IRTPA Championships October 9-14

My first round match was against John Woods Casey who is young and talented player from Melbourne. I played solid enough to win 6/3 6/1 6/3

My QF match was against world no 9 Darren Long. Darren is a very tough competitor and if you give Darren a chance he can really punish you with winners.

In the first I went 3/1 down but didn’t panic as I knew I was dominating the points and just had to cut out the silly errors as all 3 games he had won, I had game points . Once I steadied the ship I never looked back for a really good win 6/4 6/0 6/1.

I lost to Bryn Sayers in the Semi Final on Sunday night 5/6 6/3 1/6 2/6. It was disappointing to lose but there are positives to take and lessons to learn.

I started the match off really well going 4/1 up by hitting Bryn off the court. I was aggressive on the return of serve and winning a lot of points. Bryn however is always steady and composes and doesn't get rattled easily. He started to come back in the set that I was on top off, largely part to his consistency and my inability to close out point as I was struggling to find my galleries. I was also struggling with my volley return of serve off the railroad which is most unusual for me. Any way I really should of gone 5/3 up as I hit a railroad on game point that hit the knick that was 100% down but the marker didn't call it to my shock and frustration. and I ended up losing the point defending a hazard chase when i dumped the an easy backhand into the net. I let the call affect me for too long and found myself 5/4 down. I got it back to 5all as I played a solid game. I was serving at 5all and at 30 all we had a long exchange where I was desperately trying to find a winner but couldn't and ended up losing the point. We changed ends at 40/30 and I had a last gallery chase to beat which unfortunately I put the ball

in the net.I knew if I kept up aggressive style and limit the silly mistakes that I would still win the match. The next set I played well and won 6/3. I started off the 3 rd set well by going 1/0 40 love up. I ended up losing the game and ended up going on a roll of bad games and lost the set 6/1. I knew then it would be a miracle for me to will as I started to experience a lot of pain and discomfort in my legs. They were aching , almost screaming at me. I haven't had this before. Not that I am using this as an excuse but it was something I thought I would share as that what was happening to me at the time,. None the less I kept trying my hardest but I was starting lose my accuracy for my targets, especially the dedan where the first 2 sets I had been really good. I lost that set 6/2

Had I taken the first set, the match could of had a very different out come but it wasn't to be. I need to go back and practice hitting my galleries on both sided of the court when i need them to win chases or get the serve.

On the mental side, I need to not let bad calls affect me so much. I also need to not let 1 bad game turn in to 4 bad games in a row and reset my self and tell myself 1 point at a time. For a lot of the match I know I looked the better player on the court and I was but turning 1 bad game in to 4 bad games and losing them quickly I need to cut out