So I've Sprayed Some Balls On The West Coast With TTW Posters...

jmnk

Hall of Fame
I was wondering for a while if I ever should detail my West Coast trip - but for the sake of all fellow posters...

I was visiting Palo Alto the other weekend and I arranged for some friendly spray. @RajS was kind enough to reply to my post (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/palo-alto-area-03-22-03-27.613030/#post-12137359) and agreed to hit. @mad dog1 hooked me up with Matt L. who happens to work in nearby Cupertino.

We've met up with @RajS on Saturday morning. Very, very nice person. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, we managed to squeeze only like 45 minutes of hitting on wet courts before some serious rain chased us away. Still, RajS can definitely play, very fit, will play if I go there again. We were hoping to also play the following Monday/Tuesday but it just did nor work out. Highly recommended player if one is looking to hit in that area.

For Monday we arranged a friendly hit with Matt L. of former (and really current as well) TTW fame. Many thanks to @mad dog1 for making it happen. I was hoping for a great time but there were some signs that made me wonder even before we stepped on court.

So Matt was driving back from LA to Cupertino that very Monday morning and he was not going to have his own rackets. Instead he was going to play with borrowed ones. Ok, I'm thinking, we all know that no 4.5 yet alone 5.0 player would ever play with not-his-own-rackets that surely are customized to the exact specs of highly rated NTRP player. So I'm already worried about what his actual level is.

As I pulled into the office parking lot to pick up Matt he is walking out the door already waiting for me. Even though we agreed I would text him when I'm there. Clearly he wants to show he is eager to play and to intimidate me. Slight gamesmanship - I think so... But then I see he has a non-matching gear; Nike shoes, some non-brand t-shirt, Wilson rackets - no way he takes tennis seriously. Anyway, we drive to the park where the courts are. We do some chit-chat and I can tell he doesn't even use proportional stringing, and does not tune his MGR/I to account for the Apple Watch he wears - seriously? come on...

Ok, so while the park is nice I see that the only court open is the one furthest from the parking lot. I mean couldn't he, as a host, arrange with park management to reserve the closer courts?? Not only that - that court is also _on the opposite end of where the restrooms are_ Imagine that. I'm getting a little anxious but I'm still not saying anything.

But then we get to the court and THERE ARE NO BENCHES. NO BENCHES!! I mean I do not even have a bag as I've traveled with a single racket only - but still. No water fountain in sight (thankfully I was prepared with my vitamin water and gatorade - because God forbid he offered me a drink of his water). And there are no singles sticks. At this point I'm almost ready to just pack it up - that facility is completely unprepared for high level TTW spray....

We start to warm up with some mini-tennis. Now he clearly tries to intimidate me. He uses full strokes, keeps the ball in play, does not even try to win warm-up points. I'm thinking fine, I can do the same, so we keep hitting the same ball for like 100 strokes. Same when we move to regular warm-up. He keeps getting even my mishits back, he can do FH crosscourts, BH crosscourts, volleys, anything I throw at him. When he practices serves he doesn't try to blast them, just nice, smooth, full motion. Clearly he wants to rope me into thinking he has no weapons - but I'm smarter than that (or so I think).

We start playing for points. I'm clearly better - just somehow he wins more points. And more games. At 1:4 I try some small talk at changeover, I mentioned that I'm tired from all day walking sightseeing the previous day, and that I need to use the restroom but I'm not going on that trip to the other side of the park, and that the balls from the next court kept coming onto ours all the time (and when I say 'all the time' I mean like 3 times over 30 minutes, including once when the point was in progress. Ok, it might have been between 1st and 2nd serve but still). He would have none of it - he swiftly counters that he had to wake up at 4am that morning to drive from LA to Cupertino. I lose 1:6 and to an untrained eye it may seem like I don't stand a chance but you can see I was unhinged by all those circumstances and that one game won clearly indicates I can 'hang' with him.

