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Liverpool U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 3

Monday 17th November 2014

After two difficult matches in Qualifying, Toby and Alex caught a break today and the decision to stay an extra night to try to get into the doubles paid off.

I got a sense this morning that neither of the boys were that impressed with my training schedule for the day as we were up and out of the hotel by just after 6.30am!! We needed to get an early start because we didn’t have any booking priority on the practice courts due to neither of the boys playing today. That meant that we arrived at the tennis centre just before 7am but as the centre didn’t open to 7.30am we went across to the gym to warm up there.

Originally I thought that we’d only be able to get on a court from 7.30-8am as after that time all of the players with matches today should have needed the courts but we were very fortunate to be able to stay on the same court for an hour and a half. For the first 30 minutes we had the full court and were able to do a lot of specific work around Toby and Alex’s groundstrokes then from 8-9am our attention moved to their volleys and specific doubles work – we even managed to get a few full court serving points in at the end of the session!

It was a good training session where both boys worked hard but at 9am the really hard work began! As Toby and Alex lost in the Qualifying they both knew that their best bet for getting into the doubles would be to sign-in with a main draw player and they had 3 hours to make that happen!

After an hour Alex had 2 options for a partner; a Belgium and a Czech player but they would only stay for doubles if they won their opening singles match. Toby on the other hand had nobody! To be honest I felt as though Toby could had done more to find a partner so at 10.15am I bet him that I could find a partner for him before he does! Feeling extremely confident Toby took the bet and the challenge was on but, like my most coaches, I had a trick up my sleeve!

Once I had finished some work on the computer I went outside and called Matt Summers (who lost in qualifying yesterday) to see if he wanted to come back up to Liverpool to play doubles with Toby. His answer was a very firm “Yes” so job done! Even though Toby had lost the bet he was very grateful that he now had a partner but the twist to the tale is that by this stage Alex’s two options had both lost and so he was left with nobody!

After more asking around trying to find a partner I eventually came up with the idea of asking Anders (the tournament director) if there were any players he knew of that were looking for a partner and, with 5 minutes to go until the sign-in deadline, Alex partnered up with Thomas Kyle from Lancashire.

Boy’s Doubles Draw

With the stress of the morning over and both boys into the doubles we had some lunch and then I beat the pair of them at table tennis!!

Then at 1.30pm the three of us and Nell Millar went over to the Wirral Indoor Tennis Centre for our second training session of the day. The courts over there were excellent and at just £9 per hour it was a much better option than fighting for 30 minutes of training on half a court at the tournament site.

The session was mainly doubles specifics and all of us worked very hard to get into positions to finish as many points at the net as possible. That led to all of us getting ‘pinned’ at some point in the session but ‘pin of the day’ has to go to Toby who managed to get Nell ‘I’ve never been hit before’ Millar right on the top of the head!

After an hour and 15 minutes of very good training we had a little ‘Bounce’ tournament to cool down and then it was back to Liverpool to drop Nell off before Toby, Alex and I went to the train station to pick up Matt.

In was then off to our 3rd hotel of the trip which is right in the centre of Liverpool before heading out to dinner at 6.30pm.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(4) Jake Hersey (GBR) & Luke Oakley (GBR) vs Toby Huffer (GBR) & Matt Summers (GBR) – 3rd match after 9am

Alex Hagon (GBR) & Thomas Kyle (GBR) vs (3) Vuk Budic (USA) & Simon Carr (IRL) – 4th match after 9am

Liverpool U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 2

Sunday 16th November 2014

It was another difficult day for the team at the Liverpool Junior International today as Alex faced an inform George Hutchings from Lancashire.

As Alex was 3rd match on after 9am we met for breakfast at 6.45am and then packed up all our things as we’re moving hotels today. We then got over to the tennis centre for just before 8am so that both boys could have a full warm-up in preparation for their practice session from 8.30-9am.

