First Day of Qualifying USA F25 – Shubert Blog
First Day of Qualifying USA F25 - Shubert Blog | 
First Day of Qualifying USA F25
Evening folks! Just wanted to give you an update on the Laguna Niguel Futures Qualifying event going on right now in south Orange County. Not too much drama today as I made it through my first round today, a 6-1 6-1 victory that gave me a great opportunity to hit a lot of forehands, run around a bit and feel the court underneath me, and work on my topspin backhand. I didn’t have a chance to watch many other matches, but I did notice a lot of students from the Advantage Tennis Academy making their way through their first rounds as well. My traveling/training buddy Aba Omodele-Lucien, playing his first tournament since finishing his collegiate season at Harvard, managed to squeak through his first round in 3 close sets. I honestly felt like today was a normal day at the office… I don’t have the same nerves or excitement that I had up at Claremont a few weeks ago. All I wanted to do was play my match, win quickly, then get off the court and take care of my body. I did that and am feeling pretty confident. My warm-up before the match was with Tim Kpulun, a short hit on half a court that got my body ready. I think my recent training and tournament experience made life easy during the match because I didn’t feel any nerves out there. I hit freely into the open areas of the court, and the ball didn’t come back a lot of the time. I did some running but felt I ran my opponent more often, usually dictating with my forehand. Maybe I can chalk it up to my new stencil! haha
More interestingly, I caught a glimpse of the great Taylor Dent sitting on one of the benches. I think he was supporting one of his students from his new “Dent Academy” which is based in Newport Beach. Just last year, Dent was winning rounds in Grand Slams. It’s really cool hanging out at these smaller professional events because you really don’t know who will show up!! I didn’t get a chance to meet him but I’m sure we’ll bump into each other someday.
Maybe I’m not focused enough at this point on the tournament. I’m focused when I’m on the court, playing my match, I’m fully engaged and just let my racket do its work. It’s easy at that point because I’ve stopped worrying about things on the court I cannot control. As long as my legs can carry me to the ball and I can swing at it, I just try to make that happen more times than my opponent and hope I come out on top. Once I’m off the court however, swarms of ideas about future plans, tournaments, meals, taking care of my body, etc take over my mind and I completely forget about who my next opponent is. All my clothes are laid out for tomorrow, shoes are in order, socks are in good shape plus an extra pair, new grips on my rackets, and hydrating as I write. All I can do now is sleep well, have a relaxing breakfast and a good warm up tomorrow to be fully prepared for my morning match.
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