In the second set I get more comfortable playing outdoors (being from Chicago I have not played outdoors since like last October), save some breakpoints, and keep the set close. At 5:4 30:0 I feel like I'm toying with Matt now, but since my wife is not back yet with the car I decide to lose the game to keep the set going. We eventually go into tiebreaker, I spot him 0:3 lead to make it fair for him, and then quickly close the set (ok, it was more like a tense 12:10 tiebreak win after saving multiple match-points, and wasting few set points, but who needs those details). I feel the momentum now but he needs to get back to work. Sure, my wife is ready to do more sightseeing too so I could not play more either, but he _first_ said we need to wrap up. Clearly overall victory on my side. And we are going to play next day too.

On Tuesday I'm brimming with confidence - and he beats me 2:6. The day before I was thinking we were going to treat that set as a deciding set from the first match - but now I'm thinking that is no good. He basically retired after two sets of the first match (retired/needed to go to work - what's the difference??) so I'm counting that first match as _my_ win. And today we played just one set so it goes on the record as unfinished in my book. Overall over two days I'm being generous/more mature and claim it was a at least a draw, although deep down we all know I was better (maybe not via looking at the score however). If I only could use my regular setup - everyone knows a self-respecting TTW player switches rackets after 4 games while I had to use the same one for two days. And my stringing was designed for warm California climate while it was rather unseasonably cold. I do not think it is a coincidence that neither RajS nor Matt warned me about the cold, they just took advantage of my under-preparedness.

p.s. Now a look from unbiased third party that may be mistakenly looking at the score and not be familiar with what makes one player better than the other as per TTW guidelines - so please take that with grain of salt :). Over three sets Matt committed I think 2 double faults, not a single overhead error, and maybe one missed volley. If we played 10 times he would beat me probably 8 times at least. He does not overhit, has a very good backhand, an excellent neutralizing deep shot when in trouble. I was almost always in trouble on his serve from the start of the point. On returns he made me run immediately if I did not hit a good serve myself. But I was most surprised how he was able to get to the net to finish the point. I'm of a grinder nature and I was hoping for long points but somehow, especially on the second day, he was able to get me wide, get to the net, hit a very good first volley, and finish on the second volley or overhead. I don't play USTA league but I do play folks that do, and there's no way Matt is 4.5, he is better than that.

Again, many thanks to @RajS, @mad dog1, @travlerajm (we almost got to hit, just couldn't make it schedule wise), and Matt L. himself. Matt is a really nice young man, pleasure to hit with.
 

mad dog1

G.O.A.T.
I was wondering for a while if I ever should detail my West Coast trip - but for the sake of all fellow posters...

I was visiting Palo Alto the other weekend and I arranged for some friendly spray. @RajS was kind enough to reply to my post (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/palo-alto-area-03-22-03-27.613030/#post-12137359) and agreed to hit. @mad dog1 hooked me up with Matt L. who happens to work in nearby Cupertino.

We've met up with @RajS on Saturday morning. Very, very nice person. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, we managed to squeeze only like 45 minutes of hitting on wet courts before some serious rain chased us away. Still, RajS can definitely play, very fit, will play if I go there again. We were hoping to also play the following Monday/Tuesday but it just did nor work out. Highly recommended player if one is looking to hit in that area.

For Monday we arranged a friendly hit with Matt L. of former (and really current as well) TTW fame. Many thanks to @mad dog1 for making it happen. I was hoping for a great time but there were some signs that made me wonder even before we stepped on court.

So Matt was driving back from LA to Cupertino that very Monday morning and he was not going to have his own rackets. Instead he was going to play with borrowed ones. Ok, I'm thinking, we all know that no 4.5 yet alone 5.0 player would ever play with not-his-own-rackets that surely are customized to the exact specs of highly rated NTRP player. So I'm already worried about what his actual level is.

As I pulled into the office parking lot to pick up Matt he is walking out the door already waiting for me. Even though we agreed I would text him when I'm there. Clearly he wants to show he is eager to play and to intimidate me. Slight gamesmanship - I think so... But then I see he has not matching gear; Nike shoes, some non-brand t-shirt, Wilson rackets - no way he takes tennis seriously. Anyway, we drive to the park where the courts are. We do some chit-chat and I can tell he doesn't even use proportional stringing, and does not tune his MGR/I to account for the Apple Watch he wears - seriously? come on...

Ok, so while the park is nice I see that the only court open is the one furthest from the parking lot. I mean couldn't he, as a host, arrange with park management to reserve the closer courts?? Not only that - that court is also _on the opposite end of where the restrooms are_ Imagine that. I'm getting a little anxious but I'm still not saying anything.

But then we get to the court and THERE ARE NO BENCHES. NO BENCHES!! I mean I do not even have a bag as I've traveled with a single racket only - but still. No water fountain in sight (thankfully I was prepared with my vitamin water and gatorade - because God forbid he offered me a drink of his water). And there are no singles sticks. At this point I'm almost ready to just pack it up - that facility is completely unprepared for high level TTW spray....

We start to warm up with some mini-tennis. Now he clearly tries to intimidate me. He uses full strokes, keeps the ball in play, does not even try to win warm-up points. I'm thinking fine, I can do the same, so we keep hitting the same ball for like 100 strokes. Same when we move to regular warm-up. He keeps getting even my mishits back, he can do FH crosscourts, BH crosscourts, volleys, anything I throw at him. When he practices serves he doesn't try to blast them, just nice, smooth, full motion. Clearly he wants to rope me into thinking he has no weapons - but I'm smarter than that (or so I think).

We start playing for points. I'm clearly better - just somehow he wins more points. And more games. At 1:4 I try some small talk at changeover, I mentioned that I'm tired from all day walking sightseeing the previous day, and that I need to use the restroom but I'm not going on that trip to the other side of the park, and that the balls from the next court kept coming onto ours all the time (and when I say 'all the time' I mean like 3 times over 30 minutes, including once when the point was in progress. Ok, it might have been between 1st and 2nd serve but still). He would have none of it - he swiftly counters that he had to wake up at 4am that morning to drive from LA to Cupertino. I lose 1:6 and to an untrained eye it may seem like I don't stand a chance but you can see I was unhinged by all those circumstances and that one game won clearly indicates I can 'hang' with him.

In the second set I get more comfortable playing outdoors (being from Chicago I have not played outdoors since like last October), save some breakpoints, and keep the set close. At 5:4 30:0 I feel like I'm toying with Matt now, but since my wife is not back yet with the car I decide to lose the game to keep the set going. We eventually go into tiebreaker, I spot him 0:3 lead to make it fair for him, and then quickly close the set (ok, it was more like a tense 12:10 tiebreak win after saving multiple match-points, and wasting few set points, but who needs those details). I feel the momentum now but he needs to get back to work. Sure, my wife is ready to do more sightseeing too so I could not play more either, but he _first_ said we need to wrap up. Clearly overall victory on my side. And we are going to play next day too.

On Tuesday I'm brimming with confidence - and he beats me 2:6. The day before I was thinking we were going to treat that set as a deciding set from the first match - but now I'm thinking that is no good. He basically retired after two sets of the first match (retired/needed to go to work - what's the difference??) so I'm counting that first match as _my_ win. And today we played just one set so it goes on the record as unfinished in my book. Overall over two days I'm being generous/more mature and claim it was a at least a draw, although deep down we all know I was better (maybe not via looking at the score however). If I only could use my regular setup - everyone knows a self-respecting TTW player switches rackets after 4 games while I had to use the same one for two days. And my stringing was designed for warm California climate while it was rather unseasonably cold. I do not think it is a coincidence that neither RajS nor Matt warned me about the cold, they just took advantage of my under-preparedness.

