I am in the zone right now
It happens all too rarely. But once in a while, you get in the zone. I’m in some kind of zone right now, no doubt about it.
It all started last Thursday night, I played an old friend for the first time in about 8 months. She was a regular hitting partner before going off to college and playing for Fairfield University. Nikki and her father/coach came down to Overpeck Park and we played one set. About ten people watched as we smashed the ball around. It was a tough set as so many of them were but I won it 6-4.
It felt great to play such high level tennis, you really can get a sensation of a high by playing well or hitting a single fantastic or even magical shot.
One technical change on my serve which seems to be really helping is at the start of the motion, holding the ball up towards the top of the frame (11 o’clock) as opposed to 3/4 (8 or 9 o’clock). I think it’s making the motion flow a little more and the serve is more accurate and reliable now. I saw a player do it on TV, incorporated it and it’s working.
Also, I’m really bending the knees on the forehand shots and at the net for volleys too.
So I entered a 35s event in Rockland County (hard court) and on Saturday morning I play the #5 ranked guy, Steve. It’s just like a perfect day on the court, everything goes my way. Jump out 2-0 but then lose two close games, 2-2. It’s even till I’m serving at 3-3 but I get behind 0-40. The thought enters the mind, Uh oh, this guy is playing good, here’s where I blow the set. But amazingly I come back and win the game with the help of some well placed second serves which is not a usual strength.
The opponent has a strong game, big serve, comes to net, good volleys, confident demeanor. I can sense he thinks my good form will eventually wear off and he will eventually prevail. He has more match wins than anyone in the 35s but for some reason he seems uncomfortable with my game, my passing shots, my unpredictablility. Early on I convert a backhand pass with ease and a running full stretch, full speed forehand down the line pass which takes some of the wind out of his sails. He also is hurt by just missing several volleys into net cords or long. Several times he smashed shots deep that I just braced for snapped back hard and his volleys either missed the court or hit the high part of the net. I also think I made him uncomfortable at net by totally mixing up the speeds and spins of my shots during the warm-up. This is not usually a pre-match tactic, just decided to do it spontaneous for this one.
I take the first set 6-4 but he’s not discouraged, he still believes he will break me down. The second set is even the whole way – digging out of a 15-40 hole on my serve was crucial. I win the game point on a long point with a sliding on hard court drop shot off his dropper that leaves him frozen. Weighing under 167 means I’m as quick as a cat. It’s a dogfight until the end of the set when he breaks me after I blew a 40-15 lead, and dumped a forehand volley into the net off a serve and volley attempt. He serves for the set but suddenly I break him at love – after he had held serve pretty easily several times in this set. Suppose he got tight.
In the next two games, I got on fire. I hit two or three lobs from the full stretch-scramble that each somehow lands inside or on the baseline, and he calls them good. I can’t believe it really, as they seemed to look long from my view but somehow they drop in perfectly. Everything is falling my way now. Several floated returns off his big serves also drop in deep, just inside the baseline, in the middle of the court, which make him hesitant.
Also, during this match I have to mention that he had three net cord winners which dribbled over to my side, but it didn’t bother me at all. Plus he hit a crack which made a bad bounce which I couldn’t get to. Tough luck but no problem.
My serve is flowing – can pretty much place it in any corner, can mix up spins, get some free points and one or two aces. When I decide to challenge his forehand in the duece court, many times he can’t control the ball, which is always a sign I’m serving well. So many players have commented, If you had a serve you’d be REALLY tough. No double faults either. No missed overheads, except for one backhand overhead.
It’s one of my best wins ever 6-4 7-5. I tell him after, with genuine sincerity, Man, I have to admit, I hit some of the luckiest shots I ever hit in my life out there. Great match. I actually feel kinda bad that he had to lose, he really could have easily won too. But that’s tennis, today it was my day. Even though it was 100 degrees on court, I feel great and could play another. But instead of risking our lives, we agree to play the final on Tuesday night.
The final opponent will be a major test. He’s ranked #3 or 4 in 35s and has reached the quarterfinals in national tournaments. I’ve played this guy three times and lost 62 61 on artificial turf about eight years ago. 60 60 on green clay about seven years ago. And 63 60 on red clay in 2008 – but it was my second match that day and his first – and mine was a 2 1/2 hour marathon in 80 degrees. This time I will be fresh and it will be on my favorite surface. Plus, earlier this year he beat the above mentioned player 63 75 on clay, so on paper, right now, we are in the same league. But matches are won and lost in the mind, not on paper, and he definitely has some kind of mental edge over me. But I have defeated – on rare occasion – players in the past who had dominated me in match play and held mental edges, so, let’s see what happens.
