Been there Played that

~ CommonWealth Championships Charlottesville, Virginia 2009.

• This was in Boars Head Inn tennis center, one of the best I have seen and played at.


• Enjoyed playing some outdoor tennis inspite of the cold weather.


• Enjoyed with "Matchpoints" team, the drive to Charlottesville, the lunches, the dinners, the cheering, and most important the playing


• Charlottesville was hilly and beautiful, cold crisp,fresh.
• We went, we played, we reached the finals, but we just fell short ( a wee bit)

We lost but it is good to have been there done that!

Everything Tennis

cute little things I got from a tennis shop for my tennis buddies. My 6.0 mixed doubles team has reached the Common Wealth cup playoffs to be held in Charlotesville Virginia next weekend.
That is where I plan to give these goodies
There are 2 tennis photoframes, 2 coffee mugs, some comfortable socks, one christmas tree ornament, a tennis penholder, some tacky racquet grip and not to mention a tennis racquet embossed soap :)

Battered Ego

Well first came the USTA year end ratings and I am not bumped up to 3.5... bummer and then I lose 4 matches in a row....
they were not matches that I had no chance at winning.... In one of the matches I had 2 matchpoints and lost from there and in the following match I had a set point... leading 5-2 in that set and then lost 5 games in a row!.. lost the set and then finally the match.
You get the picture!
I was not sure that the USTA would finally smile upon me and say ...okay so you are a 3.5 now but you know this was the year I had a winning streak of 13 matches! ..went to Mixed doubles districts and then to Sectionals(My team didnt make it to the nationals but I had won all my matches) won some great matches in the Women's league etc etc
but yes I did have some bad matches as well especially after I returned from India, jetlagged et al I lost the first few matches with scores like (6-1,6-2) (6-0,6-2) (phew :()
secondlyMixed doubes winnings are considered only with you play mixed doubles exclusively!
and plus my net game still sucks
so all in all I guess I still have lots to do before I get there!

The new face of 2008

I love watching Dinara Safina(Right now she is firing away against a Venus Williams in the Doha Year end Championships)

She has that tomboyish, brazen serve of Marat Safin and also has a hunch just like her Elder bro.

For me Dinara is the best thing to have happened to women's tennis in 2008....in a year where one of the best ..Justine Henin retired.

Buddy running with Sam

Sampada my friend invited me to join her cheerleading squad in WashingtonDC on october 26th where she was planning to run the DC Marine Corp Marathon ...her first ever Marathon.

I had never witnessed a Marathon much less experienced running one so I didnt know what to expect but I was thrilled nevertheless.

Running 26.2 miles...can you imagine?

Her other friends had meticulously read the marathon route, figured which mile marker Sam would cross at what time...I just knew my time 11.30AM at the 18 mile mark.

When I reached the decided place I was immediately swept into the frenzy that was the marathon; I saw a river of human traffic, some running some walking and I so immediately wanted to be part of it(I later learnt there were 30 thousand participants!). I saw bystanders calling out names of the runners and cheering them...realized they were just calling out to unknown people by the names written on their t-shirts...how cool is that..the true human spirit.

I was so happy to spot Sam and chugged along with her. There were people holding out water, powerade, placards, infact when crossing the potomac river saw a bunch of people on a boat waiting just to cheer the runners.
By the time I had met Sam, she had run most of the marathon.. 18 miles! and I could feel how every step was becoming more difficult for her...she was at a point where she was fatigued and her mind was throwing out irrational arguments and questioning the point of running the marathon....
But run she did..finish she did... and in her own words "I was able to overcome my injuries and my demons and run to the finish line smiling. I can now call myself a marathoner. "

Congrats Marathoner.. I am so proud of you...indeed in finishing this one you proved that there is no limit or boundaries to the human spirit... if we want... we can!
and thanks so much for letting me be a part of it!

p.s. you can read Sampada's experience here

It ain't that easy

image courtesy: University of Sussex

Line calls thats what I am talking about.

The professional players have it so easy...they have linesman and many a times if they think a linesman faltered then the "hawkeye"

In the tennis matches that I play you have to make your own calls that is... you depend on your opponents to call the ball that you hit as in or out and you have the same responsibility.

Now now now

sometimes when the point is crucial and the call close...and your opponents think you made the wrong call, it could lead to grumpy faces... unhappy matches,unhappy endings and not to mention the dead fish handshake to seal the deal!

but what can one do? there is this split second to decipher the distance between the ball and the line..did I see any green?(or blue depending on the color of the court)

Like I said it ain't that easy!

Muscle What?

Not until recently had I heard the term Muscle memory. I found it fascinating to begin with... what!! muscles have memory? But as time went by it did make a lot of sense thanks to on court experience...literally :)
It explained why if I hadn't practised in a while and went straight into a match.. I felt rusty, lacked the confidence to hit my shots.. you may have the shot in your repertoire but the brain has a tough time recollecting the logic or the neural path.... but you know what...hang in there long enough...by the end of the match... your muscles will be up and running :)