I Get To A Mostly Calm Place Long Enough To Win

Sets 308-310:

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

My Mojo: Average, Then Mostly Calm And Playing Great, Then Slightly Above Average.

I started this match just barely slugging my way through, and not feeling like I was keeping my head above water. Before I knew it, I was down 4-1 in the first set. I wasn't playing as badly as I did yesterday (like I said, there was practically no place to go but up), so I was slightly encouraged. But I wasn't exactly comin' to Jesus either. And I was starting to get frustrated with not being able to get an edge.

And then I just stopped getting mad, and thinking of it more analytically. Also, I made an effort to reach a calmness that I probably would have been able to get to if I'd had more time and a quiet room. But I did get to sort of a "ninety-five-percent-calmness" with just an undercurrent of ennui running underneath like the groundwater that was seeping up from the court we were playing on. Today the groundwater wasn't bad; it was only about a foot-long, quarter-inch wide very slight dampness. I've seen it bubbling up into the court before and had to sop it up only to have it come back a few minutes later. No, it wasn't that bad today.

When I got to the (mostly) calm place, I was able to concentrate on my stroke more, and I was able to get better footwork, placing myself for shots and not shooting wildly, but actually hitting the ball right where I wanted to. I was playing better than I had in a long time. And I won game after game; I won the next six games of the first set to win 6-4.

The second set was much the same, only with a different result. I was once again down 4-1, and came back to tie the score up at 4-4. But I lost my groove and tightened up, and lost the next two games to lose the set. And he was starting to get the most phenomenal shots.

"OK", I told myself, "He is just going to get to spectacularly impossible shots and return them. Plan accordingly." And I did. Now I was ready for him to return the spectacular shots. I also told myself that this was going to be hard and it was not going to be easy, and once again, I resolved to plan accordingly. And the next few games were incredibly tough. I briefly spazzed in the first game of the third set and lost it with no points on my side. But then we played mostly really long rallies, back and forth from deuce to ad, and stayed neck-and-neck. I was taking the odd game for a while after ties, and then he came back after it got to 4-4 and won my serve, so he was up 5-4. Then I knew that every shot would have to count. I made sure I set up early, faced perfectly, and hit the shot from underneath, moving up with a good follow-through using my whole body. I concentrated hard on getting it right every time. I still missed a couple, but I got most of them back. Suddenly, long rallies were ending in my favor consistently. And I think his attitude corroded a little; he was starting to show a little more anger. At the beginning of the match, I had expressed some anger, but now I was as cool as menthol. And it took me into winning the next three games and winning the third set 7-5 to win the match. And I finished yet another match that lasted nearly three hours in stifling, sweaty heat.