outlook on the proceedings. I felt like I controlled the majority of the points, and for most of the games my serve was really on. In the last game, it seemed like he stormed back some, but the last point was definitely mine. This was a welcome comeback, but I probably should practice some before I play more matches.

Ladies, here's a hint. If you're up against a girl with big boobs, bring her to the net and make her hit backhand volleys. That's the hardest shot for the well-endowed--Billie Jean King