FRIDAY @ THE INDIVIDUAL WORLDS

So it is now Friday and I play in the Semifinals of singles at 10:30. Thank goodness because I am not an early person!!!! Those 8:30 am matches just about killed me. Today I play the #1 player from the Czech Republic, Barbara Koutna. She is seeded #2 in the draw, I am #5. I saw Koutna play against Fran in the Team Competition so I knew she would be one of my toughest matches. She is seeded no. 2 for a reason!!! She has a tremendous forehand, solid backhand, a good serve, and an overall solid net game. I had a plan in mind, but of course it was a matter of executing the plan. I knew that Fran frustrated her by getting alot balls back and being consistent, so that was going to be game plan #1, frustrate her and hit deep balls to her backhand (1 handed). She frequently ran around the forehand and tried to control the points with her forehand. We battled in the first set and my gameplan worked, she got very frustrated and made unforced errors so I got the first set 6-3. I felt good about how I was playing, confident from the baseline and my movement was exceptional. We started the second set and I immediately broke her and was up 1-0. I thought I had her mentally because I won that first game so easily, but I was wrong. She settled down and began to use her forehand effectively, moving me from corner to corner and coming up with tremendous angles and some great drop shots. I got down 5-1 in the second set, so I mentally decided to just play one point at a time, kept making her work for every point, and before I knew it I got back even with her. In a key point at 5-4 her, I came to the net and she hit an angled backhand passing shot, which I hit with my left hand at the net (just trying to reach it), hit the ball back in the court short, then hit a lob volley over her head for a winner!! That was the turning point!! I ended up winning the tiebreak in the second set 7-3 and I found myself in the Finals of the World's!!! I was ecstatic and quite shocked!! I did play well and felt very deserving of that match!!!! The other semi finals was still going on, with Fran (my teammate and the #1 seed) playing the #4 seed, Christine French (the #1 player from Great Britain). I went to watch the match and the match was at 5-2, Christine in the third set. I knew Fran was not going to give up (I have played her so many times!!!!) and she came back to win 2 more games. They battled at 5-4, long game, and Christine ended up 6-4 in the 3rd set. I kept mental notes on what she did well which was her serve and baseline consistency and a great bh drop shot!!! I knew I had my hands full tomorrow in the FINALS, but I also felt that maybe she would be a little tired. My partner and I are in the semis this afternoon against Brenda Foster and Christine French, the #2 seeds. I knew Christine would be a bit tired from her singles match and I had already played Brenda (the tall Australian that I played in the quarters), so I knew what we were up against, both good solid doubles players. Myke and I knew we were ready, we had practiced together alot during the Team Competition and had played quite a bit before. We had to just play consistent and smart doubles. We talked about the importance of playing Christine more since she was tired, and that they were both tall and had very solid overheads, so we were going to keep the lobbing to a minimum!! We started the match with a break of service and just played great in both sets. We made very few mistakes, communicated well and controlled the net!! A great match for us and once again, I was in the FINALS (doubles) of the World's. It has been a GREAT day for me!!! I had set some goals for myself before leaving the states and slowly I was accomplishing them. I have 2 more matches left to win the Worlds so I focusing and will be ready for tomorrow!!