I played this match after my Week 8 match. I fully expected this to be a close match as my opponent had gotten similar scores than me on previous opponents he played. I played Gustavo who was playing in his first season. He seemed younger than me, he had a very inconsistent serve but when getting the 1st serve it was hard with plenty of top spin. His 2nd serve was a basic lob. His ground strokes were good and he seemed to hit most balls on a low trajectory with lots of spin. It was this shot I think that effected the match for me the most. I seemed to recall hitting the ball into the net LOTS of times which is something that I normally do not do a lot.

I lost this match because of those errors. I also was hitting weak backhands on his hard shots to my backhand. Mostly I was resorting to hitting a slice which sort of popped up in the air like a overhead gone wrong. This inevitably put me in a bad position time and time again.

Most the points I did win were on 1st serves and from hitting nice deep forehands.

Also what would a season be without some injury ? During this match I somehow managed to hit my ring finger with my racquet while serving or something. I remember the pain of hitting but do not recall exactly how I managed it. I think I was mucking around with my routine [Coach's fault] when the problem occurred. Anyway I cracked or broke the ring finger on my left hand. I got my wedding ring off before it swelled too much. Included a nice photo here for you.

 Lost 3-6, 3-6

 Because of this loss I am unsure if I will make to the playoffs this season or not. Anyway I moved up to get better so if I am not winning every match I must be in the right level.