Evansville / St. Joe

I have been meaning to respond to Coach Rodgers' post all week. Just now finding the time.

First of all, I must rebut his statement about my sleeping late on Sunday morning in O'Fallon. For the record, I was awake by 8:15 and swimming laps in the pool by 8:30. I do admit to sleeping later than normal since I didn't have a self-imposed 6 AM Insanity workout to wake up for, nor a 3 year old jumping on me to start my day. I also realize that Coach had been up for 3 (?) hours by that time, and definitely possesses the "antsy" gene to get moving / make progress. Thus, I do apologize for my lack of timeliness that morning! :)

My take on Evansville.....it was hot and humid! I found myself sweating while at a standstill, and that is quite unlike me. Having lived, coached (at U of Evansville) and taught tennis in the area years ago, Coach showed me around, and gave me the history of Evansville tennis. Was neat to take in, and it gave me more appreciation for tennis in the area, those that built it, and Coach's contribution along the way.

We even managed to stumble across a great pizza place one evening.....Geronte's. The quaint setting, and atmosphere, would make for a great "date night" should you find yourself in town. On the other hand, and as usual, Coach and I had a working dinner; found ourselves discussing the current state of Kohawk Tennis, and how to improve upon that foundation. We also spent much (most!) of our time in the car discussing the same with the ultimate goal being the compilation of a Business Plan for Kohawk Tennis.

As was the case in Atlanta, the time I spent on court leading up to my match is irreplaceable from an experience standpoint. Believe I got 9+ hours in before Monday's match-up against Hibi. The match itself.....Coach provided me with a rock solid game plan, and his analysis of my attempt to execute that plan (below) is dead on. My 1st serve % was abysmal. I considered, and was very close, to hitting two 2nd serves each point. In the end, probably should have given in to that notion in hopes that I started fewer points on the defensive.

Once again, I learned a lot about myself as an individual, competitor, tennis player and coach. Coach also absorbed much insight/knowledge simply by being present; he thinks and understands the game of tennis at a very different level than the rest of us. I have already benefitted from his enhanced tennis bank of knowledge this week. The practice sