Wish me luck...subbing in a 5.5-5.0 league tonight

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guitarplayer

Guest
8 courts, a combo league of 5.5 down to 5.0. No idea who I will be playing. Should be fun...or not. I'm in a 4.5-4.0 league. Just need to stay calm. I'm a slow starter which is an issue in the winter indoor league as its only a single pro set to 12. Start at 9. Warm up for ten minutes which usuallymeans 9:15 and ends at 9:55. So it's really only about 40 minutes of actual play.

Focus........
 

sunof tennis

Professional
8 courts, a combo league of 5.5 down to 5.0. No idea who I will be playing. Should be fun...or not. I'm in a 4.5-4.0 league. Just need to stay calm. I'm a slow starter which is an issue in the winter indoor league as its only a single pro set to 12. Start at 9. Warm up for ten minutes which usuallymeans 9:15 and ends at 9:55. So it's really only about 40 minutes of actual play.

Focus........

Try to play your game and go for the smart shots. Tendency when we play against really good players is to go for shots that we don't normally try and probably won't pull off.
Good luck and treat it like a learning experience. What do these players do (besides hit well) that make them good players?
 
I think this is an amazing opportunity for you! Not everyday do we get to play up in an actual match setting.

I know i'd have a lot of fun, just learning and seeing the differences between my current 4.0-4.5 level and the big boys.

Just keep in mind that this is a learning experience and if you start losing, don't get emotional. Just go out there, have fun, and take notes A LOT OF NOTES (then report back to us). If I were you'd i'd even try making a few friends and turn them into hitting partners =p.

Please keep us updated with how things went!
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
And I'm back. The guy I played was on the last court in the 5.0 section. Probably more of a high 4.5. He was 6'2. Super tall. I am 5'7.

During warm ups I tried to find weak areas but he had what looked like a good forehand and a bit weaker backhand. Nothing stood out for sure.

He won the toss and started with 2 aces and 2 serves I barely got a racquet on. He must have won that game in 40 seconds. I never hit a shot. This made me nervous thinking how embarrassing if I lose 6/0 quickly. I determined to stay calm and try to keep things going and figure out a way to win points.

I was down 15-40 on my first service game and came back to win it. I was able to keep him back with deep topspin. He came to the net on any opportunity. The longer I kept the points going the more I could see his frustration. I was able to pass him once and lob him once to win that game.

I broke his serve in the 3rd game. When I started blocking back his serve instead of trying to hit it back with topspin, the force of his serve made my flat semi slice return come back to near his baseline. This stopped the cheap service points and at least gave me the opportunity to stay in the game.

We traded games but he never got ahead. I was either up one game or we were tied. I would keep him deep with heavy topspin then try to slice the ball short to the open court. He would run up and either hit a winner or hit it long or in the net....but he was getting tired. Many time I was able to lob him...which sent him running.

At 9:45 we were tied 4 all. I Served and won the next game which went to his add and back to duece 4 times. Winning that crucial game with really no time to come back broke him mentally. And I knew he was a bit tired and stressed with time running out and being behind to a sub with a lower ranking. He was serving now and pressing...and had 2 double faults. I hit one winner and he hit a backhand into the net. I won 6-4 and I feel great.

I didn't over hit, like one of you suggested. I hit a lot of cross court shots back cross court deep, then stepped around my forehand to hit inside out to his backhand. I felt like Agassi playing Sampras and wore him down a bit and his serve softened up and blocking back his returns just kept me in the game.
 
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Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
And I'm back. The guy I played was on the last court in the 5.0 section. Probably more of a high 4.5. He was 6'2. Super tall. I am 5'7.

During warm ups I tried to find weak areas but he had what looked like a good forehand and a bit weaker backhand. Nothing stood out for sure.

He won the toss and started with 2 aces and 2 serves I barely got a racquet on. He must have won that game in 40 seconds. I never hit a shot. This made me nervous thinking how embarrassing if I lose 6/0 quickly. I determined to stay calm and try to keep things going and figure out a way to win points.

I was down 15-40 on my first service game and came back to win it. I was able to keep him back with deep topspin. He came to the net on any opportunity. The longer I kept the points going the more I could see his frustration. I was able to pass him once and lob him once to win that game.

I broke his serve in the 3rd game. When I started blocking back his serve instead of trying to hit it back with topspin, the force of his serve made my flat semi slice return come back to near his baseline. This stopped the cheap service points and at least gave me the opportunity to stay in the game.

We traded games but he never got ahead. I was either up one game or we were tied. I would keep him deep with heavy topspin then try to slice the ball short to the open court. He would run up and either hit a winner or hit it long or in the net....but he was getting tired. Many time I was able to lob him...which sent him running.

At 9:45 we were tied 4 all. I Served and won the next game which went to his add and back to duece 4 times. Winning that crucial game with really no time to come back broke him mentally. And I knew he was a bit tired and stressed with time running out and being behind to a sub with a lower ranking. He was serving now and pressing...and had 2 double faults. I hit one winner and he hit a backhand into the net. I won 6-4 and I feel great.

I didn't over hit, like one of you suggested. I hit a lot of cross court shots back cross court deep, then stepped around my forehand to hit inside out to his backhand. I felt like Agassi playing Sampras and wore him down a bit and his serve softened up and blocking back his returns just kept me in the game.

Congrats. Did he ever try drop shots when you sliced short?
 

jmnk

Hall of Fame
And I'm back. The guy I played was on the last court in the 5.0 section. Probably more of a high 4.5. He was 6'2. Super tall. I am 5'7.

During warm ups I tried to find weak areas but he had what looked like a good forehand and a bit weaker backhand. Nothing stood out for sure.

He won the toss and started with 2 aces and 2 serves I barely got a racquet on. He must have won that game in 40 seconds. I never hit a shot. This made me nervous thinking how embarrassing if I lose 6/0 quickly. I determined to stay calm and try to keep things going and figure out a way to win points.

I was down 15-40 on my first service game and came back to win it. I was able to keep him back with deep topspin. He came to the net on any opportunity. The longer I kept the points going the more I could see his frustration. I was able to pass him once and lob him once to win that game.

I broke his serve in the 3rd game. When I started blocking back his serve instead of trying to hit it back with topspin, the force of his serve made my flat semi slice return come back to near his baseline. This stopped the cheap service points and at least gave me the opportunity to stay in the game.

We traded games but he never got ahead. I was either up one game or we were tied. I would keep him deep with heavy topspin then try to slice the ball short to the open court. He would run up and either hit a winner or hit it long or in the net....but he was getting tired. Many time I was able to lob him...which sent him running.

At 9:45 we were tied 4 all. I Served and won the next game which went to his add and back to duece 4 times. Winning that crucial game with really no time to come back broke him mentally. And I knew he was a bit tired and stressed with time running out and being behind to a sub with a lower ranking. He was serving now and pressing...and had 2 double faults. I hit one winner and he hit a backhand into the net. I won 6-4 and I feel great.

I didn't over hit, like one of you suggested. I hit a lot of cross court shots back cross court deep, then stepped around my forehand to hit inside out to his backhand. I felt like Agassi playing Sampras and wore him down a bit and his serve softened up and blocking back his returns just kept me in the game.
ok, so you are implying that while you play in 4.0/4.5 league - which should make you perhaps at most mid 4.5 player - you won a set against a dude who is essentially playing a league a full level higher? yah, I almost can see it. :rolleyes:

Except that your story does not hold. If he served first game, he would have served the next game after you were tied 4:4, no? So i say - nice try. Next time, check your story.
 

Graf1stClass

Professional
ok, so you are implying that while you play in 4.0/4.5 league - which should make you perhaps at most mid 4.5 player - you won a set against a dude who is essentially playing a league a full level higher? yah, I almost can see it. :rolleyes:

Except that your story does not hold. If he served first game, he would have served the next game after you were tied 4:4, no? So i say - nice try. Next time, check your story.

yes, he didn't perfectly recount his long story! if only he had said he received and broke, he would have actually beat the 5.0 player! but he said he served, so he lost!

get over youself.
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
I just gave some highlights of the match that I could remember. Not every game. Nor can I recount exactly who was serving when during the match. I just remember at 4 all whether he was serving or me, which must have been him, that game went back and forth to each others add about 4 times. Geez. But at 9:55 the match was declared over. At that point it was 6/4. . At 9:55 I won 6-4 we had 5 minutes left of court time and played one additional game. Which he served....... Which I won and didn't include in the game count but hilighted since the match was declared over.
 
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G

guitarplayer

Guest
Like I said, he was on the last court. I don't think he is a true 5.0.
 

nhat8121

Semi-Pro
i doubt anyone would make such a thing up, but how can you not remember if you serve or not in such a crucial game that goes to many deuces? was this match last month?
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
a lot of our games went back and forth at deuce. I just remember it was quarter till and we were tied I was nervous for running out of time. maybe I was nervous but a lot of things were a blur it seemed to go very fast
 

easywin

Rookie
Congrats :) And to the people not believing him ... If I could show you videos against what kind of players I lost being the way better player (sounds stupid, let's say having the way higher potential on strokes etc.) you would laugh :lol:

Not taking anything away from guitarplayer, the better player wins :)
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
Good grief its not like I made up some kind of amazing story with all these amazing shots that I did. Like I said.... he was on the very last court.. was number 16 in this league..... Last place. I did nothing spectacular...... just blocking back his heavy serves and keeping the ball deep.. pretty boring match from a spectator standpoint. Why on earth would someone make up this boring story... Some of you are exhausting.

I've posted tournament results here before from the usta that I've been in... This is just a regular club tennis league.... Ugh. Why do I bother posting. Rarely worth it.
 

rkelley

Hall of Fame
guitarplayer, thanks for sharing. Great that you kept your head and hung in, especially after that first game.

