2019: SoCal and Arizona Tourneys Recap

To start 2019 I played two $25k Futures in Los Angeles and Tucson. The first one was held in Los Angeles at USC. I played doubles with Miles Seemann for the first two tournaments after we had success playing with each other at the end of 2018. Based off my ranking, I was accepted into the singles main draw of both of the tournaments .

In singles, I played the #6 seed from France, Manuel Guinard. He was ranked #350 in singles and is a good player. He was an aggressive baseliner who wanted to take time away with his groundstrokes. He had a good 1^st serve and could hit his spots well. I got off to a great start in the match by breaking my opponent in the 1^st game and then holding for a 2-0 lead. We both held our next service game as I had a 3-1 lead. I then played another good return game to break him again to go up 4-1. I saved one break point in my next service game before holding for 5-1. I served out the first set after hitting a few good first serves to take it 6-2. My opponent came out firing in the 2^nd set. He broke me early in the 2^nd set and I found myself down 0-3. He started to serve well and I wasn’t getting many looks on the return. He held for 4-1 in the 2^nd set after making a high percentage of 1st serves. I saved two break points in the next game to make it 2-4. He closed out the 2^nd set 6-3 after there was just one break in the 2^nd set. We both held our first two service games to start the 3^rd set which evened the match at 2-all. My opponent broke me with a backhand winner to go up 3-2. He held in the next game take a 4-2 lead in the deciding set. I stayed the course and played a solid return game to get it back on serve which mad it 3-4. I saved a break point before getting a big hold to make it 4-all. We both held our next service game which made it 5-5. I saved two break points before taking a 6-5 lead in the 3^rd set. I then went up 15-40 on my opponent’s serve but he responded by hitting two good first serves and hitting a winner. He held which sent it to a 3^rd set tiebreak. I lost my first service point to go down an early mini-break. My opponent won his two service points to go up 3-0 in the tiebreak. I focused one point at a time and hit two good serves to make it 2-3. I then hit a passing shot winner to get it back on serve at 3-all. I took a 4-3 lead in the tiebreak. Then I played two good point on my serve to go up 6-3. I closed out the match on the next point to take a hard-fought match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3). It was a good win as it was the highest ranked (#350) player that I’ve beaten thus far.

In doubles, my partner and I faced off against the team of Cressy/Cozbinov in the 1^st round. This was a tough draw as they have been playing good doubles together. We went up an early break as we won the No-Ad point at 1-all to go up a break 2-1. With us serving at 3-2, they hit a clutch return on the No-Ad point to get it back on serve which made it 3-all. They saved one break point in the next game before holding for 4-3. Both teams held their next service game to make it 4-5. I then got broken on another No-Ad point after we lost a weird point where they scrambled to stay in the point. We lost a close 1^st set where they played the big points just a little better than us. Unfortunately we got broken early in the 2^nd set at 1-2 to go down a break. They started to serve well and we weren’t getting many opportunities on their serve. They held for 4-1 in the 2^nd set. We each held our next service game which made it 2-5. I got a good hold to cut their lead to 3-5. We had 0-30 on their serve in the next game before they won the last 4 points. My partner and I lost a close one 4-6, 3-6 where the margins were small. The team we lost to went on to win the tournament and we had the closest score against them.

In singles I played Govind Nanda in the 2^nd round who is a highly ranked junior and a freshman at UCLA. He is an all-court player who can retrieve/defend well while also having good hands and finishing points at the net. I got off to a good start and broke him in the 1^st game. I held for 2-0 after saving one break point. I then had 0-30 on his next service game before he came back and held to make it 2-1. My opponent then played a good return game to break me and even it at 2-all. He held for 3-2 in the next game. I then played a loose service game where I made a few unforced errors and didn’t make many 1^st serves. My opponent consolidated the break to take a 5-2 lead. He then broke me again to take the first set 6-2. We both got a few holds to start the second set which made it 2-all. Then I had one break point on my opponent’s serve but he held for 3-2. He then played a good game to break after hitting a passing shot winner on break point. He took a 5-2 lead in the 2^nd set. I saved two break points before holding for 3-5. I then had 0-30 on his serve but he won a long Deuce game on his serve. I lost 2-6, 3-6 to a good player. I thought I could have served better as my serve was up and down during the match. I also made too many unforced errors off of routine balls.

