Today I only played 4 four matches, and each match was tough I played up to semi-final it was very tough. In the last match, I played my good friend that I played last time but my leg was a stick and I was very tired I maybe should not play, but it was like a fun cooldown match. I think it was the best play in my whole entire match. I played 41 games in total which means the average is 10 games in one match. It was 7-5 7-5 3-6 and 6-2. It was tough but very fun at the same time.
The 3 matches
The 1st round
VS: Niro Kimura (I won 7-5)
I played against my good friend Niro I was very worried at first because I thought it is going to be a long long match like last time, but likely, he played tennis so much in the morning that he was very tired, he did so many errors, I defeated him pretty easily, I was moving good but I did many nets and slice over’s. I felt hard, but I started getting the ball in and Niro made error and I was able to get points. I learned from this match that sometimes I can get even without overpowering them.
The 2nd round
VS: Kaede Taniguchi (I won 7-5)
I lost against this girl the first time I played in this tournament, and to be honest, I had no chance, but I got more power and more heaver ball, so I was very happy and nervous when I found out that I am playing her.
She had a very powerful backhand, but the good thing about today was that I played outdoors so I was able to use a high moon ball to get myself back. We had many moonball rallies. In the beginning, it was tough because her backhand ball slides and I was totally getting pushed. But I started hitting back at her shots because I figured out that I can’t win only by tapping. I hit only her backhand with my forehand with every shot, and she ends up missing. The most different part from last time was that I was getting my serve in the last time I gave like 2 games with my double fault. I needed to hit back and I was rushing so much, but in the end, I think I won because of my stamina, I had something she didn’t.
The Semi-Final
VS: Kazuma Ueno (I lost 3-6)
When I found out that I was playing him, it felt like my dream came true, I watched him since the first time I played this tournament he had a unique forehand, and he was a very thick western grip. When I played him the first point I felt like I am playing a different player the was attacking and swinging his racket, I thought that he was going to use a more slow ball with more topspin. From the first point he got a winner with his forehand down the line, in the 1st game he got it easily from me lav game, and from that moment I knew I had to overpower him, I knew I had no chance by playing who can get the ball in more game I started playing like Rublev and I didn’t literary care about missing AT ALL I hit every return on my sweet spot and the ball when so fast it was 60% rate of the ball going in but I didn’t care I got winner ½ of the time for one game, I really wished if I had more energy left I I had no more left and I couldn’t handle longer, so I started making many errors but I think it was the best match I ever played before I lost 3-6 but I am very happy with the result.
Practice game
VS: Sota Miura (I won 6-2)
I was very tired because I played 3 very hard matches, my leg was a toothpick and since my racket got smaller I used a one-handed backhand to get more range and I played the best I can do, I could have gone more volley to wrap things up.
In Total
In conclusion, it was a good day, and I came up it a good result next time I want to beat the guy I lost, I learned that it is good to use defense and attack but now I have to focus more on hitting it back. I am not crashing the ball but at the same time, it does not mean to counter it. I will try to gain more energy to leave way more stamina.
