Tennis Prose




Feb/12

6

My Kendalltown Tourney Experience


I hit Miami Friday, set to play the 35s USTA event in Kendalltown, just south of Coral Gables. They made me the #1 seed but that doesn’t really matter, the last USTA event I played in Tampa a month ago, I was unseeded and won the tournament without losing a set.

My first opponent is a Russian or Ukrainian named Markov. He looks like a pro athlete, very strong, fit, a bit bigger than me, has a stature that reminds me of Andrei Pavel but he has a smooth, natural two hander which looks effortless. Markov won his first match 62 62. He must be a Rafa fan as he is wearing all brand new just unwrapped Nike shorts, Rafarafarafa shirt, hat, socks and those blue green Ballistec 3.3s.

I realize early this dude’s got game, hits hard off both sides and moves very well. He gets annoyed when I work on some junkballs in the warm-up, leading me to surmise that he may lose it mentally if I try to junk and curveball him to death. But he’s got big power and hits all kinds of forehand winners. And he has an intense grunt on every ball he hits, from the very first point too. It’s an intensity level I for some reason opt not to match, instead I try to convey a more nonchalant demeanor. Plus he’s quick and steals some points, that I was in control of, with excellent defense. He jumps up 2-0 and 30-love on my serve and the thought of this turning into a landslide enters my mind. But suddenly I turn the tide with some good shotmaking and get out of trouble and hold to make it 2-1 him.

At 2-3 a competitor in the Open that I know from NJ walks by the court and says simply: “You’re gonna have to beef it up.” Meaning my B game defense isn’t gonna work against this steady ball pounder. He’s right, my B game isn’t going to get the job done today, I have to take it to the A game level.

But I can’t find that level and the confidence is not there because I can’t get any kind of breathing room. I haven’t played A level tennis in many months, well, I haven’t had to, my B game relying on defense and counterpunching has gotten the job done. And I tell myself Markov can’t keep hitting winners like this can he? No I conclude, just keep playing your defensive game and he’ll start to miss under pressure and get angry like he did in the warm up. But he doesn’t crack at all and he takes the first set 6-4.

I rally to take a 2-0 lead in the second set but he breaks me at love to get it to 2-1. I still can’t get my offense on track, a couple shots here and there stun him but the confidence is not there to try to slug it out more aggressively. Markov at one point says to me that my balls are like “zero” they have “nothing.” I pretend not to know what he means and ask “Are you saying my game is nothing?” Like a fighter who has no respect for my punch power, he keeps pummeling away and pounding winners all over the court. I can only prevent that by keeping it deep down the center with varying speeds but I’m not able to maintain that tactic consistently.

When I hit an excellent counterpunch winner – forehand cross court pass that lands on the line, he turns around and smiles at me, like it was a lucky shot. When he misses, he yells at himself in Russian or Ukrainian, sounding a lot like an ATP player. I do get the sense that I’m playing a pro player. Markov is super serious and he has all the attributes and demeanors that would befit an ATP player.

The most memorable shot for me was when at 30-all in a big point at the end of the second set, he ran around a backhand that I sliced slow and deep into his backhand corner and pumps a forehand winner up the line that lands deep in my corner. That was like an ATP shot.

I fight as hard as I can but just can’t trick this guy. He wins the match 64 63.

I later learn that Markov played at ITF 35s event in Eastbourne last year but lost in the first round 64 63 to a British player who is ranked ITF #92 and had a 10-2 ITF record last year.

It’s a deflating loss, the first time I’ve lost first round since last summer, but I look on the bright side: it’s always nice to visit Miami and there’s still the consolation tournament. I will play the consolation final on Sunday morning.

I pull up and start to do some stretches in the lot and here comes Markov, decked out again in all Rafa Nike gear, who parks his black Rolls Royce next to my Seabring. We say hello but his English is “so bad” so we can’t really talk. The guy has a different presence about him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a Russian prince or some kind of oligarch.

Markov will play this guy Hillel in the final. I play Paul from Czech Republic, who is lean and tall and looks in great shape. He tells me later he’s in training for an Iron Man competition.

