My First NTRP Tournament

[turpin.josh]

Hey guys and gals. I will be playing in my first tournament as an adult. It's a holiday NTRP tournament in Louisville, KY. I'm both excited and nervous. I self-rated myself as a 3.5 player. I've had success at the high school level (weak region) but haven't been playing at my best lately, mostly not being able to play as much as I used to in high school due to the joys of college and work! I have a decent serve and my forehand is my weapon. Backhand is horrible! I used to have a two-handed backhand, then switched to the one-hander, and now for some odd reason, I tend to slice it everytime. I just wish I could get my two-hander back! lol. The link for the tournament is below. I am playing in Men's 3.5 singles and I am at the very bottom of the draw. Luckily, I drew a bye and am already in the quarter's! . Tournament starts day after Christmas and I can already tell its going to be hectic.

http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/Draws/EventDraw.aspx?T=59143&E=2

 

[Moz]

Good luck my friend - would be interested to see how it goes...

 

[JohnP]

Good luck man. Hopefully the bye means your opponent will have to play at 8am and you wont

 

[CrocodileRock]

Good luck Josh. Let us know what happens.

 

[tenniko]

have fun and good luck.

 

[cknobman]

Sounds like you rated your self appropriatley.

Good luck! Play to have fun, not to win; your results will be better in the end.

 

[Geezer Guy]

If you got a 1st round bye, try to watch the match which will determine who you play in the 2nd round. That can give you some pointers on what to expect and help you develop a game plan for you opponent.

 

[turpin.josh]

Thanks for the encouragement you all. It looks like they took the draws off of the tournament page for some reason. Surely, they won't re-arrange them! lol. I love having that bye .

 

[turpin.josh]

If you got a 1st round bye, try to watch the match which will determine who you play in the 2nd round. That can give you some pointers on what to expect and help you develop a game plan for you opponent.

If the draws stay the same when they re-post them and I still have the bye, I will definitely watch the first-round match to see who I will play. I love scouting my future opponents!

 

[Katlion]

Good luck buddy. Don't be nervous, you'll do fine.

 

[goober]

Thanks for the encouragement you all. It looks like they took the draws off of the tournament page for some reason. Surely, they won't re-arrange them! lol. I love having that bye .

Well they may just do that. I was surprised that they didn't have seedings for this relatively decent sized tourney. I speculate that some of the players that would have been seeded complained to the TD. They are the ones that usually get first round byes. There are consolations in this tourney so your good for another round even if you lose your first match.

But in any case have fun and good luck.

 

[turpin.josh]

Darn, they have the draws ready and they changed them from last time, mostly putting the seeds in order. Luckily, I am in the bottom half of the draw and not the top. But if I win my first round, I may play the 4th seed in the next

 

[goober]

Darn, they have the draws ready and they changed them from last time, mostly putting the seeds in order. Luckily, I am in the bottom half of the draw and not the top. But if I win my first round, I may play the 4th seed in the next

Seeds in NTRP tourneys are relatively not important especially on the lower levels. It just means he has played in previous tourneys- not even that he has done well in them if he is the 4th seed. I would just look up his record and see how he has done. In open level events seeds mean more because there may be very large differences in abilities between players.

 

[turpin.josh]

I won my first round 6-3 6-4 today in Men's 3.5 singles. Now I play the winner of the #4 seed and his opponent tomorrow at 6! I am used to playing 2-3 matches per day. I love how they space out the Adult tournaments unlike the junior ones I used to play in!

 

[Moz]

Well done mate. I had a few quid on you to win the whole thing at decent odds. Don't feel pressurised to win despite my financial investment - just make sure you do....

 

[MariaS]

Hope ya win tomorrow!

 

[darkhorse]

DOn't worry too much about seeds. I played a jr. tourney and they seeded me #2 and I hadn't even won a set in a USTA match.

 

[tfm1973]

Well done mate. I had a few quid on you to win the whole thing at decent odds. Don't feel pressurised to win despite my financial investment - just make sure you do....

i can make it worth your while to withdraw from your match in the second set with a stomach flu. or i can also come by your home and tie you up and steal all your stuff. your call. :twisted:

 

[Moz]

i can make it worth your while to withdraw from your match in the second set with a stomach flu. or i can also come by your home and tie you up and steal all your stuff. your call. :twisted:

Ha ha - excellent!

(Josh - remember I know where you live)

 

[turpin.josh]

I lost in the 2nd round 6-2 6-2. He played the same game I did but he is alot faster on the court than me and outplayed me on the important points. The game was alot closer than what the score was though.

 

[Midlife crisis]

I lost in the 2nd round 6-2 6-2. He played the same game I did but he is alot faster on the court than me and outplayed me on the important points. The game was alot closer than what the score was though.

Hope you had fun at your first tournament. While it's still fresh in your mind, think a bit about the points that decided critical games. What happened during those points that made most of them go your opponent's way? Did you miss more on those points than usual? Did you play a bit more safely and left a ball or two short so they could be attacked? Did you use tactics that you thought were appropriate and consistent with what worked for you earlier in the match?

If you could just pinpoint a couple of things that you can keep in mind the next time you play, you'll get better, and that's the path to eventually winning one of these things.

 

[tennis-n-sc]

I lost in the 2nd round 6-2 6-2. He played the same game I did but he is alot faster on the court than me and outplayed me on the important points. The game was alot closer than what the score was though.

LOL. That quote reminds me of a match I played this fall in the combo doubles league. We were totally dominated 6-0, 6-1. I told our team that the match was not as close as the score indicated. And it wasn't.