Steven Blythe, March '09,
Cambridge
Elliot Blythe, February '09, Aldershot
Will Humphrey, 8th February
'09, Bromley
Krishnan Nagendran, 8th February '09, Bromley
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March '09,
Cambridge U14 Report
Steven Blythe
 Waking
up on Saturday morning at 6:00 in the morning was very tough
especially as I was round Edds and we had a late night before
due to talking. However we managed to get up and after breakfast
his mum was very kindly taking us both up to Cambridge to
play our Qualifying matches. It was very cold outside and
we had to be careful because of all the ice, we were skidding
all over the place!!!
Because of the long journey we were either playing cards
or talking abut our game plans. I knew what I had to do
as I was playing someone that I played before and that time
I lost quite easily, however I was determined to beat him
this time and I knew what I had to do to do it. I needed
to dominate off my forehand and keep it off his, as I knew
that his forehand was also quite strong. He is a good hustler
and will try and get everything back so I had to be patient
to try and win the point.
We arrived at Cambridge earlier than we expected and we
decided to have a warm up before the matches began to give
ourselves an advantage. This warm up especially helped me
get it going and I showed it in my match to come. Shortly
after our knock up I was on and ready to play. In the warm
up I hit a lot of serves hoping that it would pay off in
my match. (Which it did)
1st Match analysis:
I was off to a good start in the first set as I think I
was putting pressure on him by sneaking into the net, I
was doing a lot of 1-2 punches which was working well as
I was bringing him of the court with my serve then getting
round and using my big forehand to finish it off and put
him under pressure. After managing to clench the first set
6-4 I stormed though the second winning it 6-0
The 1st set was a tough one and it was a very important
one to win as it made me relax a bit more which made me
play very well in the 2nd set. I was making hardly any unforced
errors and dominating most of the rallies which was getting
him annoyed. All I had to do in the 2nd set was be patient
and force the error as he was making an error nearly every
point. I think winning the first set boosted my confidence
and made his drop quite a lot, which helped me play better
and made me keep to my game plan.
I came off court thinking about the match and wondering
what I could maybe do better in my 2nd match. I was pleased
about the win and how I played and it meant that I had a
chance of qualifying for next week. It was a good win for
me and I went into my next match with a positive attitude.
After coming of court I had a bite to eat while watching
a match that I had to play the winner of, I was looking
for the other person’s weaknesses and trying to figure
out how I could play him. In the end a guy called Mehdi
Naqvi another 7.2. While watching him he was making quite
a lot of unforced errors on his forehand so it made me think
I could attack it more than his backhand although he did
have a 1 handed backhand.
2nd Match analysis
I did a warm up before going on to my next match which
included stretching and warming up my muscles. I went on
for my 2nd winning the toss and choosing to serve. I was
going to concentrate on winning the first couple of games
to put my opponent under pressure. It worked and I managed
to get a 4-1 lead by forcing by the error. I was getting
a lot of short balls by this and was managing to hitting
numerous amounts of winners. Towards the end of the 1st
set there was a court next to me having a lot of arguments!!
This was definitely not a good sign for me!!! Winning the
1st set quite comfortably by 6 games to 1. I was hoping
a comfortable 2nd. However the match next to me was getting
more and more distracting and I couldn’t keep my head
and thoughts on my own match. Before long I had lost my
concentration and found myself making lots of unforced errors
and before long I was 4-1 down!! Thinking to myself “what
am I playing at!!?” I needed to get my rhythm going
again and start focusing on my match. I managed to get it
going again and by doing this I won the next 5 games!! This
meant I had qualified for next week in Ipswich!
I played well over my 2 matches but I learnt that you need
to be concentrating on your own court the whole time no
matter what’s going on next to you! Otherwise Before
you know it you could have lost the match!! I also learnt
that winning the 1st set is very important as it boosts
you confidence and makes you make’s you play better.
Against some opponents they could fall to pieces and just
give you an easy 2nd set.
February
'09, Aldershot Report
Elliot Blythe
 At
the weekend I went to Aldershot for a U12 grade 3 qualifying
event.
My first match I played was against Jamie Hiles. I won
6-2 6-1. My serve went well and I won all of my service
games apart from one. In total I hit 59 serves, 31 of them
I got my first serve in (4 winners) and 23 second serves
(1 winner) and the other 5 were double faults.
Overall I played well but not my best.
My second match was against Danny Cook who used to play
at the club but left. I felt like I had to beat him because
I lost to him last time and I wanted my revenge.
