Tennis Players, What's Your Favorite Shot?

whats the move when playing another guy who just gets the ball back a ton also? I couldnt figure out a great strategy..

semi-mad @ myself cuz I was 4-0 to start this season, w some good wins, & last night lost to a guy I should've and have mostly beaten. had a 4-1 lead in the first but hit a long skid of unforced errors & dropped it 4-6. came back to win the second 6-2, all closely played games, then just got behind in the tiebreak 3rd set and couldnt catch up~

"slender man" got me again, it was a really fun match tho; scoreline of 7-6, 2-6, 6-2; every point was p hard fought and I was wiped the fuck out by the third set, happy to even get two games there, esp cuz I was down 4-0 and held serve twice

no earthly idea what my record is this season anymore, not sure they are keeping it, & been somewhat up and down but still playing usu twice a wk

played a dude who looks like a younger paul giamatti 2night, lotta pace which was good; after 2-2 first set i won the next 8 games, ultimately winning 6-2, 6-1; giamatti got on tilt and just hit a ton of errors; hope i play him again

last match i got back a ball on a stretch backhand that i was super proud of also btw

fun couple weeks, posting so i remember:

vs youngish nondescript polish guy - split sets then lost a super tiebreak 12-10; this guy is p robotic, hits topspin off both wings; takes forever to serve

vs pakistani guy ive played a bunch - feel like i shdve won in straights but i lost a 2nd set tiebreak and then f'd up the supertiebreak w a lot of dumb errors; i was serving really well/hard this match & had 5-6 to-my-eye-on-a-line aces all of which he called faults, tho in the past hes always been fair tbh; he was also getting over the flu and coughing between every pt so, props

vs tall skinny bald dude -- hadnt played this guy in a couple years; he got up on me 5-1 1st set & then i won 7 games in a row; ended up 7-5, 6-2; he plays just fast paced & think i was playing too fast early on; forgot a bit what its like to play someone who can't really hurt me/doesnt hit winners;

vs semi-crotchedy older dude -- he got up on me 4-1 1st set & i came back to win 7-5, then second set i won 6-0; good match, competitive pts, he hits like squash-ish shots, also rarely hits winners except sometimes on nice angles; this guy used to serve & volley more but only tried it a bit this match, his serve isnt good enough for it to work rn; 2nd set was more competitive than the score,i did hit 4-5 good forehand winners

vs tough, prob 15 yrs older than me ex-military brazilian dude tnight, i came back from down 1-4 in the first set to up 6-5, though down break pt & we had a looong rally where he ran down like 6 balls....ultimately to go for a drop shot where he lost his balance and rolled headlong into the net, it was gnarly (he got the ball back but right to me m/l)

after that he was kinda cooked, i won 7-5, 6-0

Loving these bagels to finish!

there is also a guy ive seen a few times in past yrs who was playing this wk......hes MINIMUM 5 yrs older than me (and shorter) but he played 3 nights in a row this week vs basically the 3 best players on the ladder (one of these being 'gerry') and he beat two of them & in not that difficult linescores

ive really only watched him a few times & cant tell how hes that good, his swing looks awkward

in past yrs ive overheard his name and stuff and remarks abt like "yeah he plays every day for two weeks straight and then gets injured and u wonder why"

― johnny crunch, Friday, January 20, 2017 7:39 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i finally played this guy for the 1st time. he is 20 years older than me. i took the first set off him but then i was fuckin gassed & couldnt put up a tonne of resistance..scoreline was 3-6, 6-1, 10-1 he won; he hits a lot of diff spins and gets a lot back, few winners but does occasionally pound a forehand; nice enough dude but hes the type that doesnt really listen in a convo and is only waiting for his turn to talk again

good match yesterday vs another lefty (im a lefty btw), hard fought match, i won 6-3, 6-4; he served really predictably idk for a purpose of trying to go at my backhand but i was fine w it as i would know it was coming and could easily block it back; i also hurt him repeatedly by hitting my forehand down the line when he was cheating to cover cross court; he moved & hit well tho for being older than me + kinda stocky

I haven’t played in years — I should get back at it. I’ve never had a real backhand, but can survive on slices from that side. My favorite shot has always been the inside out forehand down the line. When it works it looks good and feels even better, the way you get the other player stepping away and they have to watch the ball tailing away from them down the alley. Love it.

nother good one, abt as close & long as a first set as i can recall ~ ended up losing it 6-7 in a tiebreak but had chances to serve it out at 5-4 up and then again at 6-5 up, ugh; there was also a game, me serving at 1-2 with @ least 15 deuces

second set i was up 5-2, again serving for the set & was broken & then the club was closing so we had to stop

opponent hurt me this match w his forehand down the line; he and i are p even tho, thin margins

v satisfying match tnight, won 6-1, 6-2 vs a younger dude who beat me the last 2 times we played. hes a good all-ct player w a big forehand. tnight i served really well & think i did a good job varying depths of shots to force him to hit a bunch of errors. it was still a tighter match than the scoreline, several long deuces..

About to play my first USTA 5.0 match. I teach tennis but haven't played competitively since college and that was 18 years ago. We'll see if I can bring it...

ha I haven't clicked on this thread in a while and enjoyed reading the j.c. tour diary :)

I love tennis so much, but circumstances have not allowed me to play much. I look forward to getting back out there some day

yelploaf, how did the usta match go?

Thanks for asking, jc. I lost my first three matches quite handily, then switched back to my preferred string and won 2 since. Tonight is the last of the season and I'd love to make it to .500.

o good luck

i played in a local tournament ~ had 6 matches in 8 days

lost the finals of my division, which was best of 5 sets; my opponent was literally half my age and had had a bye and two walkovers to get there; no sour grapes honestly, it was fun

played at my club last night w a friend of mine, we are well-matched & its always competitive & fun -- like half an hour after we started, maybe the two best players ive ever seen came on the court next to us ~ one had the same forehand as delpo just loud & heavy and the other guy was also just crazy good, a snapping stroke w flat easy power

it honestly threw us both off a little & during our changeovers we were like damn we are not playing the same sport lol, cool to see though

in 7 months or so I’ll be working part time, and am going to be looking to get back into this in a major way

I’ve been playing with a couple of people I’ve met in boston off and on for a couple of years now…we’re all 4.5ish level…last time I played USTA was when I was 19 or 20 probably, was a 4.5 then and am probably playing the best tennis of my life now. just a smarter and more consistent player now I think

was just vacationing on hilton head SC and got a lesson from a great teaching pro I like down there, mainly working on my forehand and forehand volley. for some reason my backhand has been the solider side lately. he says I can probably hang with some 5.0s but in a tournament setting Im sure I’d be humbled pretty quickly considering the last sanctioned match I played was over a decade ago

been getting really into pickleball lately too, and am just now starting to see the game and am able to hang with real 4.5s (in doubles, hardly play singles due to general culture leaning toward doubles - will probably seek out some singles tournaments once I have more free time next summer). great game, tons of badminton skills that are transferable once you play at a decent enough level