Player Blog: leftys_rock (Day 25) [Season 2]

leftys_rock · Player Blog: leftys_rock (Day 25) [Season 2]

Hello everybody again, and this is leftys_rock from Thailand!

I was in Bangkok playing in the Wachovia Classic. It was quite a different experience jogging outside in Thailand. After I jogged a block, I realized that it didn't seem the safest to be jogging down an unfamiliar city street, so I went back and got my bike instead so that I could zoom through the alleys. I had fun watching the increasing sunshine reflect off of the golden temples to make it appear like a bright ball of light.

When I got back, I went to the lockerroom and saw many of my friends there. There was NEA, Jbors, Stevos, Agassi, Doublea, and PSALT. NEA had a press conference about his arrival in the top 10, so he had to leave. He had a match against Jbors later. I decided to hit a bit with Agassi, as I hadn't talked to him in a while. He has a pretty good all around game, so we warmed up quite well. My match with Rachy was set to start at 11, so at 10, I went to go watch Stevos play Rhomberg on the television screens in the players' lounge. They were in the middle of a tight second set when I had to leave for my match.

I beat Rachy 4 and 2. My next match was against Sarahginia who was the #4 seed. I remember my loss against her in the finals of Lopez earlier this season in three sets. I did beat her later in the clay season, but I wanted to be ready for her in this match. I developed a game plan while reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

I beat Sarahginia 2 and 5. I got back to the players lounge, where they were showing Doublea vs. PSALT. That was QUITE a match. Excellent shots from both of them, but Doublea making it count more on the big points, and he won in 2 tiebreaks. My next match was against NEA in the SF. This one I knew would be tough. NEA's confidence is high now, and he has just had an excellent run to the Wimbledon Semis. I just told myself to be mentally prepared for a long day at the office.

Well, that really was a LONG day at the office, as we had a tight, 3 set match. I felt very tired, but happy after the match, as I won 6-3, 6-7, 7-5. NEA came up with fantastic tennis in the second set to push it to a third. As we both have pretty strong minds, it went down to the wire until I managed to win by breaking in the 11th game. I had to prep for my final the next day against Duke. I was quite surprised to see him at the final, as I didn't expect him to get through the multiple seeds that he faced.

I am happy to come out of Thailand with my first hardcourt title! Very Happy

I won 2-6, 7-6, 6-3. In the first set, I didn't expect Duke to be playing quite so well. So I dropped that set pretty badly. When it got deep in the second, I told myself that this was Duke, and I should be able to beat him. It really helped, as I pulled that set out in a tiebreak and won 6-3 in the third.

It has been a great tourney for me to kick off the summer hardcourt season, and I will be back in the States tomorrow, playing at the Blake hardcourts! I'll be back tomorrow blogging from Harvard, so Ciao! Very Happy