Bulgaria/Greece/Singapore Futures Recap
I played two prize money tournaments at the end of April in
Southern California. The first one was the Yonex Cup Championships. I was
struggling with some right knee pain during this time and wasn’t quite at 100%.
I played my first round of singles against a pretty good 18-year-old junior
player. I didn’t play my best tennis but competed and came back to win 2-6,
6-4, 10-3. In my next round I played a guy who played college tennis at LSU. I
jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the 1st set but was unable to maintain
it and lost 4-6, 1-6. The next tournament was The Ojai 119th Annual
Open Tournament held in Ojai, California. My knee was feeling a lot better this
week. This is a really cool tournament as they have the Pac-12 college, junior
divisions, and open divisions all playing during the same weekend. In the 1st
round of singles I played a guy who played at Hawaii Pacific. He had one of the
biggest serves that I’ve played against. I played solid and was able to break
him a few times to take the victory 6-4, 6-4. I then played a guy who is one of
the top community college players. He will be playing at Cal-Berkeley next year.
He was a lefty with a big game. I went up 4-2 in the 1st set,
however my opponent played some good tennis to take the first set 6-4. I got up
an early break in the 2nd set and didn’t get broken as I took the
set 6-4. I got broken right away in the 3rd set and my opponent started
playing at a very high level. I lost a few close Deuce games and he took the 3rd
set 6-1. In doubles, I played with Miles Seemann who I’ve had success playing
with. We won our first 2 rounds 6-3, 6-1, and 6-3, 7-5 respectively. We then
played two guys who played at University of Denver. They took the first set 6-3
after just one break. Then in the 2nd set we broke back after being
down an early break. At 5-4, we had one set point on their serve but they saved
it with a high quality point. We ended up losing a tight match 3-6, 5-7 in the
semifinals of the doubles.
It was good to get a few matches under my belt before traveling
to play some Futures. I first headed to Europe for 3 weeks, playing one
tournament in Bulgaria and two in Greece. I played doubles with another
American, Vasil Kirkov. In our first doubles match it took us a few games to
get used to playing together. There were a few breaks in the first set as we
got broken twice. At 5-all, we broke them again before serving out the 1st
set 7-5. In the 2nd set we started to return well and got on them
early. We played a clean second set to take the match 7-5, 6-0. In singles I
played Kenneth Raisma (Estonia) who has a career high ranking of 650. He is a
big lefty who has a solid lefty serve and a good backhand. I broke him at 2-all
in the 1st set after playing a good return game. There weren’t any
other breaks until I would serve for the 1st set at 5-4. I ended up
getting broken in a long Deuce game. In the tiebreak my opponent got off to a
good start and I lost the first set 6-7(4). I wasn’t playing well in the
beginning of the 2nd set and found myself in a double break hole at
1-4. I played a few good return games and suddenly found myself up 5-4 after
winning 4 games in a row. I broke him again to take the 2nd set 6-4.
I didn’t get off to a good start in the 3rd set and my opponent
played some good tennis. I again was down 1-4 and had break points but my
opponent held to go up 5-1. He closed out the match in the next game and I lost
a tough match 6-7(4), 6-4, 2-6. In the quarterfinals of doubles my partner and
I faced off against a team from Ukraine/Bulgaria. The 1st set was tight
as each team broke one time. We saved one set point at 4-5 and held on a big
Deuce point. We played a great tiebreak and took the 1st set 7-6(4).
We went up 3-0 in the 2nd set and closed out the match 7-6(4), 6-2.
In the semifinals we played the Bulgarian team of Nedev/Dimitrov. We started
out the match playing well and broke to go up 3-0. We broke them again before
closing out the 1st set 6-1. The 2nd set was closer as
there was only one break in the 2nd set. We broke at 3-2. We played some
solid tennis to take the match 6-1, 6-3. In the finals we played the #1 seeded
Bulgarian team of Donski/Lazarov. We got broken at 2-all in the 1st
set after we got broken on a No-Ad point. They played the big points better
than us in the 1st set. We were 0 of 4 on break points and that was
the difference. They took the 1st set 6-4. My partner and I played a
good return game to go up 3-0 in the 2nd set. We raised our level and
got one more break to take the 2nd set 6-2. A 10-point tiebreak would decide the title.
We jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the tiebreak after hitting a few good
returns. We split our two service points to go up 4-1. My partner hit another
good return to give us a 5-1 lead. They held their service point which made it
5-2. We hit a pair of good 1st serves to go up 7-2. They won both of
their service points to cut our lead to 7-4. We responded by winning both of
our service points to go up 9-4. They won the next two points to make it 9-6. I
then hit a solid first serve and my partner put-away the volley. We took the
title after some solid doubles to take it 4-6, 6-2, 10-6! This was my first
doubles title of the year and the 3rd of my career.
The next tournament was held on the Greek island of Heraklion.
This was another $15k Future. The conditions played very fast as they were
older hard courts that hadn’t been resurfaced in awhile. In doubles, I teamed
up with Peter Bothwell, from Ireland. In our first doubles match we played a
team from Israel. At 1-all, we broke them for the first time in the match to go
up 2-1. However, we got broken right back in the next game. At 2-all we broke
them again before holding to take a 4-2 lead. We broke them one more time to
take the 1st set 6-2. The 2nd set was closer as it was
just one break. At 3-2 we broke them after playing a solid return game. We
closed out the match 6-2, 6-3 with a good 1st round performance. In
my first singles match I played against a Greek guy, Skorilas. He was an
aggressive baseliner who had a very good inside-in forehand. We each broke each
other a few times in the 1st set. At 4-all I broke him so I served
for the first set. Unfortunately I got broken and he evened it at 5-all. He
played a good tiebreak and I lost a tough first set 6-7(4). I got down 0-2 in
the 2nd set before finding my game. I broke him back to even it at
2-all. I started to play more aggressive and play the match on my terms. I
broke him again and got a hold to take a 4-2 lead in the set. I would close out
the 2nd set 6-4. I then jumped out to a fast 3-0 start in the 3rd
set. I remained focused on my game and stuck to my game plan. I broke him one
more time at 5-2 to take the match 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals of
doubles we played the Austrian team of Thiem/Trinker. This was the brother of
#3 ranked Dominic Thiem. Both teams held their first few service games to start
the match. At 3-2 we broke them on the No-Ad point to get the first break of
the match. That was all we needed as we closed out the first set 6-3. We broke
them in the 1st game of the 2nd set. At 5-3, we broke
them again to close out the match in straight sets. We played a solid match to
take it 6-3, 6-2. In my 2nd round of singles I played Pavel Shumeiko
from Ukraine. He is a lefty and a good 18-year-old junior. He has a good serve
and a really good backhand. At 2-all in the 1st set with break point
for me, I had a freak injury where I got my toe stuck in the netting between
the courts. He hit a lefty slice serve wide on the Ad court and my big toe got
tangled in the netting. I thought I may have broken my toe but it turned out to
just be a bone bruise. I lost that game and ended up getting broken in the next
game. My opponent took the 1st set 6-3. I also found myself down a
break 2-4 in the 2nd set. I battled back and broke him a few times
to take the 2nd set 7-5. I got broken in the 1st game of
the 3rd set. I then had a few break points but I was unable to
convert. At 1-3, I had a few more break points but he came up clutch on those
points. He broke me again and I ended up losing a tough one 6-7(4), 7-5, 1-6. I
was 0/6 on break points in the 3rd set and that was the difference.
In the semis of doubles we played the British duo of Story/Murphy. We broke
them at 3-all in the 1st set and both teams held their next few
service games. At 5-4 we served for the 1st set but they came up
clutch. They hit a return winner on the No-Ad point. The tiebreak was very
close as we took an early mini-break lead. At 4-3 we hit a good return to take
a 5-3 lead. However we then lost both of our service points after they hit two
good returns. They then hit an ace to take the first set tiebreak 7-6(5). Both
teams were holding fairly comfortably to start the 2nd set. We got
the first break of the set at 4-all. We again served for the set but we were
broken after having 3 set points on our serve. We would play another tiebreak.
