Wes in Santa Barbara

Match 3

Opponent: Wes "GraniteChief"
Opponent Rating: 5.0
Date: 15 Sep, 3:45pm
Location: Santa Barbara, Cathedral Oaks Club
Surface: Hard
Result: 3-6 7-6 5-7


I had thought the first game with Eric was likely to be the epic of this tour, but I was wrong. This was one of the most physically gruelling matches I think I've ever played and it went on beyond 3 hours. Congrats to GraniteChief for winning the $50 off me!

We'd been scheduled to start at 2pm but domestic matters saw the start time slip back a bit. I left my girlfriend in town around 3, saying I should be back by 6. That turned out to be a mistake and much apologising was subsequently required.

First set - Wes opened up with an ace and held confidently. I showed I wasn't intimidated by opening up casually with a double-fault. But I held and then got a break to go 2-1 up. This seemed sufficient to wake Wes up and convince him to bring his A game to the table. He promptly won the next 4 games with some big hitting and impressive court coverage. I held once more at the end to make the score a bit more respectable - 6-3 to him.

Second set - Again I went up an early break but Wes came back strongly. However I broke again and served for the set at 5-3. It was a long game but Wes broke and levelled at 5-5. Wes then broke again to serve for the match at 6-5. It could have all been over but he was a bit tentative and I broke back to force a tie-break. There were some long, tense rallies and I managed to edge the breaker 7-5.

Third set - Wes decided that going an early break down had been a flaw in his strategy in the first two sets, and stormed to a 3-0 lead in this one. I was feeling tired but I've been hitting the treadmill in my hotels in a bid to hold on to my $50! I managed to claw my way back to 4-4. Some of the long rallies were really hurting now and Wes was still moving depressingly well. I served at 4-5 and Wes brought up his first match point at 30-40. I saved it with a smash, and we then had a lot of deuces. I eventually held after saving 4 match points - big relief but it had taken all I had left. Had to hope that Wes would give it to me on a plate. Fat chance.

I got to 15-30 on his serve but he held on to go 6-5 up. I promptly went 0-40 down on my serve. Saved one more match point but at 15-40 Wes cracked a big forehand return down the line and I could only watch it go by.

It was now just after 7pm. It turned out both our partners were becoming worried that we'd contacted a psycho serial-killer over the internet because surely we couldn't still be playing. But the day ended well as we all met up for a beer at the excellent Brewhouse, which serves very strong beer!

I think this match went to the right guy. It was very close but I mostly felt that I was hanging in rather than having chances to build up a lead. Wes is really fit and can either hit big or grind points out. He also can hit backhand slices that only come up an inch off the surface and turn sideways, and man it really hurts to try digging those up when your legs are tired! I played about as well as I could and left every ounce of strength I had out there. It was a great game and worth the money, although Wes had already signed up to play me before I made the bet so it backfired on me a bit there!

Next day: In need of a bit of cheering up I drove up the coast the next morning to San Luis Obispo and good old Tennis Warehouse! I treated myself to a new pair of shoes (the match had just about finished off my old ones!) and a new racquet - a Head Radical Agassi Limited Edition. I'll use it in stock form (even with the elastic band) for my next match and give a bit of a review of it, in comparison to my lead-taped Liquid Metal Radical I've been using so far.

I'm writing this in Portland, Oregon and just setting off now for Seattle. Next match is due to be 'TheShaun' in Vancouver. Beautiful drive up the coast by the way, and Santa Barbara is a lovely place.

Just look at the state of me after the game. I weighed myself before and after and found I'd lost 2lbs out there.