Camp Crame tennis Courts, March 21, 2009
Few days before the tournament, I have doubts if I want to attend. Some thoughts are playing in my mind. Half of it wants me to play, the other half didn’t. I even thought of giving up my slot to others. But my passion for tennis prevailed. I post an invitation to practice for all Yellow team members in PTO forum and decided to meet Mordecai. Mordecai eventually became the leader of X-Men, joke..yellow team. Hehe. I am happy that yellow team responded positively to my invitation, created a group in my phone book and saved their numbers. We decided to practice at first in Camp Aguinaldo but since the venue is not available, we decided to reserve a venue in Blue Ridge. I played first time with Mordecai, Tagpi and Dan. It was nice playing with them and be able to familiar with their game. It was a nice preparation for Saturday’s tournament.
Saturday came, and when I arrived at Camp Crame Tennis Court, Kooldhi greeted me with a smile. She handed over a folder with a list of all participants and an oath of Sportsmanship. The committee chose me to lead the oath. It’s more nerve racking than playing tennis! From then on, I knew that it’s going to be fun, memorable and competitive day for tennis. I registered and started to meet my teammates. From the court, I also tried to scout for a potential tennis monster, checking which colour and level they belong. They might be a potential opponent. Well of course, there’s Hunkie, no question about it. He is an A player. One person in black T-shirt caught my attention. He has nice form. Looking from afar I am impressed with his forehand. I asked around who that guy was and I later found out, that he was Kaido. He is the leader of Green Team, he was listed in Class A, but later moved down to B after Degie came.
When the matches began, loud chants scream, and cheers can be heard around the court. Most of the which came from Yellow and Red teams. Automatically it became rivals. Moonaster from Red Team was the most enthusiastic! He made Hello Kitty posters for their team. Hiromi from our team on the other hand, started the cheer “One Big Fight”. Every time a yellow member started and ended their match we block them at the gates and shout the cheer. We are very happy that Yellow Team’s first doubles match between beginners was victorious, with Aisa and Dan as our representatives.
Waiting for my turn was boring, to be honest. I almost want to go home. I arrived 7.30 am and my match was scheduled 12.30 pm. It was a long wait. Thanks to Allan James he lent me his iPod and convinced me to watch Simon Birch. I am hesitant to watch it. I’ll discuss the reasons on my next blog, maybe.
My long wait was over when I was told by Morde that it was our turn to set foot on the court. I was playing with Joeus for Levels B/C duo against Red Teams Lovely and Laido. I was confident going to the match. I thought I have enough match practice before the tournament. I’m counting my matches during the PTO Challenge and regular tennis matches in Paranaque. I also got a boost for Sir Rogu’s push and encouragement. 
This was also the first time I’m playing with Joeus. I have no idea how he plays, so I just thought of being conservative, consistent, don’t go too much for power, and try to keep the balls back. Lovely has a very strong forehand and a good returner. Every time he returns my serve, I just kept the ball back. I can’t change the direction because it was too fast. Laido, is also good at the net. I hit a forehand down the line towards his body and he answered it with a volley for a winner. The match was very tight. We broke Lovely’s serve to lead at 2-0, but they bounced back, and there was a big shift in the momentum. All of a sudden we were trailing at 3-5. Me and Joeus were lucky that we were able to pull ourselves together and level the match at 5-5. At 5 games apiece, and we had 3 match points at 40-0 but we were not able to capitalize our lead. At 40-15, after a long rally I hit a slice crosscourt, I thought it touched the line; the yellow team at the back cheered, then Lovely said it was out. A lot of people at the stands reacted, but we considered it out. They served again. Then they saved another match point to level the game at 40-40. On sudden death, I chose to receive. I hit a slice crosscourt to return Laido’s serve and I’m happy that Laido netted a forehand. Joeus celebrated! I never realized it was the end of the match! We have won our first match 6-5, after 4 match points! That was pretty close. We were just so lucky to win it. Thank you net.
My next match was against Kaido and Carlo of the Green Team, for A/B Class. They’re strong. But since I’m playing with PinoyDaySleeper, our class A player. And since our partnership was never beaten since we started playing together last year, I am confident that we can handle their power. We played very steady, and I am happy that we were able to win the match 6-5 (or 6-4, I’m not sure) after Carlo sent his forehand long.
My last match was against Reboj and his team mate from Red Team again. Hehe. I forgot the name of his partner. My partner again is PinoyDaysleeper. This is the matched I enjoyed the most. We broke Reboj serve and Pinoy hold his own to jump to a 2-0 lead. Then we changed our strategy from our previous match. At 40-40, sudden death, he let me received the ball. I am happy that I was able to return Red Team’s serve and we broke them and move ahead for a 3-0 lead. The next game was on my serve. I felt a lot of pressure on my second serve at 40-30, because I know Reboj was an excellent returner. I remembered the article I read the other day. “One of the things needed to learn to become an effective partner in doubles, is to have a doubles serve. The author mentioned the Woodies-Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. The Woodies do not have a serve that is comparable to Andy Roddick’s but putting a lot of spin and proper placement can make a difference. And that’s what I did. I was able to place my serve on the right spot, changed the grip in my racket and I was to hold my serve after Reboj netted his forehand return. It feels easier to enjoy the match when you’re leading. It allows you to breathe and focus on enjoying the game rather than thinking of your next strategy when you’re trailing. After I hold my serve I decided to use my backhand more. On the next game, Reboj was able to hold his serve to trail at 1-4. But in the next two games, we managed to hold their momentum and we ended the match with my backhand lob that landed on the line and won the match 6-1, our winning streak continues!
We ended the day with the Red Team declared as the winner. And our team got the runner up medal. Kowch Bob gave his closing remarks. The tournament was successful. We even surpassed the number of matches the committee has predicted. We had a nice dinner at Bunso’s Cafe and a couple of bottles of beer.I went home with Allan James and PinoyDaySleeper. I am happy with my first tournament of the year. Though we only won silver, I am happy that I won all my matches. This is a better feeling compared to my challenge matches the previous two weeks, where I lost 3 of my 4 matches in singles. Another was the camaraderie I shared with the Yellow Team. This was the first time I played with them but I believe the bonding is there. I found it very easy to communicate and bond with them. It was also nice to see Al and Ana again. They were the ones who invited me to join. And to meet Admin Jong was a big bonus. I am very privileged to meet this man. He started the Philippine Tennis Online, and through the forum I was able to resurrect my game, my passion for tennis and meet my tennis buddies. He made a great difference in my life. It was a very humbling experience. For a young man to create a big difference in Philippine Tennis, my life and tennis addicts, it was indeed an achievement.
While on my bed, I’m thinking if I need to have a break from tennis, because of the pain in my wrist, or to choose strategic play or power play. I sometimes get offended when some players say about my slices and lobs. But on the other hand, I also thought, it’s better to have more weapons than to make your game one dimensional. If top spin is not working, then a slice might work. If these two are not working, then I may use lob. Lol. Well, I may start learning to add more power on my stroke, just to add sting on every stroke. We’ll see. It might work. If not, then I’ll use lob again. Win or lose who cares? I’ll enjoy my tennis while I can. =D
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