October 28th > Team EE has now been on the Canaria Islands for four days, and finally the start of the main draw is here! All but one player were directly in main draw. > Saturday Gustav Kuljis, who is here with his family, played qualification. Unfortunately he met a better player. Gustav has great shots and is very aggressive (likes to come to the net and attack with his backhand). But first round is always difficult and Gustav made more mistakes than his opponent did. > The rest of the group is staying in a nice hotel, and we have been practicing whenever possible. The club only has 6 clay courts and 4 hard courts, so there is a battle of the courts each time the practice sheet is available. Between practices we have physical training; the players have a lot to learn about physical training for tennis players, but we will get there by the end of the week! > Okay, for those who dont know, we are: > Boys 12s: > Oskar Broström Poulsen aka Ozzy > Carl Emil Overbeck aka Carlo > Girls 12s: > Hannah Viller Moller aka Hanni > Boys 14s: > Jesper Andi Jorgensen aka Andi Handy > Girls 14s: > Ida Krause aka Idahoe > Anna Marie Moller aka Anni Manni > Sofia Nami Samavati aka Namahati > > The group is fantastic and besides Ida, who hates the waiting time (which unfortunately for Idas patience is roughly 90% of a tennis tournament), Ozzy and Carlo, who think that their goal in life is to irritate Andi Handy, Namahati, who eats slower than a cow chewing the same grass five times, we all have a great time :-) > > As mentioned, the show started today. Girls 14s play their first matches tomorrow. But here are todays matches... > > First up was Jesper. He played a smaller player, who was a good runner and fairly consistent. Jesper had a shaky start but got the break to go up 2-1. He was immediately broken back, however, and still looked rather nervous as he made a lot of unforced errors. Jesper was struggling finding the balance between offensive and defensive, either forcing too much, too early in the point, or becoming passive by hitting the ball down the middle allowing the opponent to move him around too much. Movement is not Jespers strong suit, as of yet, but he hits a good heavy forehand, which sets up a lot of points for him. Jesper lost the first set 6-2, but came back strong in the second, taking control of the points with his forehand. He got the break early and stayed the course until 3-2 up. Then things got very interesting. It was as if Jesper had used all his energy and focus on just keeping himself together, and now he broke down completely, seemingly out of nowhere. He missed the next 10 shots, the opponent won 6 points, and that was it. The match was over before any of us outside realized what had happened. 6-3. > > Ozzy was up next against a kid, who seemed like he wasnt entirely sure what he was doing on a tennis court. He was goofing around and playing weird shots, coming up with great things at random times. Tough match for Ozzy, because he had to keep his composure and not over hit, but keep the ball in play without losing his intensity. Ozzy did this really well and with a little discrete coaching from the sideline Ozzy focused on getting the return in play down the middle, putting the pressure on his opponent to make things happen. > This was Ozzys first TE main draw win and boy, did he look professional. Ozzy took the initiative from the get go, getting the match started by asking his opponent if he was ready to start, counting out loud and even drawing the game score in the clay on change overs. He handled himself very well out there today. > > Third match was Carlo, who was in for a tough one. His opponent was also Spanish and had solid technique and good footwork. He was able to put a lot of balls in play, and although Carlo got the break to go up 1-0, it looked like a rough one. Carlo actually started his own service very well, putting a lot of balls in play, using his great movement and court positioning to force the error from the opponent. But then he missed a rather easy forehand mid-court and that one shot created fear and over-analysis on his part. > From then on his forehand broke down along with his competitiveness and he failed to win another game. Mostly tennis is about being competitive and hanging in there although things arent going your way. There is always a solution or a window of opportunity during a match and Carlo was unable to realize and find that today. > > Last and surprisingly late match today was Hannis. Unusual for girls 12s to play after sunset, when the courts are lit by light posts. Surely it was past her bedtime, but Hanni showed courage and professionalism as she went on court after 8:30 pm. Hanni is an unbelievably clean ball-striker considering that her strokes are quite big. Usually when you change the pace on the ball for a player with big swings, the tendency is that errors come. But not for Hanni. She is somehow always able to strike the ball out in front with great precision. > On paper Hanni was in for a tough one, as she faced a tall and strong Russian girl, who moved surprisingly well. However, if you wanna beat Hanni, you have to be able to hit through her, and the Russian was unable to do so, while Hanni ended up controlling most of the rallies, by sitting back, moving the ball around until finding the open spots on the court, punishing her opponent with cross court forehands and down the line backhands. The serve is Hannis Achilles heel, but the Russian couldnt punish the lack of pace on it, so Hanni was able to work through her own weakness. Hanni is a very consistent returner, so the Russian had to work hard in her own service games, which provided Hanni with a lot of breakpoint opportunities. She got two, lost one break of serve and won the first set 6-3. From then on, she looked in complete control of the match, advancing quickly to 4-1 in the second set. A little lapse in her concentration, however, after a long game on the Russians serve, which the Russian pulled through, gave the tall girl a boost of energy, while Hannis shots became shorter and less decisive. The score became 4-3. However, Hanni again showed great courage and determination, constantly tapping her thighs, pushing herself forwards through long rally after long rally, until she got back on track and closed out the match 6-4! Great fight in tough conditions! > > Finding doubles partners proved another test of character for the players. We did have two pairs already set to go (Ida and Sofia, and Ozzy and Carlo) but the others were forced to go out of their comfort zone and walk up to strangers asking them to play doubles. Hanni and Handy-Andy were quick to find partners, having the experience from previous tournaments, but Anna struggled with mustering up the courage. After walking in circles for a good fifteen minutes, she finally asked someone. After that, it was as if the mission became to ask as many players as possible, ending up with a German partner. Fun little exercise for her.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 17:42:26 +0000
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