p.s. Now a look from unbiased third party that may be mistakenly looking at the score and not be familiar with what makes one player better than the other as per TTW guidelines - so please take that with grain of salt :). Over three sets Matt committed I think 2 double faults, not a single overhead error, and maybe one missed volley. If we played 10 times he would beat me probably 8 times at least. He does not overhit, has a very good backhand, an excellent neutralizing deep shot when in trouble. I was almost always in trouble on his serve from the start of the point. On returns he made me run immediately if I did not hit a good serve myself. But I was most surprised how he was able to get to the net to finish the point. I'm of a grinder nature and I was hoping for long points but somehow, especially on the second day, he was able to get me wide, get to the net, hit a very good first volley, and finish on the second volley or overhead. I don't play USTA league but I do play folks that do, and there's no way Matt is 4.5, he is better than that.

Again, many thanks to @RajS, @mad dog1, @travlerajm (we almost got to hit, just couldn't make it schedule wise), and Matt L. himself. Matt is a really nice young man, pleasure to hit with.
Cool story, bro! ;)

I mean really long BOOK, man! That was a great read! Well done, mate! :D
 
Last edited:

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Glad you were able to play a couple of events on the TT west coast tour. Cupertino is well on its way to earning status as a major.
 

TennisCJC

Legend
nice story. I can buy Matt being better than or at top of 4.5 heap - smooth polished BH, nice overall game from old videos. Sounds like you had a nice trip.
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
I was wondering for a while if I ever should detail my West Coast trip - but for the sake of all fellow posters...

I was visiting Palo Alto the other weekend and I arranged for some friendly spray. @RajS was kind enough to reply to my post (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/palo-alto-area-03-22-03-27.613030/#post-12137359) and agreed to hit. @mad dog1 hooked me up with Matt L. who happens to work in nearby Cupertino.

We've met up with @RajS on Saturday morning. Very, very nice person. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, we managed to squeeze only like 45 minutes of hitting on wet courts before some serious rain chased us away. Still, RajS can definitely play, very fit, will play if I go there again. We were hoping to also play the following Monday/Tuesday but it just did nor work out. Highly recommended player if one is looking to hit in that area.

For Monday we arranged a friendly hit with Matt L. of former (and really current as well) TTW fame. Many thanks to @mad dog1 for making it happen. I was hoping for a great time but there were some signs that made me wonder even before we stepped on court.

So Matt was driving back from LA to Cupertino that very Monday morning and he was not going to have his own rackets. Instead he was going to play with borrowed ones. Ok, I'm thinking, we all know that no 4.5 yet alone 5.0 player would ever play with not-his-own-rackets that surely are customized to the exact specs of highly rated NTRP player. So I'm already worried about what his actual level is.

As I pulled into the office parking lot to pick up Matt he is walking out the door already waiting for me. Even though we agreed I would text him when I'm there. Clearly he wants to show he is eager to play and to intimidate me. Slight gamesmanship - I think so... But then I see he has a non-matching gear; Nike shoes, some non-brand t-shirt, Wilson rackets - no way he takes tennis seriously. Anyway, we drive to the park where the courts are. We do some chit-chat and I can tell he doesn't even use proportional stringing, and does not tune his MGR/I to account for the Apple Watch he wears - seriously? come on...

Ok, so while the park is nice I see that the only court open is the one furthest from the parking lot. I mean couldn't he, as a host, arrange with park management to reserve the closer courts?? Not only that - that court is also _on the opposite end of where the restrooms are_ Imagine that. I'm getting a little anxious but I'm still not saying anything.

But then we get to the court and THERE ARE NO BENCHES. NO BENCHES!! I mean I do not even have a bag as I've traveled with a single racket only - but still. No water fountain in sight (thankfully I was prepared with my vitamin water and gatorade - because God forbid he offered me a drink of his water). And there are no singles sticks. At this point I'm almost ready to just pack it up - that facility is completely unprepared for high level TTW spray....

