Tuesday 19^th November 2013

It was a tough day for us in Liverpool today as Alex went down against big serving Harry Simpson and then had a very close loss in the first round of the doubles.

After packing up and checking out of our Travelodge we arrived at the tennis centre at 7.30am this morning to go through our physical warm-up before we got on our practice court at 8am. Normally at ITF events the practice time is 30 minutes but as this event is indoors, and only has 5 available courts, the tournament has to reduce it to 20 minutes. We still had a good practice session and by the time we finished Alex was all set for his first round match.

In the time before Alex went on court, we talked through his tactics and made sure that he was clear on his goals and then at 9am it was game time!

We had watched Harry in his final qualifying match on Sunday but the level he produced in the first set was much higher than we had expected. Alex started the match a little defensively whereas Harry flew out of the blocks and took control from the very first game. After holding serve, Harry broke Alex and then held serve again with some huge swinging serves and big groundstrokes to take a 3-0 lead. Alex wasn’t doing much wrong apart from not taking some chances that he had and the set was mainly down to the level that Harry produced – which was just too good! Harry took the first set 6-0 in about 20 minutes and his stats read 12 winners and 3 unforced errors – not bad!!

At the start of the second set Alex increased his intensity and broke Harry for the first time but unfortunately he couldn’t hold onto his serve. Then at 1-1* Harry took advantage of some cheap points from Alex and went on to take a 4-1* lead. At this stage things looked very bleak for Alex but he kept fighting and produced some of his best tennis over the next 4 games but he just couldn’t string enough quality points together to get a break back. In the end, after holding twice in the second set, Alex went down 6-0, 6-3. He was obviously disappointed with the result as he had chances in the second set but a lot of credit has to go to Harry who hit 28 winners in the 15 games played.

After a long break where we got some lunch and went through the details of the match, Alex and Polish partner Maksymilian Raupuk went on court at 3.45pm for their first round match with Jonathan Gray and Jack MacFarlane.

The first set was an extremely close affair; there were a total of 3 breaks and Alex was the only player on the court who held serve throughout. Alex was also returning well (didn’t miss a 1^st serve return in the whole set) and moving well at the net but despite taking a *5-3 lead our boys couldn’t close it out. In the end the set went to a tie-break and after going 6-4 down it was looking like Alex and Maks were in a bit of trouble. However, they played some of their best tennis to win the next 4 points in a row and take the set 7-6(6).

The second set was also very close and in total there were 6 sudden death deuce games of which Alex and Maks only managed to win 2 of them. After going 4-1* down Alex and Maks fought back to level the set at 4-4* and then had two break points but failed to convert on either of them. It was looking like another tie-break was on the cards but at *5-6, with Alex serving, there was another sudden death deuce point and a poor decision to go line off a tough ball cost our boys the set.

Going into the match tie-break I would have said that Alex and Maks were the favourites to take the match but Jonathan and Jack really upped their games at the start of the set and raced to a 5-0 lead. Alex then held his two service points but Jonathan and Jack responded by winning 5 out of the next 6 points to take the match tie-break 10-3.

Out of the two matches the doubles was definitely the hardest loss to take as Alex and Maks were definitely capable of winning the match but as always there are lots of positives to take from both matches.

After cooling down and stretching out Alex and I got back on the road for a long drive back to Kent.

 

2013 has been a good year of international events for the ITC team; we had our first ITF singles and doubles champions and saw numerous players increase their ITF rankings. Holly Hutchinson deserves a particular mention as in the last 12 months she has gone from playing her first ever event (Mombasa 2012) with no ranking to now being ranked 362 in the world – keep up the hard work Holly and good luck for 2014!

The first event of 2014 will be to Czech Republic for the Grade 4 U18 ITF, for more information please click here – www.itc-tennis.com/tournament-information/trip-factsheets

Monday 18^th November 2013

It was another good day of preparation today and we also managed to have a tour around one of the two Premier League football clubs here on Merseyside.

