Sunday 6^th July 2014

Toby had another close 3 set singles match today but even though he put in a good performance, he unfortunately came off second best!

As it was Sunday the breakfast at the B&B didn’t officially start until 8.30am so we helped ourselves to cereal, toast, yoghurts and juice and then left to get the bus at 7.45am. That gave us enough time to get over to Craiglockhart and warm up ready for our 8.30am practice.

Originally Toby was going to hit with me for the session but Main Draw number 2 seed Tom Wright was available and looking to train so I got bumped! Toby and Tom had a very good pre-match hit and after Toby had warmed up everything there was still 5 minutes left so the boys played some points. That gave Toby a chance to work on the things we had discussed after his match late last night but weren’t able to get back on court until this morning.

At 9am the 1^st round of matches went on court so we relaxed and got some food while making sure we kept track of the scores on Toby’s court.

As the first match on court 5 finished we went back over the details from Toby’s match yesterday and then put together our game plan for today. We had watched Angus Bradshaw play the whole of his 1^st round match so we knew what to expect and also knew that Toby needed to raise his level from yesterday.

At 12pm Toby and Angus went on court and, like the 3^rd set yesterday, the first 5 games all went against serve! Toby was the first to hold and in doing so he took a 4-2* lead by playing some aggressive tennis from the back of the court. Unfortunately Angus responded well and raised his level while Toby became a little more passive which resulted in Angus winning the next 4 games in a row to take the 1^st set 6-4.

Apart from a period of a lot of unforced errors in the last few games of the set, Toby hadn’t done a lot wrong and once he realised that he couldn’t afford to give Angus cheap points he suddenly took control of the 2^nd set. At 3-3* Toby broke serve, held with 4 out of 4 first serves and then broke again to take the set 6-3 and leave him with stats of 9 winners and only 8 unforced errors in the whole set – a big improvement from 8 winners and 25 unforced errors in the 1^st set!

I knew the 3^rd set was going to be a real battle and Angus came out firing in the first game after a toilet break. Toby matched him for the first couple of games but then Angus’ strength showed as his winner count increased significantly and he raced to a 5-1 lead. Toby kept fighting though and held and then broke for the first time in the set but Angus broke straight back with 3 winners in the final game to take the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in just over 2 hours.

Despite the disappointment of the loss Toby was pleased that he had raised his level from yesterday and knows exactly what he needs to do now to be ready for the Queenswood ITF which starts next Saturday.

Once Toby had cooled down and stretched out he got some food and we headed back to the B&B. While Toby watched the tennis I went for an hour long run in the pouring rain to keep up with my training for the Great North Run. I only managed to get lost twice (!!) but eventually found my way back to the Canal by the tennis centre and then back to the B&B in time to watch the end rest of the Men’s final from 5-5 in the 4^th set.

We’ll head back to London tomorrow morning and then get straight back on court on Tuesday to prepare for Queenswood next weekend.

Saturday 5^th July 2014

We were the first at the tennis centre this morning and the last to leave tonight but it was all worth it as Toby fought very hard to come through his Qualifying 1^st round match.

To secure a practice court this morning we got up early and got the 6.48m bus from outside our Bed and Breakfast which got us to the tennis centre at just before 7am. As we started to warm up on the court the Groundsman shouted across from Centre Court to tell us that we were too early to be using the courts! In 15 years of travelling to international tournaments I’ve never been told that before!

We were eventually allowed to use the court at 7.30am and Toby and I had a very good 30 minute practice session to get him prepared for his match. We then left the site at just after 8am to get the bus back to the B&B and have a well-deserved breakfast.

Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent at the B&B as we had a ‘not before’ time of 3pm for Toby’s match. At 12.30pm had lunch at Zizzi’s and then made our way back to the tennis centre at around 2.15pm so that we would have enough time to go through our pre-match preparations before Toby went on court.

After a bit of a delay Toby eventually went on court at 4.45pm to face fellow Brit William Barrett. Toby started very well hitting 6 winners and 0 unforced errors in the first 3 games to take a 3-0 lead but then a lapse of concentration and an increased level from William saw the set levelled at *3-3. Toby then played a good 2 games to hold and break to take a 5-3 lead and even though he was broken while serving for the set, he broke straight back to take it 6-4.

