Importance of Personal Goals, More BNP Paribas Tennis, Fed is the Man to Watch!

Written by: Staff on 9th November 2011

BNP Paribas 2011 Masters Tennis Tournament

Importance of Personal Goals, More BNP Paribas Tennis, Fed is the Man to Watch!

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Adrian Mannarino of France during their second round match at the BNP Paribas 2011 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 09 November 2011. EPA/HORACIO VILLALOBOS |

I realized my frustration the past week or so has been caused by a lack of patience in the process of becoming a professional tennis player. I made a solid move by getting my first ATP point this past Summer, then had a great experience traveling with the Champions Series Tour after straining my shoulder. I realize now that I’ve been frustrated in coming back to full strength and not really having a solid schedule to plan and prepare for (as I did this summer). I like to think months ahead (as I did the past 8 months coming out of college), and I know that new opportunities will keep presenting themselves if I stay on my game. So let’s get back to square one. I sat and thought about where and what I want to do in the next 6 months. Being in the situation that I’m currently in, I need more ATP points to go anywhere or do anything further with tennis. I want to win more points in the next 6 months, get my ranking up to around the 1000s in singles and pick up any doubles points I can along the way (bonus), anything lower than that would be great, but let’s just keep things simple for the time being. I want to play the $50,000 Challenger that’s held in Hawaii at the Kailua Racquet Club in January, if I can get into the qualifying, it might give me a chance to play good tennis and get a good result (1 tournament can “make” an entire year + it’s my hometown and I can visit my mom). There’s whispers of heading to Australia with my current crew of training partners and coach – I could also try to be a reporter for the event and then play futures events held in Aussie Land during the month of January. When the Champions Series Tour continues next year, I want to join in being a little more established and hopefully use my current ranking to open more doors.

So there are a few things to focus on, but for the most part the only one I can have direct control over is the one that keeps me in playing shape and healthy enough to withstand professional tennis. That means the rest of this month I really have to make a push to heal this shoulder or something, not really sure because when tennis is taken away from me, my life turns into shambles. I love the game too much to be separated, despite physical injury or pain. I don’t know what it is, can’t explain the level of obsession I have, but I used to take time off for injury or rest, but these days I just can’t see myself doing anything during the day that doesn’t involve tennis. Working out by itself just doesn’t do it for me either, yoga, running, whatever, there’s nothing like flying to the net or maneuvering around the baseline for hours a day…

I’m starting to see some really good tennis being played at the BNP Paribas. I was happy to see Isner and Roddick win, Roddick especially. Nishikori unfortunately lost first round to Stakhovsky, couldn’t maintain his level after making the final at Basel. Neither was Granollers able to maintain his high level of play, also falling first round. Notice that there aren’t any long rallies at Paris, it truly is fast indoor tennis. I’m still waiting for somebody with good volleys to come along and be able to transition and approach the net properly. So far Tsonga is the only guy with the sprint speed to make it to net fast enough to make volleys look easy like Edberg, Sampras, and Rafter used to. I can’t wait to see Fed try and tackle his first round, he’s the man to beat and the man to watch right now. He’s always been so good at the end of the year when the courts get fast and the serve plays an even more of a determining role in matches. I really wish Nike would design some old school stuff, was early 2006 the last time we saw Fed wearing something different than his trademark RF line? I miss the old shirts, the old styles, maybe even miss the old Fed when he was less established, less refined, and more raw. As they say, Image is Everything… He’s a conglomerate, which reminds me I have to work on my own.

You can’t skip steps during a developmental process – stay patient, stay diligent,

Shubert