Wednesday 11th June 2008
I'm back from the Australian Closed Championships and a week's holiday afterwards, so now is a good time to reflect on my experiences, analyze what I have learned, and start planning for the Australian Open, which is only 6 weeks or so away!
Competition
So how did I do - did I live up to my expectations? On the whole, I was quite satisfied with my results.
Men's Doubles
I was fortunate enough to receive Sharad Pandit as a doubles partner for the tournament. Sharad is a wily veteran who uses short pips on both sides. We thought it would be interesting to see how his attacking style blended with my own combination bat defender style. We actually matched up quite well, taking second place in our initial group with 2 wins and 1 loss. In the quarterfinals we came up against Kiet Tran and George Tang, who were a bit too strong for us, winning 3-0.
Mixed Doubles
My partner Nita and I had a forgettable effort, losing all three of our matches, although we did make the day of Gillian Lawrence (who we were staying with), when she teamed up with Chamara Fernando to record a win against us. Well done Gillian!
Mens Singles
I had a pretty good initial group - there weren't any easy groups anyway and I thought I had a chance to sneak through into the main draw as the third qualifier from my group of six. I had Kiet Tran, Trent Carter, Michael Brown, John Sherriff and Paul Uttley in my group. I wanted to be competitive with Kiet and Trent, and I expected to win against John and Paul. I thought the match against Michael would probably be the crunch match for me.
This was pretty much how it turned out. I started with matches against Paul and John, both of whom use long pips themselves. These were good matches to get the nerves out and loosen up a little, although both Paul and John didn't let me have it all my own way.
My next match was against Kiet Tran. I managed to scrape the second game 12-10, but Kiet was pretty dominant in the other three games. He's darn quick, with good serves and follow up, and being a lefty doesn't hurt either. But I wasn't unhappy with my efforts, since he was the number 5 seed for the tournament.
Next up was Trent Carter. I last played Trent in 2005, losing 12-14 in the fourth game of a best of 5. But he has obviously improved a lot since then! The first game I was ahead all the way, and I think I had game point. But Trent kept attacking, and with a couple of net balls he snuck the game. The second game had some good rallies but Trent had the upper hand, and the third game was closer but Trent made the big shots at the end to win 11-8. But all in all, I didn't feel totally outclassed, so I was in a good frame of mind leading up to my final match of the group, against Michael Brown.
I was playing fairly well by this stage, and I good a good start against Michael, winning the first two games. Michael turned the tables in the third with some great attacking, and I had to regroup in the fourth and try to lift my game a little. I played a couple of nice points to build a lead, and I was hanging on grimly to it. I got to 10-7, but Michael wasn't done yet. He took the next point to go to 10-8, then we had another long rally, with Michael blasting the ball and me well back from the table chopping for all I was worth. I hit one that looked like going long, but it just seemed to stay in sight for a little longer than I expected. An edge off the back of the table? I certainly hoped so! I asked the umpire the question, and he seemed to think so too. He checked with Michael, and to his credit Michael showed no hesitation in confirming that the ball had clipped the back edge. A great show of class by Michael - if he had won that point he would have been 10-9 down and right back in the match. As it was, that last edge ball won me the match and meant that I went through to the main draw in third position for my group. Phew! I was relieved and happy at the same time, although I didn't want to win on an edge ball of course.
My opponent in the main draw was Kyle Davis, the number 2 seed. I quite like playing Kyle - not because I have ever beaten him, but I usually enjoy the match and play a few decent points along the way. This match was no exception - I lost 4-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-9). I played quite well actually, although obviously it's tough against a top player like Kyle. But I wasn't embarrassed and I was quite pleased with the standard of my play.
Continued on next page...