In the Tucson $25k Futures, my partner and I faced off against the #3 seeds in doubles, Jordi Arconada and Emilio Gomez. This was a solid team who both returned well and had good groundstrokes from the baseline. At 2-1 in the 1^st set we played a good return game to break them and go up 3-1. We consolidated the break to go up 4-1. Both teams then held their own service games to make it 5-2. We closed out the first set 6-3 after holding at love. We were serving well and making a high percentage of 1^st serves. In the 2^nd set, both teams were holding fairly easily so there weren’t many chances for the returning team. At 3-all we had one break point on the Deuce point but they saved it with a good serve. At 5-all, we had two break points on their serve and had a good look at one point but we were unable to convert. Then we got broken on the No-Ad point in the next game to lose the 2^nd set 5-7. A 10-point match tiebreak would decide the match. It remained tight in the first few points and we switched sides with the score tied at 3-all. My partner and I went up a mini-break 6-4 after hitting a good return. They won their service point which made it 6-5. Then we split our service points which made it 7-6. We hit another good return to take an 8-6 lead. They responded by winning the next point to make it 8-7. Our opponents came up with a clutch return to even it at 8-all. Then we held our service point to take a 9-8 lead. They saved the first match point with a good serve. At 9-all we came up with a good point to go up 10-9. Then my partner hit a good 1^st serve to seal the victory. We won 6-3, 5-7, 11-9 to pick up a good 1^st round win.

In the first round of singles in Tucson I played Peter Kobelt. He played college tennis at Ohio State and has been ranked as high as #332 in singles. He has a huge 1^st serve and also a quality 2^nd serve. He likes to play aggressive with his forehand and comes to the net to finish points. He started out serving and I had one break point in the first game but he saved it with an unreturnable serve. Both of us were holding fairly routinely to start the match. At 2-3, he had one break point on my serve but I managed to save it. We both got a few more holds which made it 4-5. I saved one more break point to even the set at 5-all. He then held for 6-5. I then got broken in a long Deuce game on my serve after he hit a forehand winner. He took the 1^st set 7-5. At 1-all in the 2^nd set I had one more break point but he saved it. The points were short as we didn’t have that many long rallies. At 3-4, I held to even it at 4-all. I had one more break point on his serve but he came up clutch. I again was serving at 5-6 to stay in the set. He came up with a few good shots and I got broken at 30-40 after I made an error. I ended up losing a tough match 5-7, 5-7. I felt like I was right there but I got broken at the end of both sets. Credit to my opponent for playing the big points a little better than me. He was 2/3 on break points and I as 0/3 which was the difference.

In doubles Miles and I played the team of Glasspool/Hoyt. This British duo is a good team and they both have been ranked in the top 250 in doubles. They have good hands and do everything pretty well. There were no breaks early in the match as we both got solid holds to start the match. At 2-3, we saved two break points before coming back to get a big hold. There weren’t many opportunities as both teams were serving well. My partner and I had our chance at 4-all as we had two break points on their serve. They saved the first one with a good serve and then we had a great look at the 2^nd one but they came up with a great “hands play” to save the other one. At 4-5, we were up 40-15 on my serve but they won the next two points to make it Deuce. On the No-Ad point, we hit a good 1^st serve but they came up with a great forehand return to break us and take the 1^st set 6-4. In the second set both teams continued to serve well. There weren’t many break opportunities. At 3-4, we saved two break points on our serve to get a big hold for 4-all. At 5-6, we were serving up 30-15 on my partner’s serve and I missed an easy put-away volley. That was a big point as they ended up breaking us on the No-Ad point to take the match. We lost 4-6, 5-7 in the quarterfinals in a competitive doubles match in which there was only 1 break in each set. I thought they returned better than us as we only two break point opportunities in the whole match.

I then trained for two weeks before the next two Futures. These were $15k tournaments held in Claremont, California and Tucson, Arizona. In the singles of Claremont I played against Alexios Halebian. He is a lefty with a good serve and a solid baseliner. He also has good hands at the net. We played on a really cold and windy day where the temperature was in the mid-40s. It was difficult to play in as the conditions were slow and it was tough to hit a winner. My opponent served well that day and was getting a lot of free points. He broke me right away to jump out to a quick 3-0 lead. I got a hold to make it 1-4. However, I wasn’t serving well and wasn’t getting any free points on my serve. He broke me again to go up 5-1. I played a good return game to make it 2-5 but unfortunately I got broken again to lose the first set 2-6. I didn’t get a good start to the 2^nd set and got broken right away. It was tough as my opponent wasn’t giving me any errors and I made too many errors off the ground. He broke me again at 1-4 in the 2^nd set. Then he served out the match in the next game and I lost 2-6, 1-6. It wasn’t my day as I didn’t play well enough to give myself a chance. 

I teamed up with Simon Freund, who played college tennis at UC Santa Barbara. In the 1^st round of doubles we faced off agains the team of Lama/Sorgi. They were both clay courters who had good groundstrokes but weren’t necessarily comfortable at the net. In the 1^st game of the match I got hit on the outside of my eye by a huge forehand. It was a scary moment but luckily I was ok after taking a medical timeout. We broke them at 2-all in the first set after my partner and I returned well. We held for 4-2 after saving 1 break point. Both teams held their next service games. At 5-3, we broke them at 30-40 to take the 1^st set 6-3. I thought we played pretty solid as we were taking care of our service games. At 2-1 in the 2^nd set we broke them again after my partner hit a return winner on the No-Ad point. We consolidated the break by holding for 4-1. At 5-3, we held on the Deuce point to take a solid 6-3, 6-3 win. We attacked the net and were the more aggressive team. We were set to play the team of Chappell/Bradley in the quarterfinals of doubles but Chappell got injured in his singles match so we got a walkover into the semis.