Toby raced to a 2-0 lead at the start of the 2^nd set and it looked as though he was going to go on to take the set 6-0 but William fought back to win the next 3 games in a row. From that stage the set became very scrappy; both boys were struggling to find a consistent enough level from the back of the court and both were finding it difficult to hold serve. William eventually took a 5-3 lead but Toby worked hard to save a set point a 4-5* and despite levelling the set at 5-5, he went on to lose the next 2 games and the set 7-5.

The 3^rd set was much the same as the 2^nd but this time the first 8 games of the set went against serve!! Both Toby and William were returning well but just couldn’t find enough first serves when it really mattered and the number of double faults from both players increased significantly as the set went on. As the match time reached 2 hours 30 minutes Toby decided enough was enough and at *4-4 he played one of the best games of the match to hold serve for the first time in the set. He continued to find a good level in the next game and on his first match point he made no mistake taking the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 after 2 hours 40 minutes.

It wasn’t a great match from either player but Toby managed to dig deep and get through it which gives him another chance to improve tomorrow in the next round.

After sweeping the court and collecting the balls Toby left the court just after 7.30pm! We then cooled down and had a very good stretch out while debriefing the match before getting the bus back to the B&B.

We needed a quick dinner tonight so we headed to Nandos for some chicken and rice and then went back to the B&B for an early (ish!) night.

Schedule for tomorrow:

Angus Bradshaw (GBR) (UNR) vs Toby Huffer (GBR) (UNR) – 3^rd match after 9am

Winner to play in the Last Round of Qualifying after rest.

 

Friday 4^th July 2014

Happy Independence Day to all of my America friends / followers!

After spending the last 5 weeks working with a senior player over the grass court season it was back to the ITC schedule and the first stop of the summer is the Edinburgh ITF.

Toby Huffer and I got the train from Bexley to Edinburgh yesterday so that we could have a full day training on the clay today before the Qualifying of the ITF starts tomorrow. When we left home Toby was 35^th Alternate but I always say to players and parents that it’s worth going and signing in for the British events as even Edinburgh is only 4-5 hours away by train.

Toby and I had a good breakfast at 8am this morning and then headed over to the Craiglockhart Tennis Centre at 9am to try and get a morning practice in before the rain came down that was forecast for midday.

After a good warm up we worked hard for an hour and 15 minutes through the drizzling rain that always seems to be apparent at this tournament! I hadn’t been on court with Toby since the two ITFs in Namibia back in May but it was good to see that his hitting level and his work rate has improved over the past six weeks. The morning session was very general so that Toby could get a feel for the ball and get used to the Green Clay courts. Once he had found a good level with all of his shots we ended the session and went to the gym to cool down and stretch out.

While we had lunch we sat by the courts watching some of the LTA Grade 2 tournament finals and then at 2.30pm we headed over to the other side of the tournament site to warm up for our 2^nd session of the day.

Toby decided that he wanted to play a lot of points so that he felt sharp for tomorrow and he said there’s no better way than playing a practice set with me (I think he really wanted to get some revenge for our set in Namibia!!). After a tight first 3 games where Toby had both game and break points I ended up sneaking a 2-1 lead, but then I managed to break and hold to move 4-1 ahead. Toby continued to play some aggressive tennis and won the next two games to get the set back on serve but as the rain got heavier I somehow broke back and then held to take the set 6-3! The level of the set was good and I was happy with the way Toby played throughout.

We headed to the gym again after the session so that Toby could cool down and stretch out while I got stuck into some very tough intervals on the running machine to keep up with my training for the Great North Run in September.

Just before we left the club we checked to see how many players had signed in for Qualifying and were told that it would Toby would be very close to the cut off but if more players signed in then he might miss out.

Over dinner we found out that exactly 32 players had signed in so everyone that signed in got in which made it well worth taking the gamble to come! Here’s the draw:

After dinner we headed to the Games Arcade at the Bowling Alley in Fountain Park for a couple of games at Air Hockey and some very competitive racing car games – despite losing at Nascar I was pleased to take Toby down at Outrun!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Toby Huffer (GBR) (UNR) vs William Barrett (GBR) (UNR) – 6^th match after 9am