Below are the results of the tennis matches today.
First Game: Pradeep Vs Kian Seng
It started at 2.45. Both of us played ok and the serves were not bad. I sprinted off into a 3-1 lead while breaking Pradeep twice in the serve. He clawed back a game before I won my serve game. 4-2.
I think at this stage I just got overconfident and simply hit errors and pradeep was allowed to claw back to 4-4 and eventually 4-5. I calmed down, drank some water and served properly, just like Uncle Jeff taught me to. 5-5.
Then, apparently the first to reach 6 wins and there won't be any tiebreakers. It was Pradeep's serve and the excitement was reaching its apex. Both of us were clearly so excited and I think it was the nerve problem that eventually caused Pradeep to hit almost all his serves out or into the net. After a few double faults, I was leading at 40-0. He hit a superb forehand, 40-15. Then, I finally broke his serve next.
Game over. I was stunned. My initial hopes were not to lose too badly to dear Pradeep but I must say the early lead was extremely helpful mentally. We ended the game at 4. It was a game played under intense heat and I was constantly reminding myself to play my best and I know, if I can survive this heat, unlike the other day where I broke to Kamil, I would had won 50% of the mental game already.
Results : Kian Seng 6- Pradeep 5
Second Game : Joel vs Kian Seng
Joel insisted on starting the game while HZ had a stomach ache. I expected myself to lose to Joel and I just trained my serve and my fore/backhands. I didn't go all out to conserve my energy to play with HZ and Kamil, knowing fully well how straining Kamil's match will be.
Well, of course, I pushed Joel to dueces but his mental superiority overpowered me and I gave up. I just tried to practice all my strokes to warm up for the next matches and push up the momentum.
Result : Joel 6 - Kian Seng 0
Third Game: Hui Zen vs Kian Seng
After the recent whitewash by Joel, I couldn't possibly allow myself to lose another match. The energy I conserved earlier was put to full use. My serves were simply beautiful in the match. I was down 40-0 in the game. I served 2-3 aces in a row to push myself back into the game.
Well, I was leading 2-0 and HZ won back his serve game and another game. I simply could not allow myself to lose anymore games, so I just pushed myself all out and showed no mercy of whatsoever.
Result: Hui Zen 2- Kian Seng 6
Last Game: Kamil vs Kian Seng
Can he defeat me again? That question was looming in my head and we were using the same court as the other day. However, the key today was, I played with a jovial and calm mood, thinking properly before I hit every stroke. My back was perfectly fine and my strokes, after being fine tuned by Uncle Jeff were sublimal.
It started off badly. The first set had 5-6 deuces and eventually he broke my serve. 1-0. Second set, I was quite dishevelled and he held on to his serve. 2-0. While I was picking up the balls, I calmed myself down, told myself not to repeat the same mistakes. I went on and played beautifully. I won my serve game and broke his serve again. 2-2. I served again, with a few aces, 3-2. Then his serve, after quite some time, I eventually held out and broke his serve. 4-2.
However, it was already 6 and people already booked the court from 6 so our game was forced to be stopped and we will play the remainding 2 points tomorrow.
After I calmed down, I was thinking to myself, the key to win Kamil is to outlast him in terms of patience. As I said, it will definitely be a strainful game and thankfully my stamina did not disappoint me.
We played the patience game while returning each other strokes, always looking for the occasional loophope in the opponent's defense. Every point lasted at least 3-5 minutes, every set lasted around 15 minutes. Thats probably why we could not finish the game.
My serve definitely was up to standard and I kept on hitting to his backhand but surprisingly, his forehand which has quite heavy top spin betrayed him. I was surprised initially, but I kept on hitting just to make the ball cross the net. I didn't want to overdo it. No point because he is very consistent and his defense is tight, very tight.
To quote Verdasco, " I need 3 winners to win one point from him". It was exactly the same situation here.
It was stressful and I think I broke him mentally by winning 4 games in a row. I just hope that I can maintain the consistency into tomorrow and win the remaining 2 games.
Result as of now: Kamil 2 - Kian Seng 4
I played so much more better than the other day. Maybe lady Luck and GOd were at my side today because many of my serves just kissed the line and many of them were aces. I thinking by winning 2 matches, I am already in the school team. I just hope that I can beat Kamil to redeem my pride.
Uncle Jeff's lesson totally paid off. It was 60 bucks well spent. He fine tuned all my strokes and he taught me how to serve properly. Absolutely wonderful and great coach.
Labels: Tennis and Sports
