Shotgun 21 Tournament – From A Players Prospective: Thomas Shubert

Written by: Staff on 25th July 2011

Shotgun 21 Tournament - From A Players Prospective: Thomas Shubert |

Final Recap of Shotgun 21 Tournament

Hosted by Steve Bellamy of Pacific Palisades

The Shotgun 21 is one of the most fun and exciting tournaments I’ve ever been able to participate in. The atmosphere is laid back, the players are friendly, and the tennis is awesome. Remember, no overhand serving takes away many players’ advantage and can create interesting match ups and strategies of baseline play.

This year, the Shotgun21 2011 main draw featured former and current professionals: Michael Russell, Vince Spadea, Alex Bogdanovic, Artem Sitak, Phillip Simmonds, Thomas Blake, Vince Van Patten, Noah Newman, and Harel Srugo. They were joined by collegiate players and a few juniors who managed to battle their way through the qualifying draws.

A little bit of background about my own style of tennis. I’d categorize myself as an athletic, all-court, rush the net, “old school” attacking player. So naturally it’s not my tendency to try to grind down my opponents with heavy “groundstrokes”. I hoped to capitalize on short balls, working the point, and using aggressive footwork to put myself in a winning position at the net. Easier said then done. . .

(Above: Thomas Shubert)

I drew Vince Van Patten first round. After a nervous start, I finally broke away from a 10all stalemate, buckling down and staying consistent. Relied on my movement and put a little bit more intensity into my shots.

“Sigh of relief!”

First round and I’m looking forward to round 2. Noah Newman was my opponent, a former UCLA standout and professional. He was more consistent than me and had a knack for crushing balls that he caught around his waistline. I started out on the run most of time during the early stages of the game, sometimes managing to crack a few good shots and get a few good points in. I tried to hang tough but errors crept in at 13all, and I found myself at a 17-13 deficit. They ended up determining the match as we traded points until an eventual 21-17 loss.

I remember going away from my strategy of staying “Calm, cool, collected” like Federer and “focusing on staying light on my feet and not focusing on the distractions going on outside of my match”. I did end up rushing through those 4 points at 13all, with 2 forced errors and 2 unforced errors.

Did Newman hit winners? No, I just missed my shots. Credit to him for

hanging tougher than me at that point. But just think, most of the time tennis matches are decided on errors not winners, wouldn’t you agree? (Think back to how many break points you may have converted because your opponent double faulted!) This time it was my errors that decided the game. Anyway, I wish I would’ve looped the ball more and tried to keep the tempo a bit slower instead of trading waist-high bombs with an experienced pro. I think if I had tried to use more of my speed more, maybe some errors creep into Newman’s game and I might’ve edged out a win.

As a recommendation to all tennis fans and patrons in the Southern California section: This event is like no other tournament around! It’s fast paced, exciting, and features pro-level competition! Some of the players in the draw this year are in the qualifying and main draws of the Farmer’s Classic (LA Open) going on down the street at UCLA!!! It was a pleasure watching the other players slug it out and produce some of the best baselining I’d seen all day (and I was at the LA Open qualifying matches earlier this morning!). Do yourself a favor, enter next year’s Shotgun 21, enter your kids, your wife, your spouse, your friends. It’s a guaranteed good time as you get to rub shoulders and play against some of the game’s elite!!!

Please stay tuned as I travel back to my hometown of Honolulu, HI on Wednesday, July 27 to play in the ever-popular and entertaining Kailua Night Doubles event!!! Pictures and Videos coming soon!!

Always trying to improve,

Shubert

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