District Diaries -II

Campared to all our practise sessions, the District Championship weekend itself went by swiftly, albeit with a lot of Drama. The 2008 Districts was held in Reston this year which is just about 10 minutes from where I live which gave a kind of home ground feeling. The Districts comprised of 3 round robin(RR) matches on Saturday and early morning Sunday followed by a midafternoon final on Sunday.

Our team as a whole lost 1 and won 2 of the RR which put us in the finals.... which we ... yes we won!

My partner Vi and I played 2 of the 3 RR matches and we won the first of it 6-0 6-0...unbelievable. The 2nd one we won 6-1 6-1. We were also scheduled to play in the finals by virtue of having done so well in the RR. We faced a little challenge in the final but we won it 6-4 6-1.

The finals was followed by a good cheer, photos session and winners awards.

In all it makes us the Best 3.0 Mixed Doubles team in Virginia. A picture of our team will appear in the USTA magazine..yay.

Next we play at the Sectionals which will be in Maryland on 25th and 26th of July against Maryland, WashingtonDC, West Virginia.

Good luck to us :)

District Diaries-1

When I booked my tickets for my India Vacation in April little did I realize that I would be missing our Mixed Doubles playoffs... I was extremely disappointed when my captain emailed me saying we lost at the play offs and thus not making it to the Districts this year(We did make it to 2007 Districts but that calls for another post!)
2 months later when our team got busy with the USTA women's season ... we suddenly get an email saying "we have a wildcard entry to the Districts are you still available?" ofcourse I am!
then began our 2 weeks of practice, now something has to be said about this practice you see USTA has spoiled us by having all our tennis matches indoors and then they say Districts will be outdoors...haha...... well anyway...at practice we realized it is not just our opponents but also the elements we have play against. The side effects of which can be sweat blurring your vision with its burning saltiness, the sun making your eyes squint; you have to start strategizing such that your better server gets to the serve on the shadier side...... but all in all it was a solid 2 weeks... which now exists in my sweet memories!
more to come...

The days are just Packed!

er I mean tennis wise and otherwise. I am always happy when on Sunday I looked ahead at the week and see 2-3 for-sure tennis sessions bobbing their head in the weekday evenings.
Yesterday I had a match(which we won yay!) and tonight I have our mixed doubles practice session followed by a tennis match on thrusday which gives me time for a running session on Wednesday and a guilt free off from the gym on Friday, what a week!

PS: I loved using the title, it is the title of a Calvin and Hobbes collection which summarizes Calvin's summer vacation!

Safina in French Open final

I think Safina was sort of "discovered" during 2008 Roland Garros, she did spark an interest in her when she defeated Henin and Serena williams not too long ago.
It is amazing that she made a come back against a player like Sharapova who is such a -I wont give up till the end-- player. During quaterfinals I switched off the TV when Dementieva was almost going to win it, I reach office and after about 1/2 hour when I logon to check the status, lo the scoreboard showed the match "In progress" turns out Safina not only made an unbelievable(again!) comeback, she also sweeped the 3rd set 6-0 hats off.
The script of the Semifinal match between Safina and Kuznetsova went like many other kuzty's final appearances; she almost always loses them because she is too tight and has lost all belief in herself. Oh Kuzty when when will you learn hold your own?
On the other hand the Ivanovic vs Jankovic semifinal is still going on well into the 3rd set.
You know people want good matches not just one better player; ultimately they are here to see a battle not just of talent but of wits, belief, comeons and a good helping of magical shots. So by all means whether Safina wins or not she has definitely won my heart and made me smile, thank you!

Federer and his Fans

Well I am one of them for sure :)
Just wanted to write about this lingering thought.
Usually a tennis fan is happy when his "guy" is doing great out there on the court and disappointed when he is losing.
But being a Federer fan is different -- even if he isn't doing great at the moment
1) You know never know when he will move on to a different gear and dig himself out so no sweat there... you are riveted till the end.
2) Even if he loses you realise that Federer himself has not Fallen apart, his expressions, his post match talk usually say that he is happy that he reached to this point(usually semifinals or finals)
3) Finally I think a Federer fan is happy to just see him play
win or lose we all know --- you are God of tennis himself--

Oh Justine

There is a small newspaper cutout neatly stuck on one of my kitchen walls which says "A backhand made in Heaven" and illustrates Justine's backhand step by step. John Mcnroe describes her backhand as the most beautiful shot in Tennis. I had that paper cut out in hope someday my one handed back hand will resemble her. When I had stuck that cutout last year, little did anyone know she would gone from the tennis court so soon!

Oh Justine I will indeed miss that backhand and the fire in your eyes during all those tennis matches.

Justine retires at 25

It is indeed a sad day for tennis; Justine suddenly announcing her retirement!