First Round (Qualies) Victory at $50k Honolulu Challenger
After an exciting day of tennis at the Kailua Racquet Club, I’m pleased to say I have a chance to play again in the second round of qualifying against Kevin Kim! I won my first round today 6-3 6-2 in pretty hot conditions with a bit of wind. It was tough to time the ball at times but I just kept my ball in and forced errors from my opponent.
Crunch time was when I was up 5-3 serving to close out the first set. It was 30all and at that moment, all the pressure is on me to produce good tennis in order to “close the door”. I can’t quite recall what my exact thoughts were but an image of my old coach Brad Pearce describing a good slice serve to me gave me the courage to step up to the line and serve a beauty of a slice serve into my opponent’s body. I ran up to the short ball and accelerated a forehand into his backhand corner; the passing shot went wide and I proceeded to the ad side for set point. Again, my thoughts were very clear and simple, good slice body serve, attack anything short with the forehand! After another good first serve slice into the body I got another short ball. I hit an inside-in forehand that I sort of shanked but it was okay because it forced my opponent to get on his horse to get the ball in time or else I’d have superb positioning. I ended up covering the line then springing cross court to the delight of the Kailua fans and punching a solid forehand volley away for a winner into the open backhand court.
With all my nerves and stress gone from the first set, I loosened up and broke my opponent 3 times in the second set to take it 6-2. Let me tell you what happened after the match which was kinda cool (at least in my eyes!)
After the match and after a visit with the trainer, I met with Melissa Pampulov who is the head of media for the Honolulu Challenger to do a fun interview for her. She remembered me when I played the Kona and Honolulu futures events probably close to 5 years ago!! Anyway, after sharing my story, I walked around the club and met a few other players.
As I was hanging out in the player’s lounge, Robby Ginepri casually walks in in street clothes, looks around, then went off to chill under some shade somewhere. Have I made it yet? Hahaha no, not yet, but one day! 
Another player in the qualifying draw, Takanyi Garaganga, is a friend of mine from Zimbabwe who trains with my coaches Ben and Zibu Ncube when he’s in town. We caught up a bit and he was actually the one who warmed me up for my match this morning! Next I sat down with Travis Rettenmaier who I hit with at Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine, CA a few months ago after getting my first ATP point. We exchanged numbers and found out we both live in about the same area in California! Next I ran into old friend and training partner Michael McClune. Nuff said there, he’s gotten a lot taller and stronger since the last time I’ve seen him and I’m sure his game is even bigger now too! Finally USC’s #1 and NCAA Singles champ Steve Johnson walked into the club and said what’s up. I asked him about his upcoming year at USC (going for a 4-peat with his team) and his on-going professional career. It was pretty exciting being around all these players and hope I can give a good showing tomorrow against Kevin Kim.
It’s a dream come true to play in a professional event at home here in Hawaii, win a round, and get an opportunity to play against a former top 100 player!!! I’m SO EXCITED!
Shubert
Topics: Atp, Honolulu Challenger
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