Had two incredible wins over the weekend! One in 8.5 combo doubles, playing the best doubles of my life (I play more singles). Won 12-10 in the match tiebreak. I hit the winning shot, a reflex lob volley from the service line, defending an aggressie volley from the opponents. Held my ground and popped it over their heads. A bit of a lucky shot, but I was in the right spot and had my racket ready. This came after I flubbed a high backhand volley on our previous match point, so I was glad to make up for it. And it was the winning court of a 3-court match, and an upset. This is a super tough league and we have struggled to get any wins at all in four seasons. I captain this team and had to make a tough call on the lineup, choosing to go with the lineup that had the best chance of winning versus making sure everyone had an equally good partner. (One of our courts lost 0 and 0, and I felt bad about feeding those players to the wolves, but we couldn't have won otherwise.)
The next day in singles, I won 7-5, 5-0 (timed match, so we had to call it). I was down 0-3 pretty fast, even though I was playing well, getting lots of chances, and dictating points, exactly what I want. It was all unforced errors. I didn't panic and simply focused on the biggest thing that was going wrong - forehand in the net. Made a small adjustment, bending my knees and dropping my racket head a little bit, made sure to concentrate more, and clawed my way back. Won 10 of the next 12 games. It's a match I would have lost a year ago or so, just mentally. I would have pouted about playing well and still not winning even a single game, proof that I am a cursed loser in tennis.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
I would have let the frustration get to me until I was down 5-0 and then had a lot of pressure in the second set. I played it perfectly mentally, stayed calm, and made the right adjustment. Team won 3-0.
I'm usually 40-60 or 50-50 in matches, so winning three tight ones in a row feels good. I had a heartbreaking 20-match losing streak last year while playing really well, so I'm a little skittish about going on another losing streak. With these wins, I can relax a bit for the season knowing I've already bagged a few good ones. And that will help me play freely.