This week I had the honor of participating in my first interclub match this year (and ever) and waking up 5:30AM on a Sunday for practice (girl wtf).

Tuesday & Thursday – 1 hour each day – hitting sessions

For starters, I knew I had to get some more hours in on clay court after playing on it exactly *checks notes* 45 minutes in the last 6.5 months. On Tuesday, I got to play with one of the guys that I actually haven’t practiced with since last summer so it was nice to see how I measure up against him nearly a year later. There’s definitely been some progress from me but the first half of the session was dedicated to understanding the bounce of the ball on clay because what the actual hell is that hahaha. Serve is also dodgy as hell because the open sky somehow really messes with my perception of the ball’s height during contact and half of the times I find it either dropping too low or I reach overly high and hit some obnoxious shot with the frame. Eventually we played points and thankfully that started to visually resemble tennis. Thursday’s practice with one of the regulars was already a big step forward from Tuesday, rallies were longer and hitting more consistent. Toss for the serve also started to click back in place and it was great fun in general. However, the busy weeks prior and sudden heat kicked my ass a bit and I knew I had to give myself a day for recovery or my legs will show themselves out on Saturday.

Pre-practice soundtrack: drop dead by Olivia Rodrigo (too extensively on repeat right now)

Saturday – 2 hours – interclub match (home)

Saturday was the first interclub match and honestly, 2PM start time is absolutely goated. I can sleep in (so +- until 10AM) and then carb load with pancakes and still have 2 hours to chill before the match. The atmosphere in the club was so funny to me because the whole previous buildup and the day of gave me somewhat hunger games vibes. Maybe slightly less on our level but I feel like higher levels are out for blood lmao. I’m so used to super chill singles tournament vibes where I just show up, play tennis, have a drink after and leave. Now it was a whole day thing with first playing my own match and then cheering for other for another 4.5 hours. It was hunger games figuratively and literally because besides the general vibe around the whole concept of interclub, I was also ready to eat someone while having to wait for dinner until 8:30PM.

Funnily enough the girl I had to play against is someone I played against last summer during my first outdoor season so as soon as I saw her name on the paper, I knew we were at least going to have fun. We had a bit too much fun because why did I play another 2-hour 3-set match?? Seriously for the love of god (and my legs) I need to stop doing this. I did end up losing but I feel like games like this always fuel my fire. I didn’t necessarily play bad but last week’s level during the tournament was clearly a step ahead compared to what I showed during interclub. Shots didn’t always connect well and the whole play was a bit skittish at times, lacking the decisiveness I know I can bring to the table and what really increases the quality of play. Eventually she was just able to push me around enough to force me to make mistakes. I guess you win some, you lose some and my win in this case was getting started on my summer tan. On (another) upside, my body felt much better than on Thursday, legs were moving and pancakes kept me going well. Finished the day watching my teammates play (we won 3 matches out of 6) and running some extensive math equation about which team won more sets. I still couldn’t understand its logic but apparently the one set out of three that I won mattered more than I expected. Nice to know that loosing in a productive manner can still count for something.

Result: 6/4 – 2/6 – 4/6

Sunday – 1 hour – coached practice

Since my life seems to deny me stability in terms of finding reliable long term coaching which is probably worthy a post on its own because who tf goes through 3 coaches in one year?? While I’m once again on a hunt for another one due to no fault of my own, the backup plan finds itself taking place 1 hour drive away from my home on Sundays at 8AM with one of my old coaches who used to give me lessons when I temporarily lived in the same city. God bless this man and his willingness to show up on a sunny but arguably cold morning to help me out.

Generational mini tennis from me on this beautiful day. Wow. Not sure who was more impressed, me or my coach but finally I can place the ball with some sort of consistency. Moved on to warm up from the baseline, hitting to the middle and once again – there is some sort of improvement because last time we had a lesson together, 99% of my balls went anywhere BUT the middle. Majority of the lesson was dedicated on the direction drills from both baseline and in combination with shorter balls. These are the hardest for me to connect due to the all the movement (or lack of it) happening on the approach. It turned out really well this time: baseline felt so so solid both in terms of the swing and ball placement while the short shots I managed to control better than usual. Even some volleys started to resemble actual volleys when I realized that I don’t have to panic while I hit them. Crazy discovery, I know. Unfortunately it can’t be all sunshine and rainbows because the next 5 minutes that we tried to hit smashes made me want to smash my racket instead. I don’t understand how something can be so utterly complicated to execute. Next stop: go and find a way to hit those 100 times in a row because what the actual f*ck Finished with some serves which were generally all quite bueno. Got some good tips to hit better slice and wide BH serves and that was it for this time. All things considered a really good practice and 100% worth waking up at 5:30AM on a Sunday.

Pre-practice soundtrack: The Great Divide: The Last of The Bugs by Noah Kahan (I think this album might go triple platinum in my household)

~ may the odds be ever in your favor, S.