2nd day of Qualifying at Laguna Niguel F25 – Shubert Blog

Written by: Resendiz on 25th September 2011

2nd day of Qualifying at Laguna Niguel F25 - Shubert Blog |

2nd day of Qualifying at Laguna Niguel F25

Things are still going smoothly down here in Laguna Niguel. I dispatched the #11 seed in the qualifying draw 6-3 6-2 today, physically putting in the work to solidify the victory. My traveling/training buddy Aba Omodele-Lucien also advanced, needing 3 sets again to get past his 2nd round opponent. The tennis is getting better and better as more and more players are eliminated each day. The only other “upset” of the day was when junior Joseph Di Giulio of Advantage Tennis Academy took down #16 seed Nathaniel Gorham in 3 sets. I have to say I’m impressed with the game style of young Joseph, I remember practicing with him in Fountain Valley when he was a pre-teen! His grinding style has been enhanced by an urgency to attack and end points up at the net.

A little “Brad Gilbert: Little black book” knowledge is needed for my next opponent as well as Aba’s. Both of us play players with a history of anger management issues. They are like volcanoes, when active, they can be very dangerous. You know, players like Connors and Mac used to need to infuse themselves with animosity or strife in order to raise the level of their tennis. Players like Borg were able to neutralize this talent of theirs and “keep them grounded” and to keep the match drama-free. These players these days are able to hit winners from anywhere on the court and are really strong athletically, but they’re also able to miss anything as well. It’s a tricky balance to allow them to hit themselves out sometimes (Like a boxer going punch-drunk), and when to step up, take the game to them, beat them into a corner and force them into positional tennis. So from examples, Mac would be losing a match, get upset, disrupt everyone’s rhythm and mood state, and somehow end up winning the match. So when this happens tomorrow at some point during the contest, it’s important to keep your blinders on and as my coach at BYU used to quote his old coach at UCLA: “Don’t have rabbit ears!”

I once again saw Taylor Dent on site today but he was playing with his son (who by the way looks exactly like him, only a miniature version). A few other players around the tournament site I’ve been seeing on a daily basis the past few weeks are Sanam Singh (Univ. of Virginia), Alexandre Lacroix (Univ. of Florida), Darian King (Barbados), and Tim Kpulun (Orange County). It’s still so much fun to be around the tournament site, watching tennis, talking tennis, and living tennis. It’s tough on the court but once the matches are over everybody is cordial and you have your friends around you. Let’s just say this is the kind of work environment I’ve always looked for and want to move up in haha. I’ll let you know how the matches turn out tomorrow!

Resting up and hydrating,

Shubert