We start to warm up with some mini-tennis. Now he clearly tries to intimidate me. He uses full strokes, keeps the ball in play, does not even try to win warm-up points. I'm thinking fine, I can do the same, so we keep hitting the same ball for like 100 strokes. Same when we move to regular warm-up. He keeps getting even my mishits back, he can do FH crosscourts, BH crosscourts, volleys, anything I throw at him. When he practices serves he doesn't try to blast them, just nice, smooth, full motion. Clearly he wants to rope me into thinking he has no weapons - but I'm smarter than that (or so I think).

We start playing for points. I'm clearly better - just somehow he wins more points. And more games. At 1:4 I try some small talk at changeover, I mentioned that I'm tired from all day walking sightseeing the previous day, and that I need to use the restroom but I'm not going on that trip to the other side of the park, and that the balls from the next court kept coming onto ours all the time (and when I say 'all the time' I mean like 3 times over 30 minutes, including once when the point was in progress. Ok, it might have been between 1st and 2nd serve but still). He would have none of it - he swiftly counters that he had to wake up at 4am that morning to drive from LA to Cupertino. I lose 1:6 and to an untrained eye it may seem like I don't stand a chance but you can see I was unhinged by all those circumstances and that one game won clearly indicates I can 'hang' with him.

In the second set I get more comfortable playing outdoors (being from Chicago I have not played outdoors since like last October), save some breakpoints, and keep the set close. At 5:4 30:0 I feel like I'm toying with Matt now, but since my wife is not back yet with the car I decide to lose the game to keep the set going. We eventually go into tiebreaker, I spot him 0:3 lead to make it fair for him, and then quickly close the set (ok, it was more like a tense 12:10 tiebreak win after saving multiple match-points, and wasting few set points, but who needs those details). I feel the momentum now but he needs to get back to work. Sure, my wife is ready to do more sightseeing too so I could not play more either, but he _first_ said we need to wrap up. Clearly overall victory on my side. And we are going to play next day too.

On Tuesday I'm brimming with confidence - and he beats me 2:6. The day before I was thinking we were going to treat that set as a deciding set from the first match - but now I'm thinking that is no good. He basically retired after two sets of the first match (retired/needed to go to work - what's the difference??) so I'm counting that first match as _my_ win. And today we played just one set so it goes on the record as unfinished in my book. Overall over two days I'm being generous/more mature and claim it was a at least a draw, although deep down we all know I was better (maybe not via looking at the score however). If I only could use my regular setup - everyone knows a self-respecting TTW player switches rackets after 4 games while I had to use the same one for two days. And my stringing was designed for warm California climate while it was rather unseasonably cold. I do not think it is a coincidence that neither RajS nor Matt warned me about the cold, they just took advantage of my under-preparedness.

p.s. Now a look from unbiased third party that may be mistakenly looking at the score and not be familiar with what makes one player better than the other as per TTW guidelines - so please take that with grain of salt :). Over three sets Matt committed I think 2 double faults, not a single overhead error, and maybe one missed volley. If we played 10 times he would beat me probably 8 times at least. He does not overhit, has a very good backhand, an excellent neutralizing deep shot when in trouble. I was almost always in trouble on his serve from the start of the point. On returns he made me run immediately if I did not hit a good serve myself. But I was most surprised how he was able to get to the net to finish the point. I'm of a grinder nature and I was hoping for long points but somehow, especially on the second day, he was able to get me wide, get to the net, hit a very good first volley, and finish on the second volley or overhead. I don't play USTA league but I do play folks that do, and there's no way Matt is 4.5, he is better than that.

