It is a lovely autumn
evening in northeast Ohio and a beautiful day for tennis. The fall season
is about half over and my record in the upper of two Tennis Cleveland
divisions is 5-4. Among the 21 players in the more advanced league, I am
about the 6th or 7th best player. I have qualified
for the playoffs so wins and losses are not as important at this point. My goals for the rest of the season are to get 20 matches played and keep
improving. Tonight I have my second match of the year against Sukumar
Gogoi. He is the 3.5 Marat Safin. He can crush it, especially on
his forehand, but he tends to spray the ball around a lot. In our one
previous match he broke me in the first game by ripping return winners, but
that was the only game he won. I know he is a dangerous player, but I expect
a relatively easy win. The first set goes according to plan as I take it
6-2.
I found out about the
Tennis League Network in the spring of 2012. My wife had bought us each
six week tennis lessons on Groupon that began in February. One of us
became quite enamored of the sport. While searching for a place to
continue my new infatuation, I found the Tennis Cleveland website. I
signed up for the introductory partner program, liked it, then played in all
the 2012 leagues – spring, summer and fall. I played a lot of baseball
growing up, so the hand-eye coordination required for tennis was already there. And tennis proved to be a great outlet for my natural competitiveness. Logistically tennis also has a great advantage over baseball; you only
need to find one other player for a match. I advanced pretty quickly from
my lowly beginnings. I figured out that my natural athleticism worked
well with a strategy of not missing while chasing down every ball. In the
summer of 2012, this brilliant game plan, combined with the occasional net
rush, allowed me to peel off ten consecutive league wins and a promotion to the
A league.
There is a bit of a change
in momentum at the beginning of the second set. Whether it was Gogoi
bearing down after losing the first, me relaxing and losing focus a bit, or him
finding the range on his high velocity ground strokes, I quickly find myself
down 3-0. I right the ship by running off three straight games of my own. I think I may be able to blitz him off the court now, but no. He
responds in kind by winning three games in a row himself to take the second set
6-3. I have a real match on my hands now. I am serving first in the
third set and we split holds the first three games before I get a crucial break
to go up 3-1. Am I home free? Au contraire. Not only do I not
consolidate the break, but Gogoi wins four straight games! I find myself
having to hold serve down 3-5 in the third set against a guy I easily outclassed
less than a month ago. I liked it better when I was the one on the steep part
of the development curve.
I quickly came back to
earth after my promotion to the more advanced league. Ten straight B
league victories were followed by 6 straight A league losses. Upon
finally notching my maiden big league victory, a 3-hour, 3-set come-from behind
triumph, my wife exclaimed, “I thought you were never going to win again.” I did finish the summer season with 22 league matches played against 22
different opponents (and a free season for my efforts). After going 2-6
against the big boys in the summer of 2012, I defeated several of my former
nemeses in the fall of 2012, going 12-7 in a full season in the majors. I
would like to think I am better player now than I was then, but my development
hit an inflection point around the end of 2012/beginning of 2013.
Other than playing a
rapidly improving opponent, how did I find myself down 3-5 in the third set
against a guy I recently dominated? Well anytime I left a ball even a bit
short to his forehand it was getting crushed. And anytime I came to the
net without a great approach shot I was getting passed. I kept telling
myself, “Keep every shot deep,” and, “Only hit approaches to his backhand
corner.” We have been playing almost two and a half hours and Gogoi is
pretty gassed, going to the towel after almost every point and to his water
bottle during the middle of games. So I know I have a chance if I can
just right the ship. I manage to win that crucial 3-5 game and he is
forced to serve it out. We switch sides and this is the moment of the match. Gogoi definitely is tightening up, not going for his shots when they are
there and pulling the trigger too soon when he is out of position. I
break him rather easily and he is starting to lose it mentally. I hold
serve without trouble and now he has to hold serve to force a
winner-take-all tiebreaker. He calms himself a bit on the changeover and
then does just that. I am now serving first in the match determining
third set tiebreaker. My opponent is tiring, but he gives everything he
has over these next few minutes knowing it will all be over soon one way or the
other. I go with my natural plan A in the tiebreaker, keep everything in
play, and he obliges with missing just enough to put me ahead 4-2 when we
switch sides. He wins his second service point to stay within striking
distance at 4-3. I win my first service point but give the minibreak back
on the second point. He is now serving at 4-5. Whether it is
weariness or nerves, he does not get much on either first serve allowing me to
control the points and eventually force misses. I take the tiebreaker 7-4
and the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. Gogoi is despondent. I offer a few
words of solace but I need to get some rest. I have another match
tomorrow.