They went up an early mini break at 4-2. We got it back on serve to make it
4-5. They went up 6-4 after a good serve. I hit a solid return to save the
first match point. My partner hit a good serve to even it at 6-all. They hit a
return winner right on the line to go up 7-6. They closed it out with an
unreturnable serve to take two tight sets 6-7(5), 6-7(6). That’s about as close
as a doubles match can be.
In the 2nd tournament in Greece I was struggling
with food poisoning. It was not ideal as I was not able to practice in the days
leading up to the tournament. I once again teamed up with Vasil Kirkov in the
doubles. In the 1st round we played a team from Belgium/Israel. We
broke them at 1-all in the 1st set. My partner and I continued to
play solid tennis and broke them again to take the 1st set 6-2. In
the 2nd set we broke them at 3-2 to take a 4-2 lead. We were serving
well and making a high percentage of 1st serves. We closed out the
match 6-2, 6-3 which was a good start. In singles I played Joshua Paris (Great
Britain) in the 1st round. He has a one-handed backhand and likes to
mix up the paces and use the slice. I had two break points in the 1st
game of the match but I didn’t convert either. He broke me right away and I
quickly found myself in a 0-3 hole. I held and got one break back to make it
2-3. However, he played a good return game and I got broken again. He held
which made it 2-5. I responded with a hold but I was unable to break him as he
took the first set 3-6. At 1-all, he broke me in the 2nd set to go
up an early break. Each of us got a few solid holds which made it 3-5. I then
got broken in a long service game to lose the match 3-6, 3-6. This was not my
best tennis that day but you can’t play well in every match. My partner and I
then got a walkover into the semis after one of the players we were supposed to
play against got injured. In the semis we played the team of Craig (USA) and
Bothwell (Ireland). This was a solid team as they both can play very aggressive
while they also have good hands at net. At 2-all, my partner and I broke on the
No-Ad point to get the first break of the match. That ended up being all we
needed. At 5-4, we came back from 15-40 and saved 3 break points to take the 1st
set 6-4. In the first game of the 2nd set we had two break points on
their serve but were unable to convert. We then got broken on our serve on the
No-Ad point after they hit a few good returns. We broke back in the next game
to make it 1-2. Our opponents continued to go for their shots and they were all
going in. We got broken again to go down 1-4. They would go on to break us one
more time to take the 2nd set 6-1. They used the momentum from the 2nd
set and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. We weren’t making a high enough percentage of
1st serves which was giving them a lot of looks at 2nd
serve returns. They were making almost all their 1st serves. We
switched sides with them leading 5-1. They hit a couple of unbelievable shots
in the 10-pointer so it was just too good from them. We lost 6-4, 1-6, 2-10.
I then travelled to Singapore for my next stretch of
tournaments. There were 3 $15k Futures hosted at the same site. Due to making
the semis of doubles in Greece, I only arrived one day before playing my first
match. It was a quick turnaround to get acclimated to the heat and humidity. I
played doubles during the 1st tournament with Takuto Niki, from
Japan. We played against the team of Chin (Malaysia)/Ng (Singapore). This was a
good doubles team who had good hands at the net and played solid doubles. We
got up an early break 3-1 in the 1st set but they broke back to make
it 3-2. My partner and I broke them again to go up 5-4 but we weren’t able to
serve out the set. Fortunately we played a good return game to break them right
back. We then closed out the first set 7-5. We had two break points at 1-all in
the 2nd set but we didn’t convert. They broke us and took a 4-1
lead. We broke back to make it 3-4. However, they broke us again and served out
the 2nd set 6-3. We had multiple break points in the 2nd
set but we couldn’t convert them. They got off to a quick start in the tiebreak
and took a 4-1 lead. They had a few lucky breaks go their way. We cut their
lead to make it 3-7, however they played a few good points to finish the match.
We lost a tough one 7-5, 3-6, 3-10. It was not a great match from me as I
really struggled with my serve and it took me some time to get used to the
conditions. In my first round of singles I played against Niki Reddy, who is
also from the US. He is a good baseliner who likes to drive his backhand fairly
flat. I got off to a strong start and broke him a few times to take a 4-1 lead.