In the semis we faced off against the team of Goldhoff/Rapp. Goldhoff played college tennis at Texas and Rapp played at UCLA. This was a good team as they have big serves and have good hands at the net. They started out the match with a hold for 1-0. In our first service game we got broke on the No-Ad point after they hit a good return. They held for 3-0. We got on the board with a hold to make it 1-3. They held for 4-1 as they made a high percentage of 1^st serves and hit some quality serves. Both teams held their next service game to make it 2-5. We then held for 3-5. We had one break point but they saved it with a big serve. They won the first set 6-3. We got a few good holds to start the 2^nd set which made it 2-2. We then got broken on a No-Ad point after we were up 40-15 in the game. We had 2 break points in the next game but we were unable to convert. They held for 4-2. We each held our next service game which made it 3-5. My partner and I got broken at 30-40 and ended up losing the doubles match 3-6, 3-6. We didn’t return well enough and create enough opportunities. Credit to them for playing well and especially returning solid.

The next tournament was a $15K Futures that was held in Tucson, Arizona. It was held at the same venue where it was played last month. I played doubles with Mike Pervolarakis, who is from Greece. He also played college tennis at Portland. We faced off against the doubles team of Lu (Yale) and Gamble (Princeton). Both teams started off with the match with a few holds. At 2-3, we had to come back from 15-40 and saved 3 break points to get a big hold. They were serving well and not giving us many looks. At 4-all, we broke them on the No-Ad point after I hit a good return and my partner hit a volley winner. At 5-4, I was serving down 0-30 but we got it back to Deuce. I then hit a service winner down the T. We took the first set 6-4. There weren’t many opportunities in the 2^nd set as both teams were serving well. We had one break point at 3-3 but they saved it with a good serve. At 4-5, we held to even it at 5-all. We then had two break point chances but we were unable to convert. We held to send it to a 2^nd set tiebreak. My partner and I got up an early mini-break 3-1 after hitting a good return. They got it back on serve after we lost a tough point. At 3-all we hit a good serve to take a 4-3 lead. They then won both of their service points to take a 5-4 lead. Then it was our turn to win our service points after my partner hit two good serves. At 6-5, there was a long point until they finally missed a volley after we hit a lob. We won a close match 6-4, 7-6(5). It was some good doubles that was dominated by the server with there being only one break.

In the first round of singles I faced off against Isaiah Strode. He has been ranked as high as #929 and is from San Diego, California. He is an aggressive baseliner who likes to rip the ball and be on offense. He has a big forehand along with a solid serve. He broke me in my first service game to go up an early break and consolidated it for 2-0. We both held our next service game which made it 1-3. He played a good return game with some big shots to break me again to go up 4-1. At 2-5, I returned better and was aggressive on some 2^nd serve returns to get one of the breaks back. I held to make it 4-5. He played a solid game to close out the first set 6-4. I got a few good holds to open the 2^nd set. At 2-1, I attacked him and hit a few good returns to go up a break. I consolidated and held for 4-1. He held which made it 4-2. I then saved two break points in my next service game before holding for 5-2. I broke him one more time to take the 2^nd set 6-2. Unfortunately I didn’t get a good start in the 3^rd set as he broke me at 15-40. He held to go up 2-0. We each held which made the score 1-3. My opponent continued to play well and broke me again. He was making a high percentage of 1^st serves to go  up 5-1. I held my serve to cut it to 2-5. I then had one break point but he saved it with a good serve. I lost a tight match 4-6, 6-2, 2-6. My level was a little too erratic as I thought I played a good 2^nd set. It hurt me to lose my momentum and get broken early in the 3^rd.

In the quarterfinals of doubles, my partner and I played against the team of Goldhoff/Rapp. It was the same team I lost to in the previous tournament although it was with a different partner. We got broken right away and were in a 0-3 hole. Our opponents came out playing at a high level and returning well. We held to cut their lead to 1-4. However they broke us one more time before closing out the first set 6-1. My partner and I knew we had to raise our level and just focus on holding our serve. We got a few good holds to start the 2^nd set. At 2-all, we had one break point on their serve but they saved it. Both teams continued to hold fairly easily as there were few chances. At 4-all, we got a solid hold to take a 5-4 lead. They held for 5-5 in the next game. We held on the Deuce point after my partner hit a good serve to go up 6-5. We then had two set points on their serve. They saved the first with a good 1^st serve and then we had a good look on the 2^nd one but were unable to convert. Our opponents got up an early mini break 3-1. They then won the the next point to take a 4-1 lead. We split the two points on our serve as they hit a great return. At 2-5, they closed out the next two points with some big serves. We lost the match 1-6, 6-7(2). The 2^nd set was very tight as we almost got it to a 10-point tiebreak.

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