In March of 2013, we found
out my wife was pregnant with our first kid, to be born in November. Now
that was perfect timing as far as tennis is concerned (although it did make
attendance at the year-end Miami tournament an impossibility). I can
finish up the fall season, have the kid, and by the time spring 2014 rolls around
we should have a pretty good comfort level so I can resume playing again. I know that once the baby is here I will be limited to playing tennis but
twice a week. Therefore my goal for 2013 was to play as much as possible
(three times a week) because I may never have the chance to play this much
tennis again. I did not necessarily want to play on consecutive days, but
sometimes that was what the weather and schedules dictated. Thus I find
myself playing my great rival, Brian Patrick, the following day.
As a 6 foot tall speed
demon I try to leverage my top weapon (court coverage). On the contrary,
Brian is a 6’5’’ power server who does not provide a lot of windows for passing
shots and lobs when he advances to the net. Our games usually come down
to how many of his serves I can get back in play and how well I can keep him
off the net. When we get in ground-stroke rallies, we are playing on my
terms. This will be our ninth and final match in 2013. Matches
numbers 2 through 7 all followed a similar pattern. Brian would win the
first set (when he is serving biggest) and I would win the second set (as the
balls start to play slower). In four out of the six matches I won the
third set as well, so I felt like I was slightly ahead of him. But match
#8 was different. Brian beat me fairly easily, 6-1, 6-3, and it was not
just the score line that was different; it was the way he beat me. He was
outhitting me from the baseline and basically just blasted me off the court. I need to play better to have a chance tonight.
I win the toss and elect
to serve first. I begin the match well. I cannot get an early break
but I am holding easily, getting good pace and depth on my groundstrokes. Things proceed on serve until I break him when he is serving at 3-4. Here
is my chance to end a seven match long first set losing streak. But I
immediately give the break back. We continue on serve until the first set
tiebreaker. We switch sides at 3-3. I win the ensuing point, then
take one of two service points. He is serving at 4-5. I win that
critical first point. He fights off the first set point. I have one
more opportunity to take the crucial opening set, this time on my racket. I go for my best first serve, wide to his backhand. He returns it
center court and I whip a forehand cross court. After going from one
sideline to the other, his off balance running forehand sails long.
Things are looking up.
When we found out we were
going to have a daughter I was disappointed for about one second until I
realized the best sport for a girl is tennis! I made big plans to be the
next Richard Williams, only the greatest tennis coach in history. (No
other person has ever taught the game to two #1 players.) I fantasized
about building a tennis ball mobile. I imagined evenings and weekends
spent drilling my very own prodigy, teaching her the finer points of the
topspin forehand and when in doubt hit crosscourt. Our daughter was born
on November 22, 2013 and fatherhood has proven to be a great joy thus far. It certainly helps to have a baby who seems to like you so much. Being around an infant is also a great arena to fully unleash my innate
silliness/playfulness without fear of embarrassment.
We trade breaks to start
the second set and then Brian wins two games in a row. I storm back to
win four straight games. I am on the precipice of a straight set victory
as he serves to stay in the match at 3-5. At 30-all I approach the net
and slam an overhead for match point. At 30-40 he hits a good serve and I
can only muster a midcourt return. His subsequent approach shot is a bit
cautious and I hit a dipping topspin pass. On the full stretch he
executes an exquisite drop volley. On the following deuce point I move
him around until he misses but again he saves match point, this time with a
hard serve wide I cannot keep in play. He wins the next point, but I
force another deuce. I think he is about to crack. Proving his
mettle, Brian wins the next two points to force me to serve out the match at
5-4. Unfortunately, whether it is tension or fatigue, my serve is getting
weaker. He is hitting deep returns or chip and charging and I do not see
another match point. Spurred on by his game saving performance, Brian
breaks me for 5-5, holds serve with ease and then earns a break point with me
serving to stay in the set at 5-6. On a deep approach to my backhand
corner I hit a weak lob that gets smashed into the fence. Brian does a
little jump and fist pump. This thing is going the distance.
