Match postmortem

Tonight's match was against Mark Uhrich whom I haven't met before. He should be a 3.5 to 4.0 so he and I should be a good match. From watching him during the warmup, I felt confident. His pace is right in my sweet spot and he didn't seem to have a bread and butter shot. For me that's a good rallying opponent. Someone whom I feel I have time to build up my game against. I started with my deep drives and volley approach which was effective once I warmed up. Admittedly it took about 6 points to get there, but once I warmed up I started to chase down the points again. The first game went to 10 - 12. Once I was warmed up, I took control from the T. I made a few errors when I tried to shoot too early or tried to cut too fine a drop shot. By and large Mark had trouble with deep shots into the back corners and watching for cross courts. To sum it up, he had trouble returning the same basic shots everyone else has (deep into the corner, and tight against the wall).

Besides the opening game which I have come to accept as one I have to warm up with, the other lost came in game 4 when I got into a rut of trading shots with Mark. My game is a precise game of lengths, widths, and volleys. I can mix in a few chop into the front occasionally to throw off my opponent, but by and large I put myself under too much pressure when I drop into the front too early before I settle in with the rest of my game.

I did well to keep to my strategy, going back to lengths and widths in game 5. I also reacted and adjusted well when the ball came unexpectedly close to my body. The chop into the front was instinctive tonight and worked really well the few times it was needed. I was also good staying on my toe and breathing. The couple of times I caught myself not doing them I immediately refocused on staying on my toes (left foot in fact) and controlling my breathing. I also stuck to my safe serve and did not use the lob serve too much.