Even though Alex has been training on clay in Spain for the last couple of months he’s adjusted to the pace of the indoor hard courts well and he found a very good level during the 30 minute pre-match session this morning. By 9am Alex had gone through everything that he needed to and we left the court to make way for the first round of matches of the day.

Before Alex went on for his match we got some food, went through his pre-match tactics and goals and then watched some of the other qualifying matches. While we did that Toby took himself off to the gym and went through his daily strength and conditioning programme. He then returned in time to watch and analyse his opponent from yesterday in his 2nd round match against Matt Summers.

As the 2nd match on Alex’s court was coming to an end we left Toby watching Aidan vs Matt to do some further warm-up and movement work to sharpen Alex up before he went on court for his match at 12pm.

We’d seen George play last week in Loughborough and also in his 1st round match yesterday so we knew that we needed to be aggressive and look to take his time away whenever possible. In the first game Alex pressed a little too hard during the rallies and ended up getting broken but after a 20-point second game, where Alex had numerous game points, he found his range and looked to be clear on exactly how he needed to play to beat George. Unfortunately George took that game and with it his confidence and level of playing increased which led to him taking the 1st set 6-0.

Even though Alex didn’t get a game on the board in the first set it was still very competitive and the set lasted 41 minutes. The second set continued to be close in terms of the score in each game but whenever Alex got into a winning position he either over-pressed and missed or George would step up and play very good tennis to win the point. Alex continued to fight hard throughout the set and managed to hold serve at *0-4 but George was just too good on the day and went on to win the match 6-0, 6-1 in 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Straight after the match Alex and I sat down to debrief and we both came to the same conclusion that tactically Alex had played the match pretty well but he just needed to play the big points a little better.

Once we’d eaten some lunch we went to our new hotel to check in and then returned to the club at 4pm to warm up for our second training session of the day. Due to the main draw players having the priority on the indoors bookings we were relegated to the outdoor courts but that didn’t stop Toby and Alex from working very hard and putting in an excellent hour of training.

Toby and Alex battling the cold conditions on the outdoor courts this evening

After the session the boys showered and changed at the club and then we headed straight into Liverpool for dinner at ASK. It was then back to the hotel to watch the start of ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!’ and then get an early night because it’ll be and early start for practice tomorrow.

Liverpool U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 2

Saturday 15th November 2014

As Alex had a Bye in his opening singles match it was down to Toby today to join him in round 2 but first he had to get passed a tough opponent in Aidan McHugh from Scotland.

We all met for breakfast this morning at 6.45am and then left the hotel at 7.30am to take the relatively short 20 minute across Liverpool to the tennis centre. We were one of the first to arrive this morning but as it got closer to 8am the courts started to fill up and so the boys were relegated to the side of court 2 to finish their physical warm-ups. At just before 8.20am Toby and Alex took to court 4 to go through a very good pre-match practice session where both of them found a good level and by 9am Toby felt well prepared for this match.

Between when we finished the practice and when Toby went on for his match we got some food, relaxed and played a little table tennis before going through Toby’s pre-match preparations and warm-up.

Then at 11.50am Toby went on court to face Aidan McHugh from Scotland. We didn’t know anything about Aidan before the match but as the match progressed it was obvious that the 14 year old was a very good player and during the match I was told that he’d won almost everything there was to win at a British U14 level!

Toby and Aidan warming up for their 1st round match

As the 1st set started to develop Toby matched anything that Aidan threw at him and raised his level on numerous occasions when the games started to get close. Both boys were playing at a very high level throughout the set and apart from a very close game at *4-4 neither of them looked as though they were ever going to lose their serves. As the set moved into a tie-break it was very hard to find anything between either player but it was Toby that got a mini-break on the second point and then managed to extend his advantage to take a 5-2 lead. Aidan managed to claw back a couple of points but Toby stayed strong and continued to play some very aggressive tennis to eventually take the first set 7-6(4) after an hour and 15 minutes.

