Fifth Tournament in Montpellier, France

This was another tournament around Montpellier, in a small city called Palavas-les-Flots. The tournament was on hard court, but it was a very fast surface and not the traditional smooth hard court. The courts were also very high bouncing.





In my first match, I played a lefty who was older (around 30-35) but used to be a really good player. He was rated a 0, and had a good lefty serve and good baseline game. I started off serving well and lead 5-4 in the 1st set but couldn't serve out the set as he played a few good games. After losing the 1st set 5-7, I played well the 2nd set to win it 6-2. This match was not without controversy, as he made some very tough calls in important moments. But after going up 3-0 in the 3rd set, my opponent started to hit every shot as hard as he could and I won the 3rd set 6-0 in 20 minutes.


I had a quick turnaround playing at 10 AM the next morning after finishing at 10:30 the night before. I played another lefty, with this opponent being from Spain and around 30 years old. I started out the match with a few holds and had a few break points at 2-2 but couldn't convert. My opponent played good attacking tennis with his forehand to break me a few times as I lost the first set 2-6. I started out the 2nd set strong and got a break to go up 2-1 by playing more aggressive and serving strongly. I ended up breaking him again to take the 2nd set 6-2. In the 3rd set, I, unfortunately, got broken in my first service game and found myself in a quick 3-0 hole. I broke back for 2-3 and then we traded service holds. I had an opportunity at 4-4 (0-30) but couldn't convert on his serve. I ended up losing a Deuce game on my serve to fall 5-7 in the 3rd.

Although this was a tough loss, it was probably my best match in France so far. It was a high-quality match and I saw a lot of progress in my groundstrokes and returns. He was a good opponent with a French rating of -4/6. I earned 75 Euros for making the semi-finals and I am playing one more men's open in France this week. 

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