Tuesday 29th November 2011
After another rain interrupted day it was Jack that ended up with a win while the two girls came up against two very tough opponents.
As the matches were so staggered today we ended up with 3 separate warm ups which kept me on my toes but also gave me a chance to hit some balls too! Julia was scheduled to be first match on so I joined her for breakfast at 7.45am before going through her physical warm up with her just after 9am. We then had a really good match warm up from 9.30 – 10am; it was actually the best I’d seen Julia hit the ball and considering she’d never played on red clay before this trip her game has really developed in the last two weeks.
As we finished Mia was going through her warm up and then I hit with her from 10.30 – 11am where we not only went through her pre-match hitting but we also addressed some specifics from her match yesterday. After we’d finished I met back up with Julia but just as we started to talk about the match it started to rain quite heavily and play was suspended.
In the next few hours the rain kept falling which gave us the chance to go back up to the Italian restaurant for a great lunch and then when we were done the players had the chance to get on with some school work. By 2pm the rain was starting to ease off and the local children helped to dry up the courts with lots of massive sponges – a messy job but very effective!. We thought it was going to take ages to dry but all of the tournament officials and helpers did a great job to clear the puddles and get the courts fit for a 2.30pm start. The scheduled had now changed with both Mia and Julia being 2nd round on after 2.30pm and Jack wasn’t far behind as all four players were out of the singles and ready to play their doubles.
Jack was next up for his pre-match warm up with Jack Oswald and a couple of the other WIN Tennis Academy players where they also managed to get a good set of doubles in too. As we finished Mia’s court was getting close to the end of their match so I had a good chat with her and set her match goals before she went on.
Mia was playing 5th seed Janet Koch from South Africa and from the start it was obviously that Janet was just going to be too strong and too experienced but that didn’t mean that Mia couldn’t still improve and develop her game. After losing the first set 6-1 Mia had game points in each of the next three games but they didn’t go her way and she ended up going down 6-1, 6-0. It was a very hard working and professional performance from Mia despite struggling to find her best form but she was very proud of her attitude and can set her sights on being at that level or above this time next year.
Julia had an equally tough match as she took on top seed Lynn Kiro from South Africa who is ranked inside the top 150. In the first set Julia struggled to test Kiro as she was going for too much which consequently lead to too many unforced errors. It’s sometimes the player’s thought process that they have to go out against the top seeds and blow them off the court but it normally results in errors which makes it even easier for their opponents. After losing the first set 6-0 Julia calmed down and started to play some very smart tennis working Kiro side to side and waiting for the opportunity to hit the harder flatter ball. This had an immediate effect and Julia’s level increased significantly even though the score line might not suggest it. In the end Julia went down 6-0, 6-1 but in the second set she served at 59% (a big improvement from last week), had three games in the set where there were more than 12 points in each game, had game points in 3 games and hit a total of 15 winners – as always there are lots of positives to take from even the toughest of losses.
Due to the girls both being on for singles I missed the whole of Jack and Jack’s doubles but I was getting regular updates from the WIN Tennis team and they did very well to get through to the Last 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
After everyone was done he went back to the hotel to stretch out and change before getting a taxi to the Havana restaurant for dinner. Tough day with two singles losses but the girls learnt a lot and I know the improvements they’ve made over the last two weeks will help them in their upcoming matches when they compete next. Jack had a great win and now plays for his first ITF points tomorrow!
Schedule for tomorrow:
(4) M Mohamed Hatem (EGY) & Gabra’el Teja (KEN) vs Jack Large (GBR) & Jack Oswald (GBR) – 3rd match on after 9am, not before 11.30am
Mia Smith (GBR) & Julia Weisel (USA) vs Lesedi Jacobs (NAM) & Elizabeth Kapari (GHA) – 5th match after 9am
