Tennis - to Surprise, AZ for the Nationals

I took up tennis about 7 years ago, when I left Credit Suisse and had 6 months gardening leave. It was perfect - the LRC allowed me to get some coaching and get up the curve quickly. Coach Nicolas was instrumental in getting my early game sorted. Then I met Coach Chris Moody - he brought process to the game. I learnt to nail the serve - the toss, the timing and the movement of the feet. I also learnt the kick serve - a reliable second serve that loops the ball over the net, and the spin allows it to dip and kick - all without compromising on racquet speed. The reliable second serve is indeed a very powerful weapon. In fact there have been times when I reverted to the 2nd serve without trying the big 1st one.

Fast forward to the US when I landed here, I got to know about the Westfield Indoor Tennis Club - at 225, West Grove Street. A family business that has been around for a couple of generations, it offers five courts indoors with heating and cavernous insides that allow you to lob with abandon! I have not hit the ceiling more an once or twice…it has never felt inadequate.

I was invited to join a 3.0 Mens team - to play the USTA league. The format in the US is different - two singles, and three doubles games. It is a bit more intense and winning a set doesn’t mean that you have won, as I would find out later on!

We progressed to the regionals easily - having little competition locally. But then we went to Schenectady in upstate NY to play the regionals. There were 5 teams who vied for the right to play the nationals and be crowned eastern champions.

Game 1 - my partner and I got off to a shaky start. We lost the 1st Set. Just nerves. Then we came back to take the 2nd set and go into a 10 point tie breaker. In the tie breaker, we were down 6-9, and we came back to win 11-9 and pull off a big win. In the end all hard fought wins on that day would count towards making the nationals.

I then played the last match on the final day (Match 4). We ran away with the 1st set 6-0 but quickly went down 0-3 in the 2nd set and then eventually lost 3-6. In the tie breaker, the shoe was on the other foot - we led 9-6 in the tie breaker, but lost 9-11. It was a bitter loss! A lesson in “It aint over untill the fat lady sings”.

But because of the earlier heroics of our team and the solid play by my singles team mates, we carried the day to win the Eastern league, become eastern champions and book tickets to go to Surprise, AZ to play 16 other regional teams in the nationals

The Nationals are a different affair. At Surprise, AZ it was a surprise in many ways. It was October, but it was HOT! and it was outdoors. We got there a day earlier, and we used it to acclamatize! The heat, the wind, the courts, the sun in your eyes all play a role.

I learnt that all USTA approved courts in the US are built on a North-South Axis, minimizing the impact of the sun on the sides from which the game is played.

There were 17 regions from the US where teams came from - Seattle, Texas, Caribbean, So-Cal, Florida, Las Vegas, Tenessee, New Jersey (us) and one even from Hawaii.

We started our campaign with a loss. A young Texas team beating us 4-1. We lost our set 4-6, 5-7. I found early that a flat 1st serve was cannon fodder for the young opponents. I resported to my 2nd serve, which slowed the game down, and forced more mistakes from the other team.

We then went all guns blazing to win the next two matches 5-0. I played game against the Vegas team - we won. But after running away with the 1st set, we were tested in the 2nd, as our opponents came back, and I had to play about 10-12 points on deuce to hold my serve!

In the end we made the semi finals by virtue of having lost one less set than the next team, and squeezed through to the playoffs. In the Semis we were playing the local home team and favorites. Winning that put us in the final, once again against Texas. The same young team, and the same result - we were beaten fair and square.

But we made the finals…Finalists at the Mens 18 and 3.0 or over

To make the nationals with over 14000 people participating and over 1100 teams - it was a fantastic feeling and a great sense of achievement.

I am thankful for having had the opportunity.

Here is a link to the story on the USTA eastern site:

USTA Eastern Teams do well at the Nationals