My tennis goal for 2014 is
to consolidate my pretty decent standard of play and ascent from novice to
3.75ish level. If I can limit any regression, maybe in a few years, when
I have more time to play, I can be really good. When my wife heard a
commentator claim that 36 year old Tommy Haas was playing the best tennis of
his life, she said this means I still have several years of improvement
forthcoming. And since I did not start playing until my late twenties I
would be a young 36.
The third set begins with
Brian serving first and we split the first four games, all breaks of serve. The receiver’s dominance finally ends when Brian holds to take a 3-2
lead. I realize on the subsequent changeover that this is an extremely
important game. I have gotten broken four straight times. My first
serve is not getting me ahead in any points and my second serve is just
inviting him to attack the net. Evaluating my options, I come up with a
radical, nothing-to-lose, change in strategy. Why not serve and volley a
few points? And not just on the first serve, which is usually keeping him
back and giving a neutral start to the point, but on the second serve too? The tactic surprises him and leads to several missed returns and one put
away volley as I hold serve at 15 to even the set at 3 apiece. My new found
energy gives me a bit of a boost as I break him and then hold serve again to
take a 5-3 lead. He is serving to stay in the match at 3-5, the same
situation as in the second set. Brian wins that game to force me to serve
at out at 5-4. Can I hold serve to win a set? He is catching on to
my serve and volley tactics by placing returns well and I net a volley or two
to lose the game. Now it is 5 all. I break him again for another
chance to serve out the match at 6-5. But it is not to be. This
thing is header for a tiebreaker.
In addition to the
physical aspect of tennis, it also provides plenty of challenge on the mental
side. With one player facing another mano-a-mano and only marginal
differences in player skill, strategy can play a big part in a match. The
comparison to the great board game of chess is apt. But unlike chess,
every tennis match has a winner or loser, but if any match of mine ever felt
like a stalemate, it was this one.
After a set in which each
of us held serve only two out of six times, the third set tiebreaker is on
serve until I win the 2-2 point. I know the next point is critical but I
miss my first serve. I reckon it is time to go for another second serve,
serve and volley point and the tactic forces an errant return. I have the
4-2 edge when we change ends. This advantage holds up when I get my
serve back at 5-4. If I can just win two service points in a row victory
is mine. But no, I drop the first point to even the tiebreaker. I
win the 5 all point as Brian nets a backhand. I now have my third match
point, the other two coming an hour (and a set) ago. Brian gamely wins
the first point with a big serve to even the match at 6-6. On the next
point, receiving on the deuce court, I am able to hit a deep return forcing a
short response. I angle a ball away from Brian and he cannot get a clean
hit on it. I now finally have a match point on my own racket. Serving at 7-6 I go for the body serve right at the tallest player I have
ever played. He hits a short response and I go forehand down the line to
his backhand and rush the net. He gets to it in the nick of time and
tries to pass me with a flat two-hander cross court. I lunge but it is
out of my reach. But it also lands just wide. Brian collapses to the
ground while I instinctively retrieve the ball. 7-6, 5-7, 7-6.
So after notching my one
hundredth Tennis Cleveland victory in the spring of 2014, among which include a
doubles championship with the unusual score of 1-6, 6-0, 6-1, these two
matches, winning 7-6 in the third on consecutive days, stand out as my crowning
achievement: a testament to the level of fitness and devotion and mental
fortitude I was able to bring to this great sport and something I may never be
able to do again.
What makes Ashok’s achievement even more extraordinary is the
fact that he barely ever played tennis before joining the league. He started
virtually from zero. When Ashok first joined, he never imagined he would be
playing for this long! Ashok gives a lot of credit to the league for making it
possible. Without the network, it would have been difficult to find partners
who are compatible in terms of playing level, motivation, and schedule. 
