Sunday 1st July 2012
A solid performance today saw Dave win his opening matching in qualifying against Angus McCaul despite some difficult conditions and a tricky court surface.
Normally in qualifying the matches start quite early so everyone has to be on site beforehand to warm up on court but today was different as the tournament only had a few courts at 9.30am and it wasn’t worth getting there before if Dave wasn’t playing until closer to 3pm. We therefore decided to have a relaxed start to the day which included a fantastic farm cooked breakfast at 9am before we left for the club at 10am. On the way Dave decided he was going to wash his car at the petrol station and check the air in his tyres before we got to the club which also helped to kill a bit of time!
After a quick bite to eat we warmed up in the gym and then hit on the indoor courts from 1-1.30pm as all of the outdoor clay courts were either being used by the tournament matches or by the members. Dave then had some more food to make sure he was well fuelled before we sat down to discuss the tactics for the match. I’ve known Angus for many years and travelled with him when he was younger to Tennis Europe and ITF events so it’s fair to say I know his game pretty well – so you could say there was pressure on me to get the tactics right!!
Dave and Angus went on just after 2.30pm and from the start Dave took control of the match. He broke Angus’ serve in the first game and then again at 3-1* to take a solid lead in the match. Dave was working the ball well and making sure that Angus couldn’t get into a comfortable position to hit the ball during the rally. Dave held serve at 4-1 and then again at 5-2 to take the first set. A similar pattern occurred in the second set; Dave played well from the back of the court while Angus found it difficult to really get a strong strike on the ball resulting in Dave again taking a 5-2 lead. At this stage Angus played his best two games of the match to break and then hold while Dave’s level dropped a little. However Dave got his game back on track and served well to hold serve (despite being break point down) to take the match 6-2, 6-4. It was a good first round performance from Dave who made sure he pushed himself outside his comfort zone throughout the match which will hopefully help in his next round match tomorrow.
After the match we went straight up to the gym for Dave to cool down for 20 minutes on the bike before having a thorough stretch out. While he was doing that it was my turn for a workout so I jumped on the running machine for an hour to keep up with my own training for the Great North Run in September. We then went back to the hotel to shower and change before heading out to dinner with the other Chiswick boys.
Once we got back from dinner we sat down with some of the other players to watch a superb performance from the Spanish team to win Euro 2012 and then had an early night to prepare to a tough match tomorrow.
Schedule for tomorrow:
(WC) Dave Hodgetts (GBR) (UNR) vs (10) Harry Meehan (GBR) (1896) – 2nd match on after 9.30am
