Or, maybe more appropriately, progress.
Last night, my usual dubs partner and I ran into an opponent that I lost in straights to twice last year. Once, I lost in singles 6-1, 6-3. The second time, we lost in dubs 6-3, 6-2. He's a solid player, and I thought he was bumped to 4.5 (huge serve, solid off of the ground). His partner last night is also a very solid 4.0 player. I figured last night, we'd go out there and play as hard as we could, and hopefully we'd find a few point here or there.
We had our chances in the first set (had a break point receiving at 5-4), but dropped the set 7-5. The second set starts with my going for too much on my serve, and I get broken. Down 0-1. We manage to break their serve, and my partner holds. 2-1. They hold, we hold - still on serve at 3-2. We have another break point on their serve, but cannot convert. My partner holds for 4-3. We manage to break their strong server, and I serve out the second set for a 6-3 set win. Okay - back to even and into a breaker.
We get the first point for a minibreak, and then I serve an ace for a 2-0 lead. Good start. I then hit a good serve, but leave it to the returner's forehand, and I can't get the return over the net. 2-1. A little see-saw here and there (and failing to hold a 7-5 lead on our serve), and suddenly I'm returning at 10-11 against their bigger server. He misses his first serve, and I manage to hit my spot on my return of his second serve. 11-11. He hits the big steam to my partner, and the return floats long. 11-12. My partner is now serving - he hits a great first serve, the return is left to my forehand, and I volley it into the open court. 12-12 My partner hits what should have been an ace (called long), but hits a good second serve and they dropped the return into the net. 13-12. I'm returning for our match point, and take my opponent's second serve cross court, which my opponent blocks back to my partner, who hits the open court behind their net man. 14-12.
It's a shame that that goes down as a 1-0 third set, because there were a lot of huge points played. But it also shows that my hard work isn't going for naught - last year, I wouldn't have been able to hang in some of the points that we managed to win on defense. It's all about baby steps.
Last night, my usual dubs partner and I ran into an opponent that I lost in straights to twice last year. Once, I lost in singles 6-1, 6-3. The second time, we lost in dubs 6-3, 6-2. He's a solid player, and I thought he was bumped to 4.5 (huge serve, solid off of the ground). His partner last night is also a very solid 4.0 player. I figured last night, we'd go out there and play as hard as we could, and hopefully we'd find a few point here or there.
We had our chances in the first set (had a break point receiving at 5-4), but dropped the set 7-5. The second set starts with my going for too much on my serve, and I get broken. Down 0-1. We manage to break their serve, and my partner holds. 2-1. They hold, we hold - still on serve at 3-2. We have another break point on their serve, but cannot convert. My partner holds for 4-3. We manage to break their strong server, and I serve out the second set for a 6-3 set win. Okay - back to even and into a breaker.
We get the first point for a minibreak, and then I serve an ace for a 2-0 lead. Good start. I then hit a good serve, but leave it to the returner's forehand, and I can't get the return over the net. 2-1. A little see-saw here and there (and failing to hold a 7-5 lead on our serve), and suddenly I'm returning at 10-11 against their bigger server. He misses his first serve, and I manage to hit my spot on my return of his second serve. 11-11. He hits the big steam to my partner, and the return floats long. 11-12. My partner is now serving - he hits a great first serve, the return is left to my forehand, and I volley it into the open court. 12-12 My partner hits what should have been an ace (called long), but hits a good second serve and they dropped the return into the net. 13-12. I'm returning for our match point, and take my opponent's second serve cross court, which my opponent blocks back to my partner, who hits the open court behind their net man. 14-12.
It's a shame that that goes down as a 1-0 third set, because there were a lot of huge points played. But it also shows that my hard work isn't going for naught - last year, I wouldn't have been able to hang in some of the points that we managed to win on defense. It's all about baby steps.
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