I had been looking for a tournament to play in for a while, but the timing never worked out. I finally was able to enter a local tournament in the 3.5 men's singles division.
I didn't know what to expect when I got to the tournament. I thought that there would be an official, and maybe even some ballboys. But it was just my opponent and me sent off to an assigned court at the local high school courts (six courts in a row with no dividers). Not quite Wimbledon, but I guess I couldn't have expected much for the $31 entry fee (got a T-shirt as well). It turned out that we were given the option to contact our opponents to schedule matches at a mutually agreeable time/location. I wasn't schedule to play my second round match until 5 days later, so we agreed to play 2 days after my first round match. It felt more like a Flex League, where we are given our opponent's contact info and are left to schedule the match ourselves and report the score.
Here are some notes about my tournament matches.
First round match; won 6-2, 7-5
Opponent was a tall, slender white guy who is very fit/athletic for a 60-yr old (former college basketball player, he told me). Quirky serve with a lot of side spin, but not much heat. He was not used to my slice and had difficulty keeping ball in play. After going up 4-0 in first set, I let up and worked to improve my second serve by serving exclusively second serves. Had some good rallies; my inconsistency from baseline allowed him to take early lead in second set. He was up 5-4 with opportunity to serve out the set, but squandered it. He was noticeably nervous, even commenting before the game that he would probably choke. So I focused hard on making sure he had every opportunity to do so, and pulled out the last 3 games to close out the set and match 7-5.
Round of 16 match; won 7-5, 7-5
Opponent was mid-40s white guy in decent shape. Solid player with consistent groundstrokes, well-placed flattish serves, and all-court game. He had entered the 4.0 event as well, and lost the first round match 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. He started to approach and come to net more as the match went on. I had difficulty doing much when he sliced deep in the a court corner to my backhand. However, he did not move that quickly at net, so I was able to pass him a fair amount of times when I had sufficient time to set up (my lob game was off that day). I was down 4-5 in first set before holding, then breaking him to go up 6-5, and finally closing out set on my serve. He kinda choked in second set after being up 5-3 and serving for the set, only to drop the next 4 games, allowing me to take the second set 7-5 as well and win in two tough sets.
Quarterfinal match; lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Opponent was a tall, lanky athletic white kid (31 years old I found out), another former basketball player who recently got back into tennis. Had consistent baseline strokes and got to everything; tough to end a point with him. He was the first lefty I've played against, which was difficult to adjust to. I was broken easily my first service game, as I could not see the ball well on my service toss due to the sun. He did not seem to be bothered by it, strangely. I played with sunglasses the second set and pulled out to 5-2 lead, managing to take it 6-4. But I ran out of gas and became deflated after being broken the first game of the third set on a long game. He was clearly the better player and made fewer errors. As the match went on, I tried to mix it up and draw him in to net, where I was able to pass him with moderate success. And when I went to net, he showed off some really good passing shots of his own, making my frequent forays to the net unprofitable. With the semifinal scheduled immediately after this match, I would not have had the energy to play another match had I advanced; my legs were shot.
It was a fun event and I will definitely seek out additional tournaments to play in. They had a BBQ cookout, so I scarfed down a burger after my match, wished another player I knew good luck in the open event, then wanted to get home to sleep. I had woken up at 5am that day and couldn't fall back asleep. I barely stayed awake on my 30 minute drive home and immediately took a nap upon arrival.
I didn't know what to expect when I got to the tournament. I thought that there would be an official, and maybe even some ballboys. But it was just my opponent and me sent off to an assigned court at the local high school courts (six courts in a row with no dividers). Not quite Wimbledon, but I guess I couldn't have expected much for the $31 entry fee (got a T-shirt as well). It turned out that we were given the option to contact our opponents to schedule matches at a mutually agreeable time/location. I wasn't schedule to play my second round match until 5 days later, so we agreed to play 2 days after my first round match. It felt more like a Flex League, where we are given our opponent's contact info and are left to schedule the match ourselves and report the score.
Here are some notes about my tournament matches.
First round match; won 6-2, 7-5
Opponent was a tall, slender white guy who is very fit/athletic for a 60-yr old (former college basketball player, he told me). Quirky serve with a lot of side spin, but not much heat. He was not used to my slice and had difficulty keeping ball in play. After going up 4-0 in first set, I let up and worked to improve my second serve by serving exclusively second serves. Had some good rallies; my inconsistency from baseline allowed him to take early lead in second set. He was up 5-4 with opportunity to serve out the set, but squandered it. He was noticeably nervous, even commenting before the game that he would probably choke. So I focused hard on making sure he had every opportunity to do so, and pulled out the last 3 games to close out the set and match 7-5.
Round of 16 match; won 7-5, 7-5
Opponent was mid-40s white guy in decent shape. Solid player with consistent groundstrokes, well-placed flattish serves, and all-court game. He had entered the 4.0 event as well, and lost the first round match 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. He started to approach and come to net more as the match went on. I had difficulty doing much when he sliced deep in the a court corner to my backhand. However, he did not move that quickly at net, so I was able to pass him a fair amount of times when I had sufficient time to set up (my lob game was off that day). I was down 4-5 in first set before holding, then breaking him to go up 6-5, and finally closing out set on my serve. He kinda choked in second set after being up 5-3 and serving for the set, only to drop the next 4 games, allowing me to take the second set 7-5 as well and win in two tough sets.
Quarterfinal match; lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Opponent was a tall, lanky athletic white kid (31 years old I found out), another former basketball player who recently got back into tennis. Had consistent baseline strokes and got to everything; tough to end a point with him. He was the first lefty I've played against, which was difficult to adjust to. I was broken easily my first service game, as I could not see the ball well on my service toss due to the sun. He did not seem to be bothered by it, strangely. I played with sunglasses the second set and pulled out to 5-2 lead, managing to take it 6-4. But I ran out of gas and became deflated after being broken the first game of the third set on a long game. He was clearly the better player and made fewer errors. As the match went on, I tried to mix it up and draw him in to net, where I was able to pass him with moderate success. And when I went to net, he showed off some really good passing shots of his own, making my frequent forays to the net unprofitable. With the semifinal scheduled immediately after this match, I would not have had the energy to play another match had I advanced; my legs were shot.
It was a fun event and I will definitely seek out additional tournaments to play in. They had a BBQ cookout, so I scarfed down a burger after my match, wished another player I knew good luck in the open event, then wanted to get home to sleep. I had woken up at 5am that day and couldn't fall back asleep. I barely stayed awake on my 30 minute drive home and immediately took a nap upon arrival.
I figured some kid would say that.