Paul is not as good as Markov, he’s stiffer and not as naturally talented or athletic. The Iron Man was crushed by Hillel 60 63 and I jump out to a 5-0 lead on him too. He says openly, “I am playing so bad.” But with my confidence damaged from losing to Markov, perhaps, I fail to finish the set before winning it 62. Paul is a warrior though and he starts to play much better, he shows a good game, good serve, good everything but he doesn’t like my junkballs. In the second set, when I try to play more aesthetic tennis, it works into his favor and he finds a groove and keeps it close at 2-2. I then go back to mixing variety and win the next two games and have 40-love to go up 5-2. The finish line is in sight. But Paul the Iron Man comes back like a fury and wins that game and even builds the lead to 6-5. I cannot believe that I have to save a set point and win in the tiebreak to escape this match I feel should have won 6-0 6-2.

On the court next to us Hillel and Markov are arguing over a call and Hillel yells, “Just outside the line baby.” To which Markov replies, “I am not a baby.”

Hillel, sports an interesting appearance, he’s wearing all white and black socks and black Prince shoes, with shades and a white hat. Hillel was up 4-1 in the first set but loses the match 75 64. Markov the man with the Rolls, is the champion.

The most impressive thing about this event was the Open draw which was for prize money. Several players in the Open have ATP points, including Vlade Mauropoulos Stolia and Juan Rocha. Ricardo Mena, the former ATP 150, who was #1 in the Florida Open category last year, loses 62 60 in the quarters to eventual champ Egor Puntus. An onlooker tells me he never saw Mena play so poorly, with so many uncustomary double faults and errors. I saw Mena win the Key Biscayne Open final one year ago and he was a machine. The quality of talent here is just like watching ATP level matches, it’s just incredible how many super talented players are out there that you probably will never hear of. Rafael Alvarez and Rocha played a three hour battle and the winner/survivor Rocha still had to play the next round in the SF which he lost 76 64 to Stolia. Stolia had to default the final to Puntus, presumably due to injury.

I talk to a few guys about my Marcelo Rios book and one of the players tells me his former coach used to work with Rios who told him that at the Orange Bowl the year Rios won, the enigmatic Chilean walked onto the court for the final with just one racquet tied over his shoulder by his towel. We all laugh at that typical Rios tale which personifies the cocky arrogance of his junior days. Another person had told me Rios, on match point, drop shot his opponent to make him fall, then Rios, instead of smashing the easy slam into the open court, whacked the easy ball intentionally into the fallen opponent instead.

After my backdraw win, the tournament director Kelley Rickard gives me a nice mini-trophy made out of like rock: “Kendalltown Challenge Consolation Winner 2012.” But in a reflection of my subpar play this weekend, I fumble the rock and it cracks in two and I have to Elmer glue it back together. Maybe I had too many wines at South Beach explains all the unforced errors and mishaps. But the bottom line is it always feels nice to play some tourney matches and meet some new people and talk tennis and see some tremendously talented players in action.

6 comments

  • Steve · February 6, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    Sampling wines in South Beach & then playing a tourney? You are living the life!

  • Thomas Tung · February 7, 2012 at 12:37 am

    Love this story, makes me wish that I wasn’t stuck working 6 days/week at my job with no vacation in sight anytime soon …

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 7, 2012 at 12:58 am

    Steve it was the quickest 48 hours, too quick, but a lot of fun. Miami is so fast paced and the tourist action seems to be recession proof.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 7, 2012 at 1:01 am

    Thanks for reading Thomas, but it was only 2.5 days, then back to the grind.

  • Gans · February 8, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    Scoop, outstanding!

    A sport has to be played for the spirit of it- not to win. You seem to be able find a balance.

    Congratulations! And what a writing!

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 8, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Thanks Gans, it’s nice to play a good clean great match but also grudge matches where the other player trash talks you and tries to psyche you out one way or another, those are also very enjoyable for different reasons. Hopefully it doesn’t get too chaotic and you can still shake hands at the end. Each match is different and all the experience is valuable. Like right now I have a good player who challenged me to a rematch, I beat him 60 61 last week and now he’s telling me he will beat me. So this is a lot of fun to play this kind of match too, it could get interesting : ) I think I will write a story about this match )

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