Again, many thanks to @RajS, @mad dog1, @travlerajm (we almost got to hit, just couldn't make it schedule wise), and Matt L. himself. Matt is a really nice young man, pleasure to hit with.
hilarious. i really started to lol after, "I see he has a non-matching gear;"
 

RajS

Semi-Pro
@jmnk : Nice report! And thanks for the recommendation! I really enjoyed hitting with you, too bad the weather was not cooperative. Perhaps the next time you are in the bay area.
 

Yaz

Rookie
I don't play USTA league but I do play folks that do, and there's no way Matt is 4.5, he is better than that.

Again, many thanks to @RajS, @mad dog1, @travlerajm (we almost got to hit, just couldn't make it schedule wise), and Matt L. himself. Matt is a really nice young man, pleasure to hit with.

Matt sometimes plays with our weekend group and he is indeed a good guy and well-liked by my friends. I also think he's 4.5+, but he's playing 18+ 4.5 league this year so we'll see what happens. I have a feeling he will have a strong season.
 

Shroud

G.O.A.T.
I was wondering for a while if I ever should detail my West Coast trip - but for the sake of all fellow posters...

I was visiting Palo Alto the other weekend and I arranged for some friendly spray. @RajS was kind enough to reply to my post (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/palo-alto-area-03-22-03-27.613030/#post-12137359) and agreed to hit. @mad dog1 hooked me up with Matt L. who happens to work in nearby Cupertino.

We've met up with @RajS on Saturday morning. Very, very nice person. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, we managed to squeeze only like 45 minutes of hitting on wet courts before some serious rain chased us away. Still, RajS can definitely play, very fit, will play if I go there again. We were hoping to also play the following Monday/Tuesday but it just did nor work out. Highly recommended player if one is looking to hit in that area.

For Monday we arranged a friendly hit with Matt L. of former (and really current as well) TTW fame. Many thanks to @mad dog1 for making it happen. I was hoping for a great time but there were some signs that made me wonder even before we stepped on court.

So Matt was driving back from LA to Cupertino that very Monday morning and he was not going to have his own rackets. Instead he was going to play with borrowed ones. Ok, I'm thinking, we all know that no 4.5 yet alone 5.0 player would ever play with not-his-own-rackets that surely are customized to the exact specs of highly rated NTRP player. So I'm already worried about what his actual level is.

As I pulled into the office parking lot to pick up Matt he is walking out the door already waiting for me. Even though we agreed I would text him when I'm there. Clearly he wants to show he is eager to play and to intimidate me. Slight gamesmanship - I think so... But then I see he has a non-matching gear; Nike shoes, some non-brand t-shirt, Wilson rackets - no way he takes tennis seriously. Anyway, we drive to the park where the courts are. We do some chit-chat and I can tell he doesn't even use proportional stringing, and does not tune his MGR/I to account for the Apple Watch he wears - seriously? come on...

Ok, so while the park is nice I see that the only court open is the one furthest from the parking lot. I mean couldn't he, as a host, arrange with park management to reserve the closer courts?? Not only that - that court is also _on the opposite end of where the restrooms are_ Imagine that. I'm getting a little anxious but I'm still not saying anything.

But then we get to the court and THERE ARE NO BENCHES. NO BENCHES!! I mean I do not even have a bag as I've traveled with a single racket only - but still. No water fountain in sight (thankfully I was prepared with my vitamin water and gatorade - because God forbid he offered me a drink of his water). And there are no singles sticks. At this point I'm almost ready to just pack it up - that facility is completely unprepared for high level TTW spray....

We start to warm up with some mini-tennis. Now he clearly tries to intimidate me. He uses full strokes, keeps the ball in play, does not even try to win warm-up points. I'm thinking fine, I can do the same, so we keep hitting the same ball for like 100 strokes. Same when we move to regular warm-up. He keeps getting even my mishits back, he can do FH crosscourts, BH crosscourts, volleys, anything I throw at him. When he practices serves he doesn't try to blast them, just nice, smooth, full motion. Clearly he wants to rope me into thinking he has no weapons - but I'm smarter than that (or so I think).