At this point I was not feeling good at all and was struggling physically. My
opponent broke back to make it 4-3. I was able to get two more holds to close
out the first set 6-4. I then took a bathroom break and subsequently threw up
my breakfast. This actually helped as I started to feel better. I played
aggressive and tried to keep the points shorter. I broke for 4-1 in the 2nd
set and was serving pretty well. At 5-2, I broke him one more time to take the
match 6-4, 6-2. It was a good start and not an easy match to get through. In my
2nd round I played Siddhant Banthia, from India. He is a highly
ranked junior who will be playing at Wake Forest in the Fall. I was serving
well and attacking the 2nd serve return right from the start. I also
was finishing a lot of points at the net. I broke him once to go up 3-0. I then
got another break to take a commanding 5-0 lead. My opponent started to play
better and broke me once to make it 5-3. However, I closed out the first set
6-3. I then got an early break in the 2nd set. I was playing solid
tennis and picking the right opportunities to attack. I broke him again to go
up a double break. I closed out the match 6-3, 6-0 to advance to my first
quarterfinal in singles of the year. In the quarterfinals I played Hong Kit
Wong from Hong Kong. I didn’t play a good 1st set as I didn’t serve
well and made too many unforced errors. My opponent played very well in the 1st
set and took it 6-1. I got down a break 0-2 in the 2nd set before
starting to find my rhythm. I won 4 games in a row by playing more aggressive
and taking it to him. I closed out the 2nd set 6-3. In the 3rd
set I broke him in a long game at 2-all and went up a break 3-2. My opponent
took a medical timeout at this point and it seemed to help him. He played two
good games to go up 4-3. He then took another medical timeout. He played a good
return game and broke me before serving out the match. I lost 1-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Credit to him for playing well down the stretch, but I felt like I didn’t do
enough and served at too low of a percentage. Still a positive 1st
week in Singapore.
In my 2nd tournament in Singapore I teamed up
with an Australian in doubles, Harry Bourchier. We played against Susanto
(Indonesia)/ Alam (Singapore) in the 1st round. We got up an early
break 3-2 in the 1st set but they broke us back to even it at 3-all.
We played a great return game at 4-all and broke after a crazy 15-shot rally.
We served out the set in the next game to take it 6-4. We really started to
return well in the 2nd set and broke for a 2-0 lead. We continued to
play well and broke one more time. It was a good first match to take the
victory 6-4, 6-1. In my first round of singles I played against Hao Ng from
Singapore. He was a good baseliner who liked to hit his forehand from the
middle of the court while also returning well. I played a poor service game to
go down 0-2 in the 1st set. I started to play better and broke him
back to even it at 2-all. I continued my momentum to win 5 games in a row to go
up 5-2. He held to make it 5-3 before I served out the first set 6-3. It was
key for me to stay close to the baseline and use my backhand up the line to
keep him honest. He played a good return game to break me in the 1st
game of the 2nd set. There was a long 10-minute game on his serve
where I finally broke him back. We both traded holds in the next few games. At
3-3 I broke him to take a 4-3 lead. I then broke him one more time to take a
solid 6-3, 6-3 win. In the quarterfinals of doubles we played against the team
who won the tournament in the 1st week, Chin (Malaysia)/ Ng
(Singapore). At 1-all, we got broken in the 1st set after not making
many 1st serves in. We had a few break points in their service games
but we were unable to break back. They took the 1st set 6-4 after
only one break. At 1-all, in the 2nd set we broke them for the 1st
time with some good returning. Both teams held their next few service games. At
5-2, we broke them again to take the 2nd set 6-2. The 10-point
tiebreak was close throughout. It was tied 3-all as we changed sides. We went
up a mini-break 4-3. We then won both of our service points to go up 6-3. They
then won the next 3 points to even it at 6-all. We went up 7-6 and then split
the two points on their serve to go up 8-7. My partner hit a big 2nd
serve down the T to put us up 9-7. We battled through to take the match 4-6,
6-2, 10-7 to advance to the semis. In my 2nd round of singles I
played against David Susanto, from Indonesia. He was a crafty player who had a
one-handed backhand and solid volleys. We didn’t start until 7PM at night
because of the rain. This made the conditions very slow and heavy. My opponent
started off very strong and broke me in my first service game. He jumped out to
a 3-0 lead. I saved two break points in my next service game to make it 1-3. I
then broke him in a long Deuce game that went back and forth. I held for 3-all.
