Game 68: 2nd July

6-3

6-3

7-6 (11-9)

Rating: Good Game, Good Game

Venue: Top Padel, Tenerife

This started as a rematch but R never signed up and B had to call off at the last minute.

Luckily Fraser managed to get a replacement so our opponents this time were C - an English Expat (signed up for the open slot originally) and L a Hungarian guy on holiday who was the last minute replacement.

Because B had pulled out at the last minute we didn't enter the scores in Playtomic which was a shame as my rating could do with a win.

I'd say that Fraser and I had clicked and worked really well together. I was setting up points for him to finish.

Match Report

I carried my partner in the 1st and 2nd set through sheer consistency.

He carried us through the third, we was hitting great winners and I was starting to flag in the heat. 

I won the tiebreak, not through arrogance, just played very very well in that pressure situation.


2 times it was 5-6 and then 7-8 on my serve and all my serves were absolute peaches. Unreturnable.

Turned it to 7-6 and 9-8 respectively.

Third set they started lobbing on me which was working for them.

Thats something I really need to work on but the heat and lack of fitness played a factor there as well.


The third set tiebreak was quite funny, in the style of El Risitas…


Heeeeee heeeeee

They had Set point and I stepped up and

*Puffs out chest, suddenly serious*

Two serves, two points.

Now our match point.

My partner, he puts the serve return into the net. Heeeee heeeee heeeee

Then. Next serve.

I return.

They hit back.

I put it to the middle.

They put it to the middle.

My partner he looks at me

I look at him.

HA HAAAAA BALL BOUNCES BETWEEN US HAAA HAA


After that, they then edged it to another set  point and I had to serve again. To C on their left, I'd been serving serves with a lot of spin so he was mentally prepared to step back and hit it off the glass. So I knew that he knew that he thought what I was thinking. 


But what he didn't know was I was thinking I'd clocked his thinking and so I thought. I'll hit this to his body. Is it forehand, is it backhand, whoooo knows and he has 0.5 seconds to realise it's not what he thought and to come up with another plan. The plan I am guessing didn't involve a backhand to the net but that's what happened.


So then I serve to L, very good Hungarian player who came as a replacement. He had to use a club racquet and they were in a poor state. In any case, I served my usual serve to the glass but closed the racquet in the preparation position. I've seen premier Padel players to this, it adds wicked slice to the serve. So he's expecting my normal serve. But the slice means it dives off the glass and he hits it too low. Bosh. Into the net.


Our match point and C hits it long into the glass at the end of a long Rally. 

Another win.


For L the Hungarian dude. It was the final day of his holiday and he had not had a chance to play Padel due to the Playtomic desert. He was delighted to play. Genuinely chuffed that he'd got a match in for his holidays in Spain the spiritual home of Padel.

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