As we knew that Alex would play his singles match first on tomorrow we decided to have a more relaxed start to the day. After an 8am breakfast we got to the tennis centre at around 9am and then I spent some time watching the matches while Alex arranged a doubles partner. Alex then warmed up at 10am for his practice session with Tom Wright from 10.40 – 11am.

As there is only one practice court at the centre, each session is limited to 20 minutes but despite that Alex found a good level early on and maintained it throughout his time on court. He then had a little break before he was back on court with Luke Simeone to go through a bit of drilling and then play some points to make sure he was ready for his match tomorrow.

We had planned to train again in the afternoon but because some of the courts were moving slowly the referee decided to use court 6 as a match court from 1pm. As soon as we found that out we decided to sign up to one of the three Everton FC stadium tours that the tournament was giving the players / coaches free of charge.

It was a great opportunity to get away from the tennis centre for a couple of hours and see something different so we went for the 12.30pm tour and we weren’t disappointed! We started by having a chat Harry (one of the guides) who told the players about the Everton football academy and the type of training that players from 7 years old to 16 years old go through each day. He then showed us the rest of the club while talking through the club’s history . . .

Before ending the tour with a visit to the Home dressing room . . .

And finally walking down the tunnel and out to the side of the pitch.

When we returned to the tennis centre there were still no practice courts available so we decided to get some lunch and then watch some more of the first round matches. Alex then completed his injury prevention programme and we ended our day onsite by watching an exhibition doubles match with Ken and Neal Skupski.

Ken and Neal are from Liverpool and have been one of the most successful British doubles teams this year. Ken is currently ranked 77 in the world but has been as high as 44 and Neal (who only last year finished college in America) is ranked 87. The exhibition was great for the players to see and hopefully Alex will move like the brothers did when he plays his doubles tomorrow!

For dinner tonight Alex and I were joined by Holly Horsfall, her sister Debbie and fellow Kent boys Craig Allen, Tom Wright and James Davis. It was another good meal at ASK and as always the cards were out which meant forfeits all round!

Schedule for tomorrow:

(Q) Harry Simpson (GBR) (UNR) vs Alex Hagon (GBR) (1096) – 1^st match at 9am

Jonathan Gray (GBR) & Jack MacFarlane (GBR) vs (4) Alex Hagon (GBR) & Maksymilian Raupuk (POL) – 5^th match after 9am

Sunday 17^th November 2013

Today marks the start of the last ITC trip of 2013 and for once I do not have to get on an aeroplane to go to the tournament!!

I picked Alex Hagon up from Orpington this morning at 9am and we started the 250 mile journey to Liverpool. Luckily for us the motorways were clear and after a quick stop to get some lunch at 11am we ended up arriving at the tennis centre in Liverpool just before 1pm.

When we arrived we were told by the referee that the practice court had to be used for matches as they were running behind so we decided to head to the hotel via the supermarket to stock up on food.

After speaking to the referee a few times during the afternoon we realised that it would be difficult to get an indoor court to practice on until much later in the day. I contacted another local indoor tennis centre to see if we could use a court there but the earliest court they had available was at 7pm! Therefore, we decided to go back over to the tennis centre to sign in, get some food and then wait until a court became free.

Space at the tennis centre is a little tight this week but to make a little more room for the players they have decided to use one of the courts as a player lounge / restaurant – a very good decision in my opinion. Due to the lack of space, Alex and I warmed up outdoors and then it was a bit of a scrum down to get on a court! Luckily Alex and Tom Wright raced onto court 2 after the last match had finished so they had a really good 40 minute practice session.

After the session Alex cooled down and stretched out and while he was doing that the main draw was released:

We ended up leaving the tennis centre just before 8pm and made our way straight into the centre of the city to get some dinner at ASK. It was then back to the hotel for a bit of “I’m A Celebrity” before it was time for bed.

As Alex is playing a qualifier he will play on Tuesday so tomorrow will be another day of preparation.