Thursday 29th August 2013
It was another good day at the Tobago ITF today as Alex and Stefan came through a tough doubles ¼ final against Jesse Ruder-Hook and Jakub Wojcik from America.
After a more relaxed start to the day we met for breakfast at 8.30am and then Alex warmed up at the hotel from 9.30-10am. We then got the bus to the tournament site and had another good 1 hour training session with Stefan to get prepared for the doubles. By 11.30am both boys were looking very sharp and were eager to get on court for their ¼ final match.
At 12pm they went on court and immediately imposed themselves on the match by breaking Jakub in the first game. Stefan then held serve and the boys broke Jesse to take a strong *3-0 lead. The next few games were a bit up and down; Alex was broken at sudden death deuce, then the boys broke Jakub again before Stefan was the next player to give up his serve. At *4-3 the set was looking very close but Alex this time held serve at sudden death deuce and then the boys found good energy to up their levels and break Jesse to take the set 6-3.
The second set started in the opposite way to the first; Alex and Stefan went 0-3* down having both been broken and even though they managed to get one break back it wasn’t enough as Jesse and Jakub went on to take the set 6-2. In terms of doubles performance the second set was actually better than the first for Alex and Stefan as they moved more and finished more first volleys but Jesse and Jakub played well and deserved the set.
During the second set Alex and Stefan had been quite flat but at the start of the match tie-break they raised their energy levels and became a team once again. That made a massive difference to the quality of their play and they raced to a 6-0 lead. Jesse and Jakub managed to get back into the set and at 8-6 in was starting to look like it could go either way but some sharp play at the net and a good serve at the end from Stefan wrapped up the match 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.
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Alex & Stefan celebrating after winning match point
Even though it wasn’t the best of doubles matches in terms of executing their plays, the boys responded very well at the start of the 3rd set and definitely deserved to take the win.
After the match we had some lunch and then watched the other ¼ final match as we did think that we’d play the semi-final later in the day. However, by the time that Pedro and Gui had won their match it was almost 4pm and they felt too tired to play the semi-final. The decision was always going to be theirs as the match wasn’t on the schedule for today but yesterday they did say they’d want to play it if they won. Instead there will be the semi and final tomorrow.
When we returned to the hotel Alex and I went through his upper body strength and conditioning programme and then he stretched out to end a successful day.
I’m sure the staff at Ciao Café love the fact that we’re spending a lot of money there each evening but tonight we took over the whole restaurant and I’m sure it’s much busier than it normally would be! It was still another great meal and the fact that all of the players and coaches are getting on so well together is definitely a highlight of this trip.
After dinner a few of us walked back to the hotel and then we had an early night to get ready for the semi-final (and hopefully the final too!) tomorrow.
Schedule for tomorrow:
(3) Stefan Cooper (GBR) & Alex Hagon (GBR) vs Gui Gomes (USA) & Pedro Cavalcante (BRA) – 1st match at 9am