I started to find my rhythm and figure out how to play him. I started to be
more aggressive on my return and broke him for 4-3. I held for 5-3 by mixing
the spins on my serve as he had a good block return. I took the first set 6-3
after a good comeback. I broke him right away in the 2nd set. I was
playing solid tennis and held for 4-0. He held to make it 4-1. I then won the
last two games to win 6-3, 6-1 to advance to another quarterfinal. I played a
lot better after weathering his strong start. In the quarters of singles I
played Kunal Anand (India). He was an aggressive player who liked to take the
ball early. He also had great hands at the net. At 1-all in the 1st
set I broke him to go up 2-1. However, he broke me right back. I held to go up
4-3. I then broke him in a long game to go up 5-3. While serving for the set I
saved two break points before hitting an unreturnable serve to take it 6-3.
Both of us were holding fairly easily to start the 2nd set. He was
trying to shorten points and take big cuts. At 3-all, I played a solid return
game and hit two good passing shots to get the break. I played a poor service
game to get broken which evened the score at 4-all. He held to go up 5-4. I
held for 5-all. I responded with another good return game to go up 6-5. I
served out the match 6-3, 7-5 to advance to my first semifinal of the year. In
the semifinals of doubles we played against the Japanese duo of
Kawachi/Nishiwaki. They played 1 up/1 back doubles and ripped the ball from the
baseline. At 1-all, they broke us after playing a good return game. We had two
break points in the next two games but we didn’t convert. They broke us one
more time before taking the first set 6-2. We raised our level and started
moving more aggressively at the net. We broke them to go up 4-2. That was the
only break we needed. We served out the second set 6-3. My partner and I
started out strong in the tiebreak and took a 3-0 lead. They responded by
taking the next 5 points with some good tennis. It remained tight as we evened
the tiebreak at 7-all. We went up 9-7 and had two match points. They saved the
first with a volley winner. At 9-8 they hit a quality 2nd serve
return to make it 9-all. We went up 10-9 but our opponents came up with a
backhand winner. They ripped a groundstroke at us as we lost a tight one in
which we had three match points. The score was 2-6, 6-3, 10-12 with the margins
being very small. In the semifinals of singles I played against Aidan Mchugh
from Great Britain. He is ranked 497 in singles. He has a really good forehand
from the middle of the court and a good backhand slice. It was a strange start
to the match as neither of us were holding serve. The first six games of the
match were all breaks as the returner was returning well. My opponent served
for the first set at 5-4 but I saved three set points to even it at 5-all. In
the tiebreak he took a 3-0 lead. He was playing some good tennis along with a
few unforced errors from me. He ended up taking the 1st set 7-6(2).
I got right back to work as I broke him at 1-all in the 2nd set. I
saved a few break points to go up 3-1. I continued to play well and broke him
again before taking the 2nd set 6-1. In the 3rd set I got
broken at 1-all after being up 40-15 in that service game. My opponent then
held to take a 3-1 lead. He broke me again after I didn’t make many 1st
serves. I responded with a good return game and held to cut his lead to 3-4.
However, he held and then broke me again to take the match. I lost a 3 hour
battle 6-7(2), 6-1, 3-6 in the semis. Although this was a difficult loss, I
played some good tennis that week.
In the 3rd tournament in Singapore I played
doubles with Kovapitukted, from Thailand. In our first round of doubles we
played against Jesse Ross (who I played with at UC Davis) and Nkomba
(Australia). We broke and broke them at 1-all in the 1st set. My
partner and I were serving well and putting a lot of 1st serves in.
