The Hornblower
The tournament sponsored a dinner, dance and cruise tonight on the USS Hornblower in San Diego bay. It was so cool, all the teams from 26 nations sitting down to dinner and dance on a huge yacht. Sheryl, Kalina and I sat with Scott Sheppard, The McMannens, The Grajeda's it was great fun.
We boarded the ship, then had a big buffet dinner, after dinner the ship was transformed into a disco. Of course the first to dance were the Brazillians, the Europeans...only a few Americans...but the floor was packed and it wan an amazing, magical experience.
I went topside and spotted Geoff Martinez, the US number 4...we chatted for a while and he said he is going to try to play Boise this year. Louis, Bruce and Scott said they were going to play our tournament. Dinner conversation was lively and festive, Scott and Bruce knocked off the number one seeds in doubles just a few hours before, what an upset over a tough British team.
This has really been a week to remember. I had attended many pro tournaments back in my youth and wondered what it would be like to play a grand slam...this was the experience. It was the real deal and with a little luck I made it to the second round! I cant wait to see my world ranking next week!
Monday--Arrived at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, what a marvelous setting for a world championship! So much history there...La Jolla has sponsored a few Davis Cups, was a regular stop on the Pro Tour...at court 1 the walls are lined with photos of all the greats that had played there.
The ITF runs the tourney just like an ATP event...very professional. All the team players were sporting their Team Warmups...it was a bit daunting.
I showed up early to see if I could get a warmup court...no warmup no court. I waited and waited...jumped rope and found a practice wall. I was playing against an Aussie first round. I checked in...but my court was not called. At 15 minutes past the hour I talked to the Tourney Director and he forfeited my match...I got a rare walkover in a World Championship...I was elated because world ranking points are not easy to come by.
Sheryl showed up to watch me play but the match was over...we went and celebrated over lunch. I feel bad for the 40 players that had to qualify...only 8 made it into the main draw!! Then 64 more players lost in the first round, I finished ahead of 96 players...somewhere around 55th place!
Tuesday: Went through the same routine. I worked out at the San Diego Tennis Club in the morning...then drove to La Jolla. I ran into Scott Sheppard and Tom Donhue, Geoff Martinez, Glen Busby, Colin Dowdeswell...chatted with them. Thats the great thing about the Senior Tour, everyone is very friendly.
We were in a rain delay and there was a lot of waiting, I went to the practice wall and hit, I stretched, listened to the Dr. H. tape, Sheryl showed up and I told her that I was playing one of the Canadians...I went to the check in desk and she went out to watch tennis on court 1. Turns out that she got talking to a one of the Canadian team members, it was my opponet! Jean Pierre Cote is the 77th ranked player in the world...he was ranked in the top 20. We got talking at the check in desk and found that we had both worked at the same tennis camp in Canada, just a year apart! We played out match offsite at the La Jolla Racquet Club. We caught a ride with his Team Canada Teamates...what a great bunch of guys!
Waited around again until a court opened and finally the match got underway. We did the standard pro warmup...what that means is that you do not hit away...no winners in warmups...you get the forehands and backhands out of the way hitting right at each other. Then its the same with volleys and overheads. We had many 30 ball rallies and I must admit that I probably won the warm up...I didnt miss many balls.
When the match started it was all business...I got all the returns back, got almost all my first serves in...the big difference is depth and put away power off the 4th ball.
J.P. is very mobile, very accurate and is the best player Ive every faced..he always makes it to the quarters and semis of these international events...hes played in 8 world championships and that experience was too much to over come. I was happy with how I played...I was in the points...just need to keep the ball deeper. This is a great starting point and now the training continues the next tourney on the map is the US Indoors in May.
ITF World Tennis Championships, San Diego
I arrived last night from Boise, Idaho. I've been in training since last October...logging hundreds of hours on the elliptical, thousands of circuit weights, hundreds of practice matches. I think Im ready...
Im staying Sheryl Putnam's house in Mission Hills and we drove out to La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. What an impressive club...right on the Ocean! When we pulled up we stopped at the gate and got a players parking pass--then it was inside to get registered and credentialed. As we walked in there were players from everywhere, I heard Portuguese, French, Spanish...it looked like a UN meeting. Many team players wore their team warmups. It had the look and feel of a Davis Cup or ATP event. We watched a few matches and then went into La Jolla for some sight-seeing. It rained in the morning and sun broke through the clouds by mid-morning, it was very beautiful.
In the afternoon we drove back to San Diego Tennis and Swim Club, we watched the conclusion to the USA v. Australia Bueno Cup. The US was clearly outmatched and lost the cup at the conclusion of the doubles match. I saw Andrew Standley, he was playing a mixed match against Bill Kellogg...Kellogg is also a local tennis legend, Director of La Jolla Tennis and Beach, and tournament director. When I left to go practice they had split sets...
Sheryl and I went to the back courts and hit for an hour, she hits a big ball...the courts were ridiculously slow after the altitude in Idaho. The Babbolot balls played even slower. I was not used to the wind, so that was another adjustment. It could be shaky tomorrow until I can get used to the conditions.
This is my third/National/International tournament--with my ranking I didnt have to qualify which greatly surprised me. The Qualifiers wrapped up yesterday and now we are a third of the way through the 128 slot draw. I came into the tourney ranked 1128 in the world, Im playing an Australian who is ranked in the top 100, Im the underdog in the match...I have some control things Im going to try...hopefully it works.
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