Both boys had a toilet break at the end of the set and when they returned it was Aidan that got out of the blocks the fastest while Toby seemed to struggle to find his first set form. Aidan broke in the second game and went on to hit 8 winners and only 6 unforced errors in the set to take it 6-0 despite Toby having game points in the first two games.

The start of the third set was more like the first set with both boys matching each other from the back of the court; Toby was 40-15* up on Aidan’s serve in the opening game but Aidan then reeled off 5 winners in a row before Toby responded well with a good service game of his own. Toby was broken when serving at *1-2 but each game was still very close and if Toby could have converted his game point at *1-4, *40-30 then the score line might have been a lot closer. Unfortunately Toby lost the advantage in that game and Aidan played a very good service game to hold and take the match 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-1.

Toby was obviously disappointed with the result but he competed hard throughout and there’s never any shame in losing to a player who maintains a high level like Aidan did over a match lasting just over 2 hours and 40 minutes.

After Toby and I debriefed the match I was back on court with Alex for his second training session of the day from 3.30pm until around 4.15pm.

It was great to see all the courts busy with players practicing after the matches this afternoon

Alex trained this afternoon with Sam Ferguson and the session was mainly point based to prepare both boys for their 2nd round matches tomorrow. By the time Alex finished he was striking the ball great and looking forward to getting stuck into the tournament tomorrow!

Once both Toby and Alex had cooled down we headed back to the hotel to change and relax for an hour before dinner. We then headed into Liverpool at 6pm for dinner at Nandos and then it was straight back to the hotel for an early night.

Schedule for tomorrow:

(3) Alex Hagon (GBR) (1771) vs George Hutchings (GBR) (UNR) – 3rd match after 9am

Winner to play a 2nd match after rest.

Liverpool U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 1

Friday 14th November 2014

As International Travelling Coach approaches its 4th Birthday at the end of next week it is once again time for the last trip of the year and I couldn’t think of a better place to have it than in Liverpool! This tournament will be the 69th international tournament that I have been to since starting International Travelling Coach at the end of 2010 and it will be the 180th international event that I have coached players at – hopefully next year will see my 200th international tournament!

Following a very good two days at the Loughborough British Tour event with Toby Huffer and Alex Hagon, we left Loughborough early this afternoon for the two hour journey to Liverpool. Alex joined Toby and I in training on Wednesday before we left for the British Tour event and it was great to have him back on a trip after spending the last couple of months training in Spain.

Despite the relatively short journey to Liverpool it didn’t stop Alex dozing off shortly after we left:

Doesn’t he look so peaceful?!!

… Or Toby taking selfies!

It’s much better when they’re sleeping!!

At least Toby did manage to take a good one of the Silver Jubilee Bridge over the River Mersey:

At 3.30pm we arrived at the tennis centre in Wavertree and the boys went straight into their physical warm-ups before having a very good training session for an hour. The boys spent the first 30-40 minutes getting used to the courts, drilling and warming up each part of their games and then finished the session with some point play.

Alex and Toby playing some points at the end of the session this afternoon

After cooling down and stretching out we left the centre at just after 5.30pm and went back to the hotel to shower and change before meeting up with the My Tennis team for dinner.

Coming to the event was a little bit of a gamble for Toby as he was 11th Alternate this morning but when the sign-in closed at 6pm he was easily inside the cut-off and there were in fact 5 byes in Qualifying!

I always say it but it does surprise me when the British ITF events do not have full draws, in this case however, it actually helped us out!

Boy’s Qualifying Draw

Schedule for tomorrow:

Aidan McHugh (GBR) (UNR) vs Toby Huffer (GBR) (UNR) – 3rd match after 9am

 

ABOUT I.t.c.

Since 2010 my aim has been to make it more affordable to travel to international tournaments with a coach. Over the past 20 years I have coached players at over 250 international tournaments ranging from U12 Tennis Europe events to a semi-finalist at a Grand Slam.

 

For more information please click here.

contact

Rob Smith

Tel: +44 (0) 7866 362251

Email: rob@itc-tennis.com

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