We broke them one more time to go up 5-2. We served out the first set 6-2. At
1-all in the 2nd set we got the break after hitting a good return on
the No-Ad point. However, they broke us back to even it at 3-all. We got
another break to take a 4-3 lead. We held and then broke them again after
playing some solid tennis. We took the victory 6-2, 6-3. In my first round of
singles I played against Anand, from India. He was the same player I played in
the quarterfinals in Week 2. I knew what to expect and came out playing well. I
raced out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st set. I was returning really well
and attacking the 2nd serve return. I ended up taking the 1st
set 6-1. The 2nd set was closer as he broke me at 1-all in the 2nd
set. I broke him back in a long game to even it at 3-all. I held for 4-3. I
then broke him at 30-40 to go up 5-3. I served out the match 6-1, 6-3 in the
next game. My partner and I got a walkover into the semifinals of doubles after
one of our opponents got injured. In the 2nd round of singles I
played against Delaney (Australia). He is a solid baseliner who makes a lot of
shots. I started off playing solid and moving the ball around. I again started
fast going up 3-0. I continued to return well and make it tough on him. I
played at a high-level in the first set and took it 6-0. The 2nd set
was tighter as he started to raise his level. At 2-all, I broke him to go up
3-2. However, he broke me to get it back on serve. I played a good return game
to go up 4-3. I then held for 5-3. At this point there was a 2 hour rain delay
as I was leading 6-0, 5-3 (30-all). I was two points away with my opponent
serving. After coming back out he held after winning two points on his serve. I
then got down 15-30 while serving at 5-4. But I responded and won the last 3
points to win the match 6-0, 6-4. In the semis of doubles, my partner and I
played against the Aussie team of Addison/Green. They both serve well and have
good volleys. They started off returning well and broke us twice to up a double
break 4-0 in the 1st set. We got one of the breaks back to make it
2-4. However they were serving well and they closed out the first set 6-3. In
the 2nd set we went up a break 4-1 after breaking them. We started
to play better and take care of our service games. At 5-2, we had one set point
on their serve but they hit an ace down the T. We then had three more set
points on my serve at 40-15 but we were unable to convert any of them. They
broke back to make it 4-5. They held for 5-all. My partner then got broken on
the No-Ad point to make it 5-6. They closed out the match in the next game and
we lost 3-6, 5-7. It was a bummer not to win that 2nd set as we had
a lot of chances. In the semis of singles I played the #1 seed from India,
Manish Sureshkumar. He is a counterpuncher who stands far behind the baseline
and defends at a high level. He doesn’t have the biggest serve but he returns
well. We both broke each other a few times early in the match. At 4-all, I
broke him to go up a break 5-4. I then hit a few good serves and closed out the
first set 6-4. In the first game of the 2nd set, I had 3 break
points on his serve but I wasn’t able to convert. I then got broken while being
up 40-15 on my serve in the next game. At 1-3 I broke back. I then held to make
it 3-all. He held for 4-3 and then played a good return game to break me and go
up 5-3. He would take the 2nd set 6-3. Because of the heat index
that day, we had a mandatory 10 minute break before the 3rd set. To
start the 3rd set, I was up 0-40 on his serve and had 3 break
points. On the 3rd one I hit a good approach and he hit a forehand
passing shot winner down the line. He ended up holding. I then got broken after
not playing a good service game. He held to go up 3-0. I then held to get on
the board at 1-3. In the next game I had 0-40 on his serve again but he came up
clutch and saved them. He broke me one more time before closing out the match.
I lost 6-4, 3-6, 1-6. He played well in the 3rd set and didn’t give
me much. The biggest difference in that 3rd set was that I was 0-6
on break points.
That concluded 6 weeks of tournaments in Europe and Asia. I
thought it was a positive trip as I got better towards the end of the trip and
was playing some solid tennis. Playing that many weeks in a row is a lot, and
it’s toughest mentally to always be ready to go after a lot of matches. I am now
back at home and training for the next couple weeks.
Upcoming Tournament Schedule:
July 15-21 - $25k Iowa City Futures
July 22-28 - $25k Champaign, IL Futures
"Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation." -Victor Frankl
Wonderful reports Alec. I read every word and enjoyed the write ups. God bless.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the next reports from Iowa and Illinois.