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Steven Blythe, March '09, Cambridge
Elliot Blythe, February '09, Aldershot
Will Humphrey, 8th February '09, Bromley
Krishnan Nagendran, 8th February '09, Bromley
> See older reports in archive

March '09, Cambridge U14 Report

Steven Blythe

Steven BlytheWaking 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

Elliot BlytheAt 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!)

> See older reports in archive

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