I was invited to play on a men's 4.0 USTA team this season and the first round of matches was a lot of fun. Our team won 3 matches, and lost the last one to Traverse City, with 4 of the 5 matches going into a 3rd set tie breaker. I played 3 doubles matches, and we won 2 of them. Most important to me, I kept CALM and played well.
First match I played with a new partner and we pulled off a close one 6-4, 6-7, 10-3 in the t.b. I probably shouldn't have switched rackets before this weekend, I struggled on my serve and return, but everything else was working fine.
Second match was not so close, another new partner but we played well together... winning it 6-3, 6-2. My returns were really ripping and volleys were on the money. My only struggle was consistency on my serve... I remember double faulting 4 times in one game, but hitting a couple of service winners and my partner keeping us in on the other points to win that game.
The last match I got to play with my original partner from Saturday, but the match was a struggle. A struggle to keep calm especially the first set, and struggle to win points and games. We started out on the right foot, getting ahead 40-30 on my serve. I hit what looked like a winner, catching the inside of the line on a volley but the guys on the other team called it out. My partner couldn't believe it, but we didn't say anything to them about it, its their call after all. I also don't think it was intentional. He was looking at the side line and sometimes a ball on the line can appear out from that angle... but it was in. Unfortunately, I let this bother me instead of letting it go and we dropped my serve. This game was followed by a series of BOMB serves from the young guy on the other team. I haven't seen serves like this at the 4.0 level. It took me most of the first game to get used to it but then I started rocketing them back more often than not. My partner took most of the first set to get used to the pace and getting enough of them back to break... finally allowing us to get some momentum. We played really well at the end of the 2nd set. Everything was working for me including my first serve. We carried on strong into the set tiebreaker and blazed ahead 5-0 in the t.b, winning it 7-2. Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry all the way through the 3rd set t.b., and we lost a close one 10-7. I double faulted once in tie break, made a few unforced errors towards the end but they hit some great shots to win it.
Results available here: USTA TENNISLINK
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