This is the day I have been preparing for the past month. After my terrible showing in the New Year's Singles tournament, my confidence was somewhat shaken and my desire and purpose for continuing to play tennis were in question. So, to get some of that confidence back, I entered a C-Class tournament just to see what my level was like in a lower class. I had a hard time finding a partner from my club because the "good" players felt they were too good to play in a C-Class tournament. But finally, I was able to find a good player to be my partner. There were only 9 teams signed up so we were put into three groups of three and we would play a group round, and then unlike previous tournaments, we went to the placement group round.
Our first match was against an older team and we started off quickly, winning the first two games, but then we slowed and promptly lost the next two. We traded breaks and keeps and we ended up playing a tiebreaker. I was playing particularly not good because out of three service games, I lost two and won only one. Then, I lost the first two-point on my serve in the tie-breaker which was the death knell of the match for us. So we lost in a Tie-breaker, 6-7. If I had won just one more service game it would have been a totally different story. Our next match was against a lower level team and we crushed them, 6-2. So we got placed in the Second Place group and had another two matches there. One of the teams had a player whom we knew to be very good. I was afraid we would psych ourselves out, but when we started playing that team, we just rolled. And we gained more confidence. I was striking the ball much better now. And it also seemed like we had more luck on our side because some shots were total miracles. I also started getting used to the lob style of play. I don't like it, but I have to learn to beat that style and we beat it hard today. We won the first match 6-2. The second team we played lost big to the team we just beat, so we also put the beatdown on them, winning 6-0. MERCILESS!!
Needless to say, I felt like I got my confidence back and tournament tennis became fun once again. I'll tell you, winning is a lot more fun than losing.
We ended up winning the second place group's first place. We even got a prize and were honored in the award ceremony. We were watching the first group teams play and we really wanted to play in that group more. Next year, we have to start fast and stay there. But through this tournament, I have a better feel for my level and what I need to do.
A shot of me and my partner at the awards ceremony.
In the end, I burned a big 3647 kcals. Big burn for a great day.
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