Twitching Like A Tasered Cheetah

Sets 511-512:

Stuart v. X. at South Austin Tennis Center. Winner: X. 7-6(1), 7-5.

My Mojo: Delayed.

The keyword today was "sluggish." I seemed to get to everything just a teeny bit late, and was just reacting to the game rather than being a participant in it. That having been said, I did spectacularly well, considering.

Today was only a bit short of an hour and a half. We took very short breaks between games even though we both did a lot of moving around the court. My serve was a little better than it was in the last match, but not spectacular. I did get in a few whizzing winners, and that set the tone for most of the games that I won.

In the first set, I was getting slowly eaten. Munch, munch. I was down 5-2 due to the fact that my neurons seemed to be vacationing. But I started concentrating on anticipating the ball, and then I was at least able to hit it back and keep it in play. My confidence started crescendoing, and I won the next few games to the point that I was up 6-5. Then I hit the wall; my opponent not only came back to win the next game, but obliterated me in the tiebreaker.

The second set was more neck-and-neck through most of it, chiefly due to my serve having improved to the point that i was able to take charge or dominate in games that I served. But then when he served, I wasn't dealing with it well.

I have a hard time playing against a player with this style. He's got a "short-punch" game that doesn't give me much time to react. His serve was fast with not much backswing, he hit a lot of shots on the upbounce, and took a lot of contemplation time away from me. So, since I tend to play a defensive game anyway, I end up playing almost manic raw reactivity with a player like this.

Also he had a really good angle punch that was nailing me, especially when I hit shots that ended up short. He was good at taking advantage of those. So his serve games were dominant for him, and mine were dominant for me. I thought I'd do well in the second set after I broke his serve, but I was never able to wedge it open, and once he broke my serve to tie the score up at 5-5, my game shattered like a dropped mirror. I lost the next two games as my game spazzed out quicker than a tasered cheetah, and my fate was sealed.