USA F23 Update, My First Point! – Shubert Blog

Written by: Staff on 15th September 2011

USA F23 Update, My First Point! - Shubert Blog |

(Above: Two girls that are part of the Thomas Shubert fan club)

USA F23 Update, My First Point!

Hey everybody, it was a good day for me today, hope you also had a good one! Before I say anything more, I just want to let you know that the tennis world is a very close knit, very supportive, and caring group of people. I can’t tell you how many interesting conversations I’ve had with players from across the globe at this tournament or the amount of banter back and forth about tennis history and lore. I absolutely love it. And now I’m finally living it. Today I won my first round in the USA F23 Futures event, guaranteeing me a world ranking now for the next year (I hope!). It’s a milestone for myself and my family as I’ve been dreaming about this result for many many years. When you talk to a lot of people from country clubs or colleges, and you say that your aspiration is to be a professional tennis player, initially people think: “Okay, what’s your ranking Mr. Pro?” – Now I can finally say I have one! haha It’s a remarkable feeling and I can tell you first hand I was a nervous wreck out on the court today. Let me break down the day’s events:

This morning I got to the Claremont Club around 11am and began munching on my lunch. Steve Pratt approached me and mentioned he was a 10sballs.com supporter and we became friends and exchanged contact info. He’s also the media guy for this event, so it was nice chatting it up with him as we both watched the #1 seed, USC’s Steve Johnson playing his first round match on center court. We talked about Southern California tennis history as well as my plan for the future. As I finished up my lunch, a couple of my friends from nearby Pitzer college who have coming to my matches all week showed up and were excited to watch another one of my matches. I swear I’m telling the truth because Mr. Pratt took a picture of two of them dubbed “Shubert Supporters”. I had a quick warm-up with my friend Tim Kpulun and was ready for my match at 1pm. Unfortunately a few of the matches had gone the distance and I ended up starting at 2pm instead. I stayed loose, jumped around on my toes, stretched, and kept my shoulder warm. I used the bathroom right before going out on court and felt ready to compete. My opponent Adam Hubble from Australia got the jump on me early as I lost my first service game after going up 30-0 in the game. I blame nerves and a few tight volleys along with his steady play and passing shots. I just didn’t feel my legs underneath me and felt jittery. After going down 2-0, I felt like I had to use the bathroom again to relieve some nerves! I managed to break back and find myself competing in Adam’s service games. He had a big first serve but I managed to get a few enough back to see some more second serves as the set wore on. I only had one more window of opportunity in this first set which came at 4-3. I had a break point and managed to see a second serve. I worked the point, moving Adam around, but got tight and didn’t rush the net when I had an opening. Adam hit a good backhand down the line and I miss-hit my forehand. From there we held serve back and forth all the way until 6all, tiebreak to decide the first set. I started off just making my opponent play, not doing anything special. I managed to get some unforced errors and keep my first serves in (which resulted in me going up 4-1). At 4-2, I saw another second serve and decided now or never. I ran around my backhand, hit a forehand up the line, and ran in after it (Credit Brad Pearce for this tactic). It surprised Adam and I saw a high floater to my backhand. I volleyed it short up the line and Adam hit a shot up the line that looked like it was going to drop in, but I decided to let it go and it did indeed sail long. PHEW! I ended up losing one of my points on serve but got the 5-3 point with a good slice serve into the body (Again, credit my college coach Brad Pearce for this tactic). The 6-3 point was lucky, as I hustled down every shot until Adam rushed the net on a great low slice. I ran around it, shanked a forehand inside in, and Adam missed a duck on top of the net. First Set, Shubert. Wow, the umpire’s voice is still ringing inside my head.

Things got strange after this point. I ran as fast as I could to the restroom because I needed to go! Adam however took a medical timeout for some blisters (He had also gone through 4 rounds of qualifying). I returned and found that Adam was allowed to take another medical timeout right after the first one (Who knew?). I waited for about 10 minutes as the trainer taped his right foot for blisters, then taped his left achilles. I got up and started shadow swinging and moving around just to keep my body going. It was a hot day but I felt I needed to be ready for anything. Unfortunately I wasn’t ready. Adam came out, could barely move to the ball, but decided to play on. His serve speed completely dropped and was essentially slow-balling me. I lost my timing on my return and missed 3 or 4 returns in a row. I couldn’t hit a ball away from him during an actual point because I was too nervous. I lost the first two games of the 2nd set before settling down and making him play every single point. I got the break back, held, then got another break and didn’t look back. It was sort of sad to see my opponent hobbling across the net but I finally settled down and used my second serve/forehand pattern the rest of the match. Closing it out 6-2, I thanked Adam for continuing to play on despite his injuries.

That’s what I went through today on court. Did I also mention the fact that there were more line judges and official referees than spectators at the tournament today? It was kinda funny being outnumbered by their blue collared shirts haha. I play again tomorrow afternoon and am working on just recovering my body in anticipation of another tough, grueling match. Stretch, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate… Stretch and roll out on my foam roller, hydrate. Good night!

Finally got a world singles ranking,

Shubert

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