Don't sweat the folks who have to call everything into question.
 
Great playing and great story!

He seemed like he was around your level. Too bad you didn't play a solid 5.5 then have amazing take aways/pointers in order to teach us all on =p.
 

jussumman

Hall of Fame
Good grief its not like I made up some kind of amazing story with all these amazing shots that I did. Like I said.... he was on the very last court.. was number 16 in this league..... Last place. I did nothing spectacular...... just blocking back his heavy serves and keeping the ball deep.. pretty boring match from a spectator standpoint. Why on earth would someone make up this boring story... Some of you are exhausting.

I've posted tournament results here before from the usta that I've been in... This is just a regular club tennis league.... Ugh. Why do I bother posting. Rarely worth it.

I've noticed some members here are a bit too cynical and negative about everything. If you share, you're either lying embellishing or because no video, how in the world would a 4.5 player pull out a 6-4 close match vs a 5.0 player? Oh what an impossibility! I've never seen any such upset in any sport. Anyway. congrats and thanks for sharing.
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
Was this beat down administered by your shiny new set of pure drives?

Why yes it was. I hit my remaining Pro Staffs for less than 5 minutes over the weekend.....ugh...how did I ever play with them?
 

Spin Doctor

Professional
i doubt anyone would make such a thing up, but how can you not remember if you serve or not in such a crucial game that goes to many deuces? was this match last month?

I can barely remember the overall score right after some of my matches (sometimes I lose track even during the match!), let alone what game went to deuces etc. Forget about trying to remember who served which game. Some of you have spectacular memories apparently.
 

rkelley

Hall of Fame
I can't remember the score during my matches many times. Honestly I take it as a good sign because that means I'm not thinking about the score. Hopefully I'm thinking about hitting the ball.
 

jmnk

Hall of Fame
I can barely remember the overall score right after some of my matches (sometimes I lose track even during the match!), let alone what game went to deuces etc. Forget about trying to remember who served which game. Some of you have spectacular memories apparently.

I can't remember the score during my matches many times. Honestly I take it as a good sign because that means I'm not thinking about the score. Hopefully I'm thinking about hitting the ball.
well, yes, that is very true. But the OP --does-- remember the score. He even remembers exactly the points played in some games. It's not like he said 'we started, we played a close match, I managed to win a tough one 6:4' - he goes over each game in details. So no, I have hard time understanding how he forgets who served in the two most recent, and most important games. Especially since he actually exactly states how the last game was won: OP's winner, opponent's error, and two double faults by the opponent - in the game which OP had to be serving.

(p.s. I'm sure OP is a fine human being and a decent player. It's just a silly internet board. no harm done.)
 

jhick

Hall of Fame
8 courts, a combo league of 5.5 down to 5.0. No idea who I will be playing. Should be fun...or not. I'm in a 4.5-4.0 league. Just need to stay calm. I'm a slow starter which is an issue in the winter indoor league as its only a single pro set to 12. Start at 9. Warm up for ten minutes which usuallymeans 9:15 and ends at 9:55. So it's really only about 40 minutes of actual play.

Focus........

I am in the opposite situation. I am a 4.5/5.0 in doubles and a 4.5 in singles. And this weekend I'll be playing singles against 4.0 and under competition.

FWIW...I'd rather be in your situation than mine.
 
G

guitarplayer

Guest
well, yes, that is very true. But the OP --does-- remember the score. He even remembers exactly the points played in some games. It's not like he said 'we started, we played a close match, I managed to win a tough one 6:4' - he goes over each game in details. So no, I have hard time understanding how he forgets who served in the two most recent, and most important games. Especially since he actually exactly states how the last game was won: OP's winner, opponent's error, and two double faults by the opponent - in the game which OP had to be serving.

(p.s. I'm sure OP is a fine human being and a decent player. It's just a silly internet board. no harm done.)

No, that was in the last game we played after the match was over. We played an additional game as we had 5 minutes of court time left. And yes I definitely remember POINTS played in some of the games....exactly which games they were...not really. The first game...yes..definitely ...he served and I never got a racquet on the ball. Which made me nervous for sure. The second game, for sure as it was the first game I served and I remember being down and coming back. The rest...not much, just some hi lights and keeping the ball deep and letting him make the mistakes.

It was a boring match as I said. What's to make up? If I wanted to make up a cool story at my age...58.....I would have gone on and on about all kinds of amazing shots I made......which I never made any.

So email me. Im in Columbus, Ohio. Leaving for Ft Myers Fl tomorrow for 11 days. I'll meet you anytime for some tennis.
 
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corbind

Professional
^^
"Last edited by TW Staff : Today at 01:18 PM. Reason: let's try and move on"

The moderators here do a good job making this place decent. And after the OP's last post ^^ I believe him. Relish the underdog win.
 
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