Tonight I practiced with a former singles player on the Louisville University team named Natalia and again feel totally in the zone, just pounding the ball from both sides, serving strong, making some amazing retrieves, mixing it up, ripping backhands, catching lines with angle shots. She recently won an Open tournament and is a fine player, having competed in Orange Bowl and the Eddie Herr tournaments but her game is a little off tonight as she is just returning to tournament play after a year off and she is not quite in peak tennis condition.
We will see on Tuesday if this journey into the zone will conclude or continue – or maybe it’s just the beginning of entering a new higher level as a player. My breakthrough, so to say. Stay tuned…
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Dan Markowitz · July 27, 2010 at 9:34 am
Good luck, Scoop. May the roll continue. I think your game has benefited from the fact that you’re in such good shape for a post-40 guy, and that because you didn’t play at a high level, or any level it seems, early in life, you’ve kept at it, experimented, perfected your game, and that bodes for continued improvement. Plus, you’re a real good competitor. And your game is unusual, lots of spins, great retrieves and just a good enough net game to be able to finish points off at the net as well as the baseline. You’re biggest room for improvement comes with your serve so if you see that evolving, you’re going to get even tougher.
Scoop Malinowski · July 27, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Thanks Dan, the serve is getting better for sure. At least it seems so, maybe our hit in Newport didn’t show it because my shoulder was hurting more then. If I can beat Sendich in the final it will really prove it, he is a tough player. Maybe I gotta hire you as coach, some of the top 10 guys actually bring coaches to matches, with clipboard. Some of these guys are serious.
Scoop Malinowski · July 28, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Well, one day can make the difference. I played like a zombie yesterday and got blown out 60 61! Could never get on track, his serve was hard to return effectively and he immediately put my serve under pressure with strong returns and I could never stop the bleeding. Was always reacting. I blame some of it on eating too much before match, a bowl of whole wheat pasta two hours before with half tomato but it didn’t digest quick and bloated me. So instead of feeling quick as a cat I was kind of lazy and reactive. But stil he is the superior player, and I forgot how tough he is. He had the mental edge and is too smart to squander it. Knows how to beat me and break my belief. So the zone comes and goes, it usually doesn’t last long, so enjoy and savor it while you can!
Dan Markowitz · July 29, 2010 at 1:40 am
I played that guy Sadik Sendich, or something like that, about 22 years ago at the US Open courts in a tournament and he destroyed me. I felt like completely lost against him. I got a couple of games I think, but not much more. He is a solid player. But yes, if you went in on an empty stomach or little more you may have been able to disrupt his game by playing small ball and angles. I remember he was a big guy, not especially fleet of foot, but he hit the ball big.
Scoop Malinowski · July 29, 2010 at 4:00 am
Tough player. Smart, experienced, too much to handle. Only hope was to beat him in tandem wiht the heat on Sat. but the first match took too much out of me and decided to play next day which was rained out.
Dan what do you mean “small ball”?
It’s amazing how one smart player can totally take you out of your game in minutes. I’m easy prey for these 5.0 predators I guess.
Dan Markowitz · July 29, 2010 at 11:51 am
Well, the way I remember Sendich, I forget if that’s the right spelling of his name, is he was a big, somewhat lumbering guy with great strokes, big serves and no nerves. So I can’t get into a baseline game with him or even try too much net-attacking, I have to, when I was quick enough, to bring him up to the net, drop-shot him, angle him inside the service box and make him play a game he doesn’t want to play.
Now he will probably annihilate me anyway, but I beat very good players like Kenny Katz, who was probably a better player than Sendich, this way. Kenny used to beat Andrea Leand like 6-0, 6-1 when she was top 10 in the world. And when I say beat, I took a set off Kenny and lost another one 6-4.
So sometimes if you’re athletic enough and your long and quick at the net with decent hands like I have, you can upend a top guy this way.
Scoop Malinowski · July 29, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I remmeber Thomas Johansson said he was playing great tennis then he played Rios and got killed, he said you could be playing excellent tennis but you play Rios and he can make you feel like a beginner. That’s who good Rios was at his best, and as we all know Tojo is the one who won a Slam. I’m no Tojo but Sendich is good enough to make you feel like a beginner! I will have to try your strategy next time. Just can’t baseline with this guy. I did have success when I hit great first balls and made about 3 great volleys after serves. he didn’t even run for them. Need to do that 50 times more. Must hit the lines or make him move. that’s the key I think.