Dubrovnik Dub Bowl, Day 6

Friday 15^th July 2022

It was a busy day for the team today as both Isla and Taylor had a singles and a doubles match and we’re now at the stage of the event where if you lose you are eliminated!

For the first time in 5 days of competition we didn’t have to be up at 5:30am … instead we had a lie-in until 6:30am! This was because Taylor was in the first round of matches at Tenis Klub Dubrovnik (which is the second venue they are using for the tournament) and they start at 9am whereas the main site has been starting at 8am each day.

We got all got a taxi over together at 7:30am and then Isla and Taylor were on court warming up by 7:45am.We then hit from 8-8:40am and went through a normal pre-match hit with more of a focus on volume of serves and returns for Taylor as he felt he had been struggling with those areas during the week. After the practice session we went through the player’s pre-match sheets and then at 9am Taylor went on court to face Maksymilian Witek from Poland.

Taylor started extremely well and easily found his best level of the week as he went 3-0 up in the first set but at that stage Maksymilian wasn’t about to roll over and give him the set. The next 3 games all went against Taylor as Maksymilian dominated the rallies from the back of the court, hitting 8 winners to take the set to a tie-break. Taylor dug deep at the start of the breaker and took a 6-2 lead but once again Maksymilian fought back and won the next 6 points in-a-row to take the tie-break 8-6.

Taylor was understandably very disappointed to let a 3-0 lead in the set and a 6-2 lead in the tie-break slip away from him but unfortunately he found it hard to let that go and focus on fighting back in the second set. He went 2-0 down at the start of the second set and despite breaking serve in the next game he went on to lose the set 4-1.

Not long after Taylor had finished, Isla went on court for her Last 16 Consolation Draw match against Melitina Kotlyarova from Latvia. Like Isla, Melitina had a tough qualifying group and, having seen her train a few times next to us, we knew she was a good player. The first two games were very close with some very high level hitting from both girls but it was Melitina who managed to edge both of them on sudden death deuce points. From that stage Melitina’s level increased and Isla got a little frustrated which resulted in the first set going to Melitina 4-0.

The second set was very similar to the first; both girls were trading with each other well from the back of the court but it was Melitina who managed to get a little more weight or a little more width in the rally. Despite going 3-0 down Isla continued to fight hard and managed to hold serve in the next game but Melitina finished the match off with 3 winners in the last game to win 4-0, 4-1.

Both singles matches were a little disappointing but the players tried their best and unfortunately just came up short against good opponents.

After Isla’s singles match, Taylor and Lex got a taxi to the main site as Taylor’s doubles was scheduled there not before 2pm whilst I stayed with Isla to wait for her 2^nd round doubles match.

Isla and Amina went on at just after 2pm to face the Maltese pair of Pippa Cutugno & Chloe Kuijt and Isla was very up for it after the disappointment of her singles! From the first game Isla and Amina played some very good doubles and they looked strong both at the back of the court and at the net which resulted in them winning the match convincingly 4-0, 4-0.

Once they had finished we jumped straight into a taxi to go to the main site hoping that Taylor hadn’t already finished his doubles!

When we arrived Taylor and Lorenz had just started the warm-up against Vlaho Petkovic from Croatia & Sergej Petrovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first set went by 4-0 in a flash as Taylor and Lorenz couldn’t cope with their physically stronger opponents. However,  an early hold of serve in the second set, followed by an immediate break saw our boys really settle into the match and go 2-0 up. They then managed to hold on despite some very good tennis from their opponents to take the set 4-2 and so it was a short tie-break to 7 to determine the winner.

Unfortunately Taylor and Lorenz did not start the breaker well and soon found themselves 3-0 down. They kept their heads high though and kept trying to find a way back but in the end their opponents were just a little better and they ended up winning 4-0, 2-4, 7-4.

It was a difficult day for Taylor and the loss in the doubles brings his tournament to an end but I think he’s improved massively from playing on the clay and has loved his first experience of competing internationally.

For dinner tonight we headed back to El Toro which is located half way between our apartments and then we finally gave in to Isla and Taylor’s constant requests all week to go down to the beach!

Schedule for tomorrow:

Korana Barisic (CRO) & Ana Marija Rebic (CRO) vs Amina Nurmakhan (KAZ) & Isla Smith (GBR)  – 9^th match after 8am