7th Tournament in Sintra, Portugal
This week was the 2nd Futures in a row at the same site in Portugal. Last week's tournament finished on Thursday when I lost in the 2nd round so I had a quick turnaround to play in the 1st round of Qualifying on Saturday.
As luck would have it, I played the same guy in the 1st round as I did in the 1st round last week. After winning in straight sets last week, it was a lot closer this week. I started off the match strong against the #14 seed from Portugal (1200 ATP) to get a couple of breaks to win the first set 6-2. The second set was closer as I had some chances to break in the beginning of the 2nd set and we stayed on serve until 4-4. I got broke serving at 4-4 in a tough game before my opponent served out the set after saving a few break points. I had a poor start to the 3rd set as I got broken twice to go down 1-4 in the 3rd set. These were very tough conditions to play in and I struggled with my serve in the beginning of the 3rd set. I started to play more solid and make fewer mistakes to get back on serve by breaking back twice. I ended up losing a marathon game on my serve at 4-4 to get broken again and my opponent served for the match at 5-4. I would go on to break him back at love and then we both held our service games to put us in a final match tiebreak. I started strong and got a 4-1 lead and never relinquished the lead as I ended up winning a tough 3-hour match 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3).
In the second round of Qualifying, I played another Portuguese player ranked 1500 ATP. This was a tough opponent who was very consistent from the baseline and liked to hit his inside out forehand. I got up an early break in the 1st when I broke him to go up 3-1. However, he broke me back when I was serving at 4-3 to even the match at 4-4. Those were the only 2 breaks in the 1st set thus we played a 1st set tiebreak. He started off the tiebreak strong to go up 4-1 but I battled back to win the next 2 points but missed a key volley at 3-4. My opponent hit a great passing shot at 4-6 as I ended up losing the first set. I found myself in a quick hole in the 2nd as I got broken to go down 0-2 but that ended up being a spark as I started to play better tennis after that to win the next 5 games before winning the 2nd set 6-3. My opponent took a 3 min medical timeout for his foot in between the 2nd and 3rd sets. I served a lot better in the 3rd set as I wasn't losing many points on my serve and got up a quick 2-0. I ended up getting another break to go up 4-1 before my opponent took another medical timeout, for his back this time. I served out the match to win 6-2 in the 3rd.
In the last round of qualifying, I played the #1 seed Yannis Laurent from France. He was a very good player who had a good serve, good groundstrokes, and great touch and ranked 770 ATP. I got broke in my first service game of the match as he hit some great returns. But I got the break back to even the match at 2-2. I broke him again at 4-3 with some good returns and I would serve out the 1st set in my next service game to win 6-4. My opponent started to up his level in the 2nd set as he played more aggressive and hit some really strong groundstrokes. I lost 1-6 in a quick 2nd set as I was outplayed. So I was in another 3rd set, my 3rd in a row this week. I played a good game to break him to go up 3-1 in the 3rd and I had 2 break points to go up a double break at 15-40 on his serve. However, he came up with some clutch serves and came back to hold. My opponent played a tough game to break me by hitting some great returns to even it at 3-3. I lost a long game on my serve at 3-4 where I had a few game points before he came up with a few good passing shots to get the break. He served out the match in the next game as I lost a tough match 6-3 in the 3rd.
This was another solid tournament as I got a few more wins against ranked players in matches that I didn't feel like I played my best, but found a way to win. It is tough to be so close to qualifying as I had a break lead in the 3rd set, but I learned a lot about myself and game this week that I can improve upon. Starting this weekend I play the last of 3 Futures here in Portugal.
Beloura Tennis Academy
In the second round of Qualifying, I played another Portuguese player ranked 1500 ATP. This was a tough opponent who was very consistent from the baseline and liked to hit his inside out forehand. I got up an early break in the 1st when I broke him to go up 3-1. However, he broke me back when I was serving at 4-3 to even the match at 4-4. Those were the only 2 breaks in the 1st set thus we played a 1st set tiebreak. He started off the tiebreak strong to go up 4-1 but I battled back to win the next 2 points but missed a key volley at 3-4. My opponent hit a great passing shot at 4-6 as I ended up losing the first set. I found myself in a quick hole in the 2nd as I got broken to go down 0-2 but that ended up being a spark as I started to play better tennis after that to win the next 5 games before winning the 2nd set 6-3. My opponent took a 3 min medical timeout for his foot in between the 2nd and 3rd sets. I served a lot better in the 3rd set as I wasn't losing many points on my serve and got up a quick 2-0. I ended up getting another break to go up 4-1 before my opponent took another medical timeout, for his back this time. I served out the match to win 6-2 in the 3rd.
In the last round of qualifying, I played the #1 seed Yannis Laurent from France. He was a very good player who had a good serve, good groundstrokes, and great touch and ranked 770 ATP. I got broke in my first service game of the match as he hit some great returns. But I got the break back to even the match at 2-2. I broke him again at 4-3 with some good returns and I would serve out the 1st set in my next service game to win 6-4. My opponent started to up his level in the 2nd set as he played more aggressive and hit some really strong groundstrokes. I lost 1-6 in a quick 2nd set as I was outplayed. So I was in another 3rd set, my 3rd in a row this week. I played a good game to break him to go up 3-1 in the 3rd and I had 2 break points to go up a double break at 15-40 on his serve. However, he came up with some clutch serves and came back to hold. My opponent played a tough game to break me by hitting some great returns to even it at 3-3. I lost a long game on my serve at 3-4 where I had a few game points before he came up with a few good passing shots to get the break. He served out the match in the next game as I lost a tough match 6-3 in the 3rd.
This was another solid tournament as I got a few more wins against ranked players in matches that I didn't feel like I played my best, but found a way to win. It is tough to be so close to qualifying as I had a break lead in the 3rd set, but I learned a lot about myself and game this week that I can improve upon. Starting this weekend I play the last of 3 Futures here in Portugal.
Alec- Wish we could be in France and Spain to watch you play! Stay strong and thanks for posting your journey.
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