Five Sets Taking It From Light To Dark

Sets 347-351:

Stuart v. P. at Perry Park. Winner: Stuart 6-1, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.

My Mojo: Pretty Solid, But Wavering A Little.

This was kind of along night as we decided to try to get in five sets. I don't think we set out to play five sets, but it just turned out that way as we kept trying to squeeze in another one. In the first three sets I played well and most of the points I lost were aggressive plays that I got overzealous on. In the third set, I decided to play even more aggressively. I hit a good number of my second serves really hard, but I didn't double-fault any more than usual. That was a good sign. I also rushed the net a lot more, and it usually paid off. But right nesr the end of the set he picked up a couple of games. It was getting dusky, and the lights were not too great. There was also a light that was right in my eyes when I served from deuce court on the north side--it was right behind my opponent's head on the building south of the court.

In the fourth set, I was playing more solidly than aggressively, and I won all of the games fairly decisively. For the fifth set, darkness definitely settled in, and the lights were really crappy. Still, I took most of the games, even though I couldn't see too well. But when I was up 5-0, he suddenly surged back and smoked me out for one game where I didn't win any points and it was over faster than I knew what was happening. It seemed to be just a surge, and I won the next game fairly easily.