...How did I lose that badly...?

[RyanMorgan91]

Alright well I need some advice here. I'm a solid player. Very solid when it comes to consistency, and not that I am a counterpuncher, but when I feel that I have an edge in consistency over my opponent I'm quick to use that edge. In my opinion if you can't hang with me in longer rallies than you have no right for me to be aggressive.
So here's my problem: This saturday I played in an open level junior event, (under 18s) and lost terribly in my first match. They guy I was playing was so aggressive that I never even got in that sort of groove everyone gets in when they are playing a match. I didn't know how to play this guy because he didn't miss either, unless we got in a rally over like 10 shots, which there were very few of. So ya I spent the whole match basicly being bullied around, and I never even got the chance to be aggressive. I started serving bigger at the last game and was doing a little better, but still it kinda felt like I wasn't playing tennis. Or atleast I wasn't playing the game I love. It just felt like the guy I was playing was making shots that seemed to be just ridiculous. What should I do? I tried hanging in there but that didnt work AT ALL.

[Headshotterer]

hit high shots, DO NOT LET HIM TAKE THE OFFENSIVE

[Rafael_Nadal_6257]

In my honest opinion, the reason for this might just be that your opponent is better than you..especially if he is consistently "making shots that seemed to be just ridiculous", you were "basicly (sic) being bullied around", and in addition to his pace, "he didn't miss either."

Just my take.

[Bagumbawalla]

Yes, I agree. It seems, you were just outplayed.

Now, what you need to do is look back over the game and determine what improvements you can make in your overall game and game strategy so the results might be different next time.

Could you win more points on your serve if you could hit more aces or induce more weak returns?

Did you hit some short balls that he could come in a take advantage of?

Were you not able to work the opponent out of position and set up you own shots?

Then, again, what were the things he did that you could not respond to? Make a list of them and then find somebody willing to practice/drill with you until you have an answer to all of those things for next time.

[Steady Eddy]

It just felt like the guy I was playing was making shots that seemed to be just ridiculous. What should I do?
Lose. At this stange in your game, that's all you can do against a guy like this. There's not always a strategy to beat someone. In the long run, you can practice more and add more shots to your game than he has, and then maybe beat him in a year or so. But that day, there was nothing you could do but lose. So learn from it, and figure out what you have to do to get better.

[jserve]

It sounds like you simply don't get enough practice with players that really challenge you. You haven't needed to be aggressive and powerful in the past to win, so when you were up against an opponent where that was necessary you weren't prepared. In order to elevate your game you might need to find some stronger competition to regularly practice with so you can develop the tools necessary to handle a player that can hit both hard and consistently.

[halalula1234]

you have to know what kind of player you are and what is your way of winning you points :) if the guy you are playing is really aggressive try to change the pace of the ball and hit some drop shots and lobs and come to the net sometimes and have variety in your game so he can never be sure of what you are going to do next and will loose some confident and will have less chance of hitting a winner. well its just my opinion lol :D