We start playing for points. I'm clearly better - just somehow he wins more points. And more games. At 1:4 I try some small talk at changeover, I mentioned that I'm tired from all day walking sightseeing the previous day, and that I need to use the restroom but I'm not going on that trip to the other side of the park, and that the balls from the next court kept coming onto ours all the time (and when I say 'all the time' I mean like 3 times over 30 minutes, including once when the point was in progress. Ok, it might have been between 1st and 2nd serve but still). He would have none of it - he swiftly counters that he had to wake up at 4am that morning to drive from LA to Cupertino. I lose 1:6 and to an untrained eye it may seem like I don't stand a chance but you can see I was unhinged by all those circumstances and that one game won clearly indicates I can 'hang' with him.

In the second set I get more comfortable playing outdoors (being from Chicago I have not played outdoors since like last October), save some breakpoints, and keep the set close. At 5:4 30:0 I feel like I'm toying with Matt now, but since my wife is not back yet with the car I decide to lose the game to keep the set going. We eventually go into tiebreaker, I spot him 0:3 lead to make it fair for him, and then quickly close the set (ok, it was more like a tense 12:10 tiebreak win after saving multiple match-points, and wasting few set points, but who needs those details). I feel the momentum now but he needs to get back to work. Sure, my wife is ready to do more sightseeing too so I could not play more either, but he _first_ said we need to wrap up. Clearly overall victory on my side. And we are going to play next day too.

On Tuesday I'm brimming with confidence - and he beats me 2:6. The day before I was thinking we were going to treat that set as a deciding set from the first match - but now I'm thinking that is no good. He basically retired after two sets of the first match (retired/needed to go to work - what's the difference??) so I'm counting that first match as _my_ win. And today we played just one set so it goes on the record as unfinished in my book. Overall over two days I'm being generous/more mature and claim it was a at least a draw, although deep down we all know I was better (maybe not via looking at the score however). If I only could use my regular setup - everyone knows a self-respecting TTW player switches rackets after 4 games while I had to use the same one for two days. And my stringing was designed for warm California climate while it was rather unseasonably cold. I do not think it is a coincidence that neither RajS nor Matt warned me about the cold, they just took advantage of my under-preparedness.

p.s. Now a look from unbiased third party that may be mistakenly looking at the score and not be familiar with what makes one player better than the other as per TTW guidelines - so please take that with grain of salt :). Over three sets Matt committed I think 2 double faults, not a single overhead error, and maybe one missed volley. If we played 10 times he would beat me probably 8 times at least. He does not overhit, has a very good backhand, an excellent neutralizing deep shot when in trouble. I was almost always in trouble on his serve from the start of the point. On returns he made me run immediately if I did not hit a good serve myself. But I was most surprised how he was able to get to the net to finish the point. I'm of a grinder nature and I was hoping for long points but somehow, especially on the second day, he was able to get me wide, get to the net, hit a very good first volley, and finish on the second volley or overhead. I don't play USTA league but I do play folks that do, and there's no way Matt is 4.5, he is better than that.

Again, many thanks to @RajS, @mad dog1, @travlerajm (we almost got to hit, just couldn't make it schedule wise), and Matt L. himself. Matt is a really nice young man, pleasure to hit with.
Nice report (Matt games me the same way on the same courts!), but all I heard is that you avoided playing Shroud :). Probably a great move
 

jmnk

Hall of Fame
Nice report (Matt games me the same way on the same courts!), but all I heard is that you avoided playing Shroud :). Probably a great move
I would never intentionally dare to do that. To be fair, I did end up on the other side of the bay in Berkeley, but only late Sunday afternoon. I visited two TTW shrines; the legendary courts at Berkeley Rose Park, and the San Pablo courts. Honestly I was expecting that even at those late hours there would be _some_ TTW posters practicing but no such luck. Oh well, maybe next time.
 
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