tennis, life and a few things in between

The lower part of my left arm hurts so much, I quit at 5-5 in the first set.

serve 1

… and serve 2

… and four big birds sandhill cranes

So, another lesson in serving, and the take home note:

1. Left foot 45° to the baseline
2. Make a box
3. 2 seconds medication
4. Toss
5. Look up at the ball
6. Rotate to face the net and hit

A winning day: Graham 5-3, Dave G 5-2. It’s my first time playing with Vijay who has serious spins, not much serve tho.

Bob took a fall from one of my forehand drop shots… I felt terrible … but at the same time, each player has to know his or her limit, (?)

I always utilize drop shot, especially backhand. But since I decided that I prefer forehand side of the court, I also practice forehand drop shot: it’s decidedly obvious, that my backhand drop is lower and better.

^{Isn’t the court looking beautiful? … eeehhhr … the irrigation has problem.}

A 3-0 day: w/ Graham 5-3 & 5-4 (Denny said they want a rematch), w/ Denny 5-4. Didn’t get to play with Alan – we were all pretty tired.

For the past two matches, I felt pretty good about my serve.

… and a few forehands, and backhand

“The Tennis Partner is the second of Abraham Verghese’s books. Published in 1999, when he was a physician practicing internal medicine in El Paso, Texas, this is an autobiographical memoir, and Abraham Verghese writes of his experience moving to El Paso in the midst of an unraveling marriage. Once there, he meets and eventually becomes a mentor to David Smith, a medical resident at the hospital where Verghese worked and a brilliant tennis player recovering from drug addiction.”

Abraham Verghese (1955-) has an interesting journey: born in Ethiopia to Orthodox Christian parents from India. His elder brother, George Verghese, is an engineering professor at MIT and his younger brother, Phil Verghese worked at Google as a software engineer.

His books:

1. 1994 My Own Country
2. 1999 The Tennis Partner
3. 2009 Cutting for Stone
4. 2023 The Covenant of Water

Played with Glenn 5-3, w/ George 4-5 and, with Brad 5-4: we came back from 0-4.

As for serve, it’s been over a year but I’m still working on it. … the wet mark is from my bathing suit – just climbed out of the pool.

This year, the Open is held at Sarasota Sports Club, April 6-13. The venue is far nicer than 2013‘s Payne Park.

~ Emilio Nava (2001-) def Liam Draxl 6-2, 7-6 ^7-2 on Sunday 4.13

The prize money is $100,000. Singles winner takes $14,200 for playing 4 matches (from round of 32).

The past champions include: Kei Nishikori, James Blake, Sam Querrey, Nick Kyrgios, Francis Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Daniel Galan and Daniel Altmaier.

A few facts:

1. A surprise to see USA Coal … seriously? AI says, USA Coal isn’t a company but refers to the coal industry.
2. The broken umbrellas: can’t they afford to use a decent umbrella?
3. bathroom tissue box is empty

The ticket to Day 2 is $35. It’s all singles: some are round of 32 and some are qualifying rounds.

We watched three matches:

1. D. Dutra da Silva def Bruno Kuzuhara: 6-4, 6-4 (Q) @ Bollettieri center court
2. Patrick Maloney def Corentin Denolly: 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 (Q) @ Nishikori Court
3. Filip Cristian Jiaru def Facundo Mena: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 (R32) @ Bollettieri Court

Before leaving, I watched briefly R32 Mark Lajal (the hairdo!) & Wu Tung-lin‘s match. Lajal’s team erupted thunderously, when Wu Tung-lin missed his backhand put away at the net. It was the second set and Lajal won it 7-5, forcing the third, who ultimately won 6-4.

Patrick Maloney (no wiki page) is an American, obvious I’m rooting for him. Then the chair umpire said, “ma’am please don’t clap for free error.”
Maloney asks, “is that a rule?”
Ump said, “No, just not a good etiquette.”

Mmmm… How about the screaming pig? Is that a good etiquette? How about Lajal’s team members?

… the removals from Reddit:

1. 6th post didn’t get removed
2. 5th post
3. 4th: the final
4. 3rd time is the charm
5. 2nd removal
6. 1st removal