MONDAY- FIRST DAY OF WORLD INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION

Good morning everyone. It is now time for the Individual competition. There are alot of great players competing this week her in Mallorca. Many flew in from all over the world just to get a chance to win the World Championships. The location is great and the tennis will be fantastic. I ran into several of my US friends, who I did not see during the team event, since they were playing in different locations throughout the island. Some actually came just for the individual event. Great to see them here!! Danny Waldman and Egan Adams are friends and sightseeing friends from Turkey's Individual tournament from 3 years ago. Danny won the men's 50 singles that year. He is an awesome player. Egan went to Pepperdine (like I did) and is also an unbelievable player. They both have very tough draws!! Some of the other Americans had byes and had the day off. I did not get a bye, so I must play later this afternoon.
It is hard to play in the afternoon, because you sit around all day and it get's very tiring, but nevertheless, I had to get mentally prepared to play this unknown German player, Gabriela. I found out (later) that her sister Sabine, was on tour and the favorite to win the 40's group. She also played the tour, but was not as good as her sister. In either case, I am glad I did not know this prior to our match!!
We started our warm up and I immediately knew that this match was going to be a battle. She had a very strong forehand and overall solid game. The German contingency were all watching and cheering for her. We started the match and every point was long. I was a bit nervous, being the first round match and knowing that I had to play my best tennis to beat this German!! I managed to win the first set 7-5 after going down 5-4. I played consistent and fought hard, my normal game, but most importantly, I played smart. I thought after winning the first I would loosen up and play more relaxed, but she played better and put the pressure on me. Needless to say, she got alot of coaching from her German friends and it was working!! I went down 2-5 in the second and was preparing myself for the 3rd set, when I decided to just play one point at a time and keep fighting. I continued with my game plan, MAKE HER WORK FOR EVERY SINGLE POINT, no matter what the score was. It worked, she got tired and I began to come back winning some points just from the length of them. I went down 6-5, pulled it back to 6-6 and finished it in a tiebreak (7-4). Wow, what a first day!! I knew the World's would be challenging, but now this early on in the first round. I got by a very, very tough opponent, and I was happy with my fight. Everyone came up to me and acknowleged that she was very good and that I just beat her with tenacity, good movement, and heart!!
Well on to the next day, past the first round and will relax tonight and prepare for tomorrow. I go up against the #1 player from the Swiss team. She is looking forward to playing me!!! We have been friends for 4 years and we always exchange gifts during the team competition. I have 2 of her warm ups!!! It is normal to exchange gifts and clothing with other countries!! Tomorrow we battle on the court!! SHe is putting on her game face!!!