Second ITF Future in Israel

Singles match against recently Top 600 ATP Ranked Israeli Player:

I came into this match feeling a flurry of emotions. After a tough first week, I really pushed myself on the practice court and was hoping to get a decent draw in qualifying. When I saw a drew Tal Goldengoren, recently ranked in top 600 and formerly part of Israel’s Davis Cup training team, I was definitely excited for the opportunity, but also a bit frustrated I had to play him right out of the gates. He just qualified the week before and won in main draw and was probably the best player in the entire qualifying draw…

I looked at this as a great opportunity and time for me to go out and play my tennis regardless of what happened! I came out of the gates firing with a high first serve percentage and dictating play. I wanted to work my forehand and look to come into the net as much as possible. He is a smaller player and does not miss… in tennis we would call him a “counter puncher” with incredible court coverage and feel.

I knew that I had to come to the net to finish points, serve smart, and attack if I was going to win. I found myself up 5-2 in the first set dominating play for the most part. Fast forward and it is 5-3 I am serving up 40-30 with a set point. I want to play to win and decide to go for a serve and volley with a heavy kick serve to his backhand… I got a decent look at the net and barely missed a cross-court short angle volley. Looking back, I should have probably served into his body, looked to set up the point with a couple forehands then came into the net, but I was a bit excited and felt this was the right call in the moment with the serve and volley. I don't regret my shot selection, but looking back that could have been a better alternative. I couldn't convert in that game and before I knew it found myself down 6-5 0-40 with 3 set points to battle back from… I played a few super smart points and worked myself back to 40-40, but I got quite frustrated when I worked so hard to put myself in that position, but then I took my foot off the gas peddle and made a couple stupid mistakes.

At this level, there is no room for error especially in bigger points and later in the set. Simply put, I should have converted the set point and other opportunities I had, but I did not and that is solely on me.

In the second set, he picked up his level and I started putting balls in the court, but was no longer attacking the same way I did in the first set. I was coming to the net, but many of my approach shots were not aggressive enough and I was getting passed numerous times… I found myself competing in almost every game and we were battling, but again on some of the bigger points he came up with great shots and a made a few mistakes. Ultimately, I lost this match, but there were a TON of positives to take away from it.

Compared to my first week, this was some of the best tennis I have played to date against a very talented player. I fought hard, executed the game plan I wanted to, and put myself in a position to win. Even though I did not get the victory, I wanted to continue building off how I played and carry that into doubles.

Doubles Victory against Top 600 and 1500 Israeli Players:

Jeremy and I came into this match both feeling confident from last week and practice. We knew we needed to serve smart, mix up formations, dominate the net and be aggressive with our net movement and returns. We came out doing everything I just said and won the first set in a dominating fashion 6-2.

The second set, we came out and played well, but our energy dipped a bit and they elevated their game. We actually got ourselves down 5-2, before we really locked in again. With our backs against the wall, we dug in and just played super smart simple doubles. We wanted to put the pressure on them and we found ourselves climbing back to 5-5. Before we knew it we forced a tiebreaker after I served a 40-0 game to make it 6-6.

This Israeli team served very well and was quite crafty, but we continued to trust our “I formation” serve pattern and pounding returns through the middle of the court in the breaker. The tiebreaker was one of the most intense I have played in with some unbelievable net exchanges and points.

Down 7-6 with a set point against us, they were serving and I hit a solid return cross court then got the ball back in the doubles alley where I stepped up and cracked a backhand winner down the line. This was definitely one of the most clutch backhands I have hit to date! After that, we were serving and I came up with two huge serves to bring things to 9-8. At this point we had a match point and after a solid return, Jeremy got an easy volley that he put away! We won and would move to on to play a very solid team from the Netherlands next.

Quarterfinal Doubles Match against #4 Seed from the Netherlands:

Jeremy and I came into this match super confident and ready to go. Unfortunately, Jeremy got broken in the first game and I was not returning super well… We were playing okay in the first set, but we were just too up and down and didn't convert our break point opportunities. In doubles at this level, there is no-ad, meaning that deuce is the deciding “game point”.

After losing the first set 6-2, we got down in a hole early in the second set but climbed back to 5-4 down… Unfortunately we just could not come up with enough to force a third set super tiebreaker, but we definitely played a lot better and had a bunch of chances. Again, we just could not afford to be so up and down in this match and that ultimately was a major reason we lost along with the fact we didn't convert our break point opportunities and missed a few easy points at the net.

Final Thoughts:

There were a ton of great things to take away from this week. I feel like I am really competing well, striking the ball the best I have, and am just confident on court. When I step ou there and am in these bigger moments and matches I am feeling a lot more within myself and centered compared to before, which is huge progress for me! I am excited to see where this leads me in Africa for a bunch of pro tournaments there.

Here are a few photos of Rayne, Jeremy, and I at the beach in Israel along with a shot at the Western Wall. We also got to enjoy some local Israeli food, which was AMAZING!