Through the Rain - Richmond Open Day 3

Richmond Open Day 3 wasn't exactly just a day since a rain delay split up the match between Monday and Tuesday.


I met my opponent Wesmond for the first time in over a year - we used to both play in Steveston but recently he was affected by an illness that seriously impaired his balance. Luckily it has mostly subsided, and he was finally able to play tennis again.

My match against Wesmond was my second time ever playing a seeded player (after my 2-6 4-6 disaster against Rick) and a win against a red player would have made my run through 3.5 more meaningful. As usual, I bombed my warm-up but served and hit surprisingly well during the first set. I felt I had to put on an especially good show due to a group of my friends spectating the match, and didn't let up on my strokes. I raced to a 4-0 lead before Wes finally found his rhythm and stood his ground with a hold. I held for one more game, and Wes stepped up his play to take the next three games and bring the set to 5-4. The light drizzle turned into heavy rain at the start of the 5-4 and I sensed Wes's urgency to to get off the court. I hit 4 good serves in a row to take the first set, although I feel my opponent wouldn't have let me off so easily if it wasn't raining.

I returned to Richmond Tennis Club the next day a bit relieved that the rain stopped Wes's momentum. I found my forehand was working spectacularly during warmup, and started the second set in a very calm state. I was shocked then, to lose the first 10 points of the set despite not making any significant mistakes. I tried to salvage the rest of the set, but Wes had already built up his confidence. Anything I hit to his backhand he returned with a sharper angle or a ridiculously low slice, and he was changing direction extremely easily on his forehand. In a mirror replay of the first set, Wes staged a 4-0 lead, but unlike the first set, I wasn't able to threaten a comeback and lost the set 2-6.

In the last few games of the second set, I stopped smiling and began to focus on hitting the ball properly. My concentration yielded better results as I split breaks and holds with Wes from the end of set 2 to the start of set 3. After losing another return game to Wes to trail 1-2, I somehow stepped up my game another gear. I'm not sure what exactly it was that clicked, but I felt my resolve strengthen and I realized that I was not going to lose this match. My serve suddenly became unreturnable and I was able to blast all the balls from my forehand wing, both high and low. In a symmetric finish to the start of the second set, I won 5 games straight to take the match. That last half of the match embodied the high that I play tennis for, and my goal is to be able to summon it for at least two sets in every tournament I play.