I got a good early lead breaking his serve, but then I started
to relax and lost a few games on the trot but I picked my
game up and won the set 6-4.
The second set, I was all over him really, hitting winner’s
but made a few too many double faults. I was hitting my
strength (forehand) to his weakness (backhand) and it allowed
me to attack and win the set 6-1.
I have now qualified for the main draw all the way up in
Gloustershire this weekend.
8th February
'09, Bromley Junior Tournament
Report
Will Humphrey
I arrived at the Bromley tennis centre in Newstead at
10 o’clock on Sunday. Although I had been to Bromley
Tennis Centre before the quality of the facility still impressed
me.
The mini orange team tournament was first and it was my
job to help start the matches as well as helping to keep
score. At the change of ends I was allowed to advise the
kids by telling them how to improve and which tactics they
could use to win the match. They were all very open to my
constructive criticisms and showed their ability to put
my advice into practice.
The team had a mixed set of results with some wins and
some losses. The kids showed off their great technique on
all their shots and pulled off some amazing winners which
didn’t only impress me, Rob and Krishnan but also
the opposing team!
After a quick break the mini green players had arrived
and were warming up all their shots ready for their matches.
Because a team had dropped out of the competition Krishnan
had to help manage a team of all stars which meant I was
left to manage one of the Maidstone Tennis Academy teams
all by myself! The kids made my job very easy and were all
very well behaved and eager to play.
As I had assisted in a mini green tournament at Bromley
just a few months ago I was able to compare the performance
of the team to then. I was really impressed at how they
had all improved with their technique and accuracy but the
biggest difference was how much their tactical awareness
had improved. They were analysing their opponents’
games in order to gain an advantage which was extremely
notable.
As a consequence of their improvement the results were
much better than last time as they won the majority of their
matches. The attitude of both the mini orange and the mini
green team was great as they kept their heads up after losing
points and focused on the next one. I think everyone who
participated tried their best and they should all be happy
with their performances. At the end of the day all the kids
thanked me for helping them which made it all worth while
and I look forward to helping them at the next tournament.
8th February '09,
Bromley Team Tournament
Report
Krishnan Nagendran
Similar to the event on the 16th November, this was a
team tournament involving teams from around the county.
The first was the orange tournament. Maidstone Academy put
forward jus the one team for this event, unlike the two
last time. However, these MTA players were gifted enough
to learn from such competition. In addition, they also proved
themselves to be tough opponents. From the word go, the
players were very competitive and aggressive. However, having
been put out in the wilderness of competition, the first
few games produced patchy results. The team effort after
the first four matches underlined key MTA values of never
giving up and fighting for every point. The two doubles
matches were won after hard work and graft. This victory
also proved to be a moral boost for the whole team.
I had to continue my work from the last tournament, talking
to players at change of ends, keeping score, and encouraging
the players to chase down every shot. As time wore on, MTA
more involved. Singles matches were fought out closely.
However, doubles matches still proved to be their forte.
The final round of the orange tournament brought the first
victory in the singles, and with it, the rubber. Rallying
from 3-0 down on matches, the singles victory followed by
the doubles (surprise surprise!) meant that MTA took home
a lot of pride from their plucky performance. The hardest
worker of the day award was something to motivate the players,
and Phoebe Watton took home this certificate.
In the afternoon, there were two green teams present from
MTA. Unfortunately, I had to captain the “All Stars”
team, comprising of players from other teams. The “All-Stars”
ensured that all teams had a match to play and personally,
I was hoping that they would pull of results to help the
MTA teams. Another positive from this was that a Maidstone
player, Phoebe Watton, was part of the all star team, after
the mission that was the orange tournament in the morning.
As a team, the All Stars did not quite live up to their
name, while still pulling off results under the radar. The
first round ended in close defeats in all matches. The next
two were against MTA teams, and proved to be more competitive.
As I had to pull off players not featuring in matches from
other teams to play for All Stars, there were some all Maidstone
ties, making for friendly rivalry. Both rubbers against
MTA were close but went against the All Stars. It was unfortunate
that the winner of the Green event was not known at the
end of the tournament. The final, by the looks of things
was boiling up to be a close rubber (they are probably still
playing!).
All in all, this was a successful event for MTA, who were
again, one of the pluckiest teams there, chasing after every
shot, despite not being big hitters themselves. The coaching
mantra of “practise practise practise” seems
to be working. Credit also goes to parents for turning up
in their numbers, cheering on their teams and staying positive
throughout. (Some were inches away from jumping on court
and playing, mind!)
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