Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
Anyone ever have a doubles partnership implode and decide to seek a divorce?
I had to get a divorce this winter. It was really quite a shame. I captain a 6.5 combo team. Last year, we went to the state championships, and I had two partners I played with. Both moved up this year to 3.5, so I needed to find new 3.0 partners.
I looked at the roster, and the top 3.0s already had established partnerships, so I couldn't steal one of them. I decided this one lady would be the best match. She works on her game, hits the ball hard, plays mixed. We practiced a few times, and then it was time to make our debut against one of the top teams.
We are playing a night match on clay, and it is tight. Opponents are break point down in the second set. The point starts, and they hit a ball to me at the baseline. I see it is going to be a deep one. I am hoping it will go long, but I set up to hit just in case. Darn. It lands in, I'd say an inch in front of the baseline. I play my groundstroke, which lands in. Just as I am hitting, I hear "OUT!!!" My partner is near the net, and she has emphatically called the ball out.
It wasn't out. It was in. I mean, I was right there. She says to me, "That was out." "No it wasn't," I say, "it was in front of the baseline." "Cindy, it was totally out." "I'm closer, so it's my call to make." "It was *way* out!!" Meanwhile, our opponents are standing there wondering what all the wild gesturing might mean.
Then my partner says, "Check the mark." Mark? What mark? These courts look like gophers live underneath them, and they probably haven't been swept all day. She comes over and points to an area that is about 4 inches behind the baseline. I say, "Well, I saw it in, so we can't agree."
I leave her fuming and go talk to the opponents. I tell them that my partner and I disagree on the call so we will have to play a let. They say, "No, if you disagree on a call, then it is our point." I explain the rule that if players correct their own out call, you play a let if the return landed in the proper court, which it did. One of the opponents said that was not fair because she stopped playing when my partner called the ball out. Rather than try to wrap my mind around that argument, I told them that I had the Code with me and we could look it up but that I was sure I was correct. They decided to believe me, and we played a let.
Meanwhile, my partner is shooting daggers at me. We went on to lose the match in a third set tiebreak. She had to be annoyed because that one point might have been the break that would have turned it around. I was irritated that she is turned around making baseline calls when she should be watching the opposing net player.
Well, OK, fine. We partner up again for the next important match. Again, we start having all manner of problems. She again told me I had called a ball in that was way out. She didn't like when I said "YOU!" during points because it distracts her, nor did she appreciate "Bounce." I, on the other hand, was really hoping to hear things like "Switch" and "Bounce!" and wasn't. Balls were going unplayed down the middle with both of us laying off. Our positioning was miserable. Again, we lost and the match wasn't even competitive. Again, I had that drained feeling one has when they have just had a major fight with their spouse.
Rather than try to work through all of these differences, I decided to give her a different partner and start using a different lady for my partner. My old partner now wins all of her matches convincingly -- no surprise, because she is certainly not a bad player -- and I haven't lost with my new partner either.
Sometimes divorce really is best for everyone involved.
I had to get a divorce this winter. It was really quite a shame. I captain a 6.5 combo team. Last year, we went to the state championships, and I had two partners I played with. Both moved up this year to 3.5, so I needed to find new 3.0 partners.
I looked at the roster, and the top 3.0s already had established partnerships, so I couldn't steal one of them. I decided this one lady would be the best match. She works on her game, hits the ball hard, plays mixed. We practiced a few times, and then it was time to make our debut against one of the top teams.
We are playing a night match on clay, and it is tight. Opponents are break point down in the second set. The point starts, and they hit a ball to me at the baseline. I see it is going to be a deep one. I am hoping it will go long, but I set up to hit just in case. Darn. It lands in, I'd say an inch in front of the baseline. I play my groundstroke, which lands in. Just as I am hitting, I hear "OUT!!!" My partner is near the net, and she has emphatically called the ball out.
It wasn't out. It was in. I mean, I was right there. She says to me, "That was out." "No it wasn't," I say, "it was in front of the baseline." "Cindy, it was totally out." "I'm closer, so it's my call to make." "It was *way* out!!" Meanwhile, our opponents are standing there wondering what all the wild gesturing might mean.
Then my partner says, "Check the mark." Mark? What mark? These courts look like gophers live underneath them, and they probably haven't been swept all day. She comes over and points to an area that is about 4 inches behind the baseline. I say, "Well, I saw it in, so we can't agree."
I leave her fuming and go talk to the opponents. I tell them that my partner and I disagree on the call so we will have to play a let. They say, "No, if you disagree on a call, then it is our point." I explain the rule that if players correct their own out call, you play a let if the return landed in the proper court, which it did. One of the opponents said that was not fair because she stopped playing when my partner called the ball out. Rather than try to wrap my mind around that argument, I told them that I had the Code with me and we could look it up but that I was sure I was correct. They decided to believe me, and we played a let.
Meanwhile, my partner is shooting daggers at me. We went on to lose the match in a third set tiebreak. She had to be annoyed because that one point might have been the break that would have turned it around. I was irritated that she is turned around making baseline calls when she should be watching the opposing net player.
Well, OK, fine. We partner up again for the next important match. Again, we start having all manner of problems. She again told me I had called a ball in that was way out. She didn't like when I said "YOU!" during points because it distracts her, nor did she appreciate "Bounce." I, on the other hand, was really hoping to hear things like "Switch" and "Bounce!" and wasn't. Balls were going unplayed down the middle with both of us laying off. Our positioning was miserable. Again, we lost and the match wasn't even competitive. Again, I had that drained feeling one has when they have just had a major fight with their spouse.
Rather than try to work through all of these differences, I decided to give her a different partner and start using a different lady for my partner. My old partner now wins all of her matches convincingly -- no surprise, because she is certainly not a bad player -- and I haven't lost with my new partner either.
Sometimes divorce really is best for everyone involved.
I didn't know that. Man, have I wasted a lot of time. :shock:
