Gabs Paul, Swedish Diary
Gabs Paul, Wrexham
Krishnan Nagendran, 16th November '08, Bromley
Will Humphrey, 16th November '08, Bromley
Elliot Blythe, 15 - 16th November '08, Aldershot
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Swedish
Diary
Gabs Paul
As I woke up on Friday morning my throat had tightened
up and I had a very sore throat. After I had taken paracetomoll
and had many throat sweets I was feeling better and I couldn’t
wait to arrive in Sweden. When we got to Stansted (the Airport)
at 4:55 am we checked in and went through to the main part.
Our flight was on schedule and we took off at 6:55am!
We arrived at about 9:30 in Gothenburg- Sweden and got a
taxi. Our car journey was about 20 mins so we had time to
look at the sights and what Sweden actually looked like.
The houses were a kind of American style and big. It looked
as if they were made out of plastic or coloured wood. We
got to the tennis club GLTK it was a small entrance and
looked as if it was a tin. The sign in was at 4 so we had
some time to spare. Our next challenge was to find the hotel
and walk on the outskirts of the city. Suzanne our coach
was in charge of the map and we would have been ok and in
the direction but she had the map upside down! It seems
like a hard and stupid thing to do but luckily the instructions
were the same as coming back so were fortunate.
As we met many people I was begging to see how they were
in Sweden …………… very nice
well incredibly nice!
The hotel was very flashy and looked quite modern. We were
told a time to meet so we had time to unpack and settle
in. When we had got everything together and were set for
the week we walked back to the centre and had a practice
session. We hit many balls and played practice sets against
each other. I played Ellie and she gave me a good warm up
for my match the next day.
After that session we signed in for the tournament, paid
the money and ate food at the club. On the menu it was pasta
with curry sauce and slices of banana on the top. How bizarre?
I took the safe option and had pasta and pesto, I didn’t
quite fancy that mixture of weird foods. Our dinner was
lovely and even the people who went for the curry pasta
thing enjoyed it.
After the dinner we chilled out and played a game of cards,
after that game everyone was in hysterics and couldn’t
stop laughing!
The day after was quite different because three of us had
our qualifying matches to play. I was the first to go on.
About an hour before my match I wasn’t feeling to
good and I was about to say to the referee I wasn’t
going to play because I was feeling very poorly but Suzanne
came back from the pharmacy and gave me some special green
tablets and they did just the trick! All my poorliness had
gone and I was feeling a lot better! The tablets were recommended
by the pharmacist and they got rid of all my blocked up
nose and ears!
When I went on I had a clear game plan and I was going
out to dominate and take charge of the match. The first
set was close and I was dominating as much as I could. The
girl who I played also tried to do what I was doing and
managed to get the first strike in most rallies.
Unfortunately she took the first set. After that set I was
feeling tired but I kept determined. I tricked myself and
pretended that I wasn’t tired and I did my best to
stay in the match. I was moving the ball side to side and
I was trying to get the short ball. During the second set
I felt my energy levels drop and I became very tired. I
did my utmost best to stay in the match and I fought until
we shook hands at the end.
Unfortunately I lost the match 5-7 3-6.
After my match I got changed and showered. I had a chat
to Suzanne about the match and chilled for a bit.
Shortly after I played my match Ellie and Sam went on and
both played their qualifying matches. When I had finished
my match I was very pleased with how I played seeing as
I wasn’t feeling 100% well.
In my match I thought was always dictating play and was
the person who was controlling the match, and another thing
I felt I did well was try as hard as I could until the very
end, at no point did I stop and give up I tried my absolute
best!
Overall the week was a great experience and I learned so
much from competing, watching and charting many matches.
Our team didn’t get the results we were aiming for
but we tried our best and achieved our goals.
Wrexham
Gabs Paul
On Friday a group of 10 people from Bromley played this
tournament in Wrexham- Wales. After a long and tiring journey
we got to the travel lodge and got something to eat from
the near by restaurant. After our meal it was bedtime, we
were told an early start in the morning so we had to be
at the club on court for eight. I wasn’t going to
stay up late!
After a good night sleep we were on court ready to play.
Fortunately a team from Bournemouth had an odd number and
needed someone to fill in for them. The coach called James
knew Aid (well all of them do) so I was able to go on their
court and have a good 30-40 minute hit with a boy called
Joe. We had a great hit and I was playing really well at
that point and was ready to get on court!
When I got the draw I was quite annoyed seeing as I had
to play Ellie a girl from our team but I looked at the positives
and thought – I knew all of her strengths and weaknesses
and how to play her.
I had a good heart pumping warm up to get me ready to play
her. We went on at about 12:00 on the first court! I felt
a bit nervous but I was ready to play my game. For the first
three games I was building the rallies and wasn’t
going for too much or hitting any silly shots. Ellie started
off well and was hitting winner after winner. I kept to
my game plan and kept the three balls in every time. After
the three games I started playing like I wanted to play
and start putting her under pressure. The next two games
I won them from purely hitting the ball side to side and
making Ellie hit on her back foot every time.
The first set was very even and we both one a game then
lost the next. We were both at this time hitting the ball
extremely hard. Ellie was making fewer errors than me and
ended up winning the first set 7-5. I was not going to give
up or loose faith and I was certainly going to do my best
to try and win this! In the second set I was striking the
ball very well but missing a few here and there I think
this was the difference between me and her was she was hitting
the same pace but was making more balls than me. Eventually
after building and getting the first strike in almost every
time I was 5-4 up. It was me to serve. After some strong
points and her working the ball side to side she pulled
the score back to 5-5. I was still as determined as ever
and wasn’t going to change my mentality. By this time
Ellie was used to how I was playing and was hitting the
ball where I wasn’t. As she did this my consistency
dropped and she was still keeping solid.
I fought to the very end but I unfortunately lost 7-5,7-5.
After this match I thought I did many good things and had
a few things work on but I was happy with how I performed
and was achieving most of my goals.
16th November '08,
Bromley Tennis Centre
Report
Krishnan Nagendran
Bromley tennis centre was buzzing with academy players
and parents on the morning of Sunday, 16th November. Academies,
all kitted out were talking tactics and warming up for what
was to be a great day of competition. The Maidstone Tennis
Academy sent out two teams for both the orange and green
team event. Each round had four singles and two doubles
rubbers, similar to the Davis Cup.
Both the MTA teams faced stiff competition in the orange
team event. My role as an apprentice, was to help the players
keep score, talk to the players at change of ends and communicate
with them throughout the match. Although they made a bright
start, the first round ended in a marginal defeat to the
MTA teams. Impressively, MTA1 rallied from 0-2 down in the
next round to post a 4-2 victory. The MTA2 team were noticeably
plucky with their retrieving skills and frustrated their
opponents. However, this was not reflected in the scores.
To cap off a successful event for the orange teams, MTA1
played MTA2 in the final round and produced some strong
results.
The Green team were more of a dominant force in their tournament.
The MTA1 greens were the second seeds and were one of the
favourites to win the event. Starting off brightly, the
MTA first team caught many eyes and were renamed “LA
Galaxy”, deservedly enough. The second round, however,
was a tough one and after the singles and doubles matches,
the score was tied at 3-3. The number of points own came
into play, and we lost out 48-47. The effort put in by the
players deserved much more. The third round was like a second
final, and MTA won that comfortably to cap off a successful
evening for the academy.
The MTA2 were not to be out done, and yet again, put in
brave performances against tougher competition. Although
wins were hard to come by, the team can take a lot of heart
from their competitiveness and perseverance.
I found the evening to be good on a personal level. As
the matches wore on, I found myself getting involved more
and the players co-operated and took in some of the criticism.
I also found the standard of playing of all the teams were
much higher than when I started out, and this is a sign
of progression. Also, it’s important to point out
that the MTA teams, out of all the others were the best
at retrieving the ball and staying in the point, even against
the big hitters. The credit goes to the coaches who emphasise
the need to be mentally tough and to stay in the point,
at any level of playing. In addition, parents also deserve
credit for turning up in their numbers and cheering on the
players.
16th November '08, Bromley
Tennis Centre
Report
Will Humphrey
I arrived at the Bromley tennis centre in Newstead at
10 o’clock on Sunday the 16th of November. Although
I had heard a lot about the quality of the centre I had
never been there before. I was really impressed at the quality
of the facility and it was much better than I had expected.
The mini orange team tournament was first and I was in
charge of one of the LA Fitness teams. It was my job to
start them off in their matches and help keep score. At
the change of ends I was allowed to assist the kids by telling
them what they were doing well and how to improve in order
to win the match. They were all really receptive to my constructive
criticisms and advice and took it on board without questioning
it.
The team didn’t succeed in winning many of their
matches which was a shame because the results didn’t
reflect the effort they put in. Despite this they all had
a really good time which makes it all worth while for me
and the other assistant coaches.
After a brief break the mini green tournament was underway.
One of the competing teams had to pull out and to make sure
everyone got to play 3 matches a team of nomads was set
up, which I was a part of! Although this meant I couldn’t
help the kids in their matches, I found it a really good
experience and was blown away by the standard. Playing 3
matches (consisting of two doubles and four singles rubbers)
was really exhausting and the opposition gave me a good
run for my money.
I thought the number of parents that turned up to support
their children was fantastic. The organisation of the event
didn’t leave anything to be desired as the whole day
flowed really well without interruptions. All the kids tried
their best and I was really proud of them. Having only recently
started my assistant coaching the day was a really good
experience for me to see the standard, not only of the LA
Fitness teams but all the clubs who participated.
15-16th November '08, Aldershot
Match Report
Elliot Blythe
 I
play down at MTA 5 days a week and have been concentrating
recently on improving my second serve and driving my legs
on my forehand. (50/50)
I qualified for a tournament - the top 16 players - by winning
both of my matches in Bath the weekend before last. This
meant that I played this weekend in Aldershot against some
of the best U12's in the South of England.
My first match I won 6-3, 6-3. My second serve went well
because I kicked it up and made it more difficult for my
opponent. It was effective as he could not hit a good shot
off this. I was also moving and concentrating well.
My second match I lost 6-2, 6-2. I started off strong
but then he started looping the ball up and it got me very
frustrated and I started to lose my patience and made unforced
errors.
The second day my first match I lost 6-1, 6-2. I played
quite well but again he was so consistent that I lost my
patience as he was making no errors at all, although he
wasn't going for any winners and I was. This meant I lost
more points than him.
My last match i lost 6-3, 6-3. I played really well but
he was too strong for me and so i could not hit my big forehand
at all. I stayed positive the whole way through and played
some good points.
Overall throughout the whole thing I thought played well
but need to stay head strong and i hope to play another
one again.
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