Tobago U18 ITF Grade 5, Day 8

Friday 30^th August 2013

Our event came to an end today as Alex and Stefan went down 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the doubles to the solid pairing of Gui Gomes (USA) and Pedro Cavalcante (BRA).

Once again we had to go through our physical warm up at the hotel at 7.15am as the 7.45am bus wouldn’t have given us enough time before our practice session at 8am. When we arrived on site we met up with Stefan and then the boys had a good 30 minute hit to warm up everything before their match. There was then just a short break before they took to the court at 9am for the semi-final.

We knew the match today was going to be tough after watching Gui and Pedro take out the number 2 seeds yesterday and the main objective was to control the net and move early in the rally before they got a chance to. Unfortunately Stefan was broken in first game and even though Alex held a tight game at *0-2 you got the feeling that the momentum was still with their opponents. The next two games went with serve and it was clear that Alex and Stefan were trying to raise their energy levels but when Alex was broken to sudden death deuce at *2-4 Pedro then stepped up and held serve to take the first set 6-2.

The start of the second set was not good from Alex and Stefan; they looked quite flat and were quite static at the net which allowed Gui and especially Pedro to dominate. However, at 0-3* the boys got a little breakthrough and broke Gui’s serve which gave them a big boost and suddenly they came to life. Stefan then held and the boys got an even bigger breakthrough when they broke Pedro’s serve in the next game to level the set at 3-3. The momentum had really shifted but the boys couldn’t capitalise on it and Alex’s serve was broken in the next game. The loss of that game really deflated both boys and even though Stefan held serve at *3-5 Pedro served out the set with a tight sudden death deuce game to take the match.

It was a disappointing performance from both boys especially as they only managed 6 crosses in the match and only 8 first volley winners – not the kind of stats you’re looking for when you’re trying to dominate the net and stop your opponent from doing so. The positives were that they came through a tricky ¼ final match and they played some good doubles on the way to the semi-final even though it was their first time playing together.

After the match we got some lunch and watched some of the other semi-final match before we headed back to the hotel. We then met up with Eric, Ryan, Kylie, Kuba and Stefan and drove down to Crown Point beach right next to the airport where we spent the afternoon. Eric, Ryan, Kylie, Kuba and Stefan decided to go on a boat trip for a few hours while Alex and I had a relaxing afternoon with Breana and her family.

We then headed back to the hotel and then met up with Mia, Dawn and everyone else that had played today at Ciao’s for our last meal together.

It’s been a good couple of weeks both on the court and off; Alex has played the best tennis that I’ve ever seen from him and worked hard in training and in his matches. He’s picked up some singles and doubles points but most importantly he has developed as a player and as a person and has met a lot of new friends.

In one of the opening ceremony speeches the president of the club talked about how important it is for the players to “enjoy the journey” as the road can often be a little bumpy with wins and losses. That is something that players, parents and coaches can often forget but it is vital for the development of the player and I know that we’ve definitely enjoyed the journey over these last two weeks.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day of travelling as we leave Tobago on a 6.40am flight and do not arrive back into London until 5.45am on Sunday!

I hope you’ve enjoyed following our journey over the last couple of weeks, next stop will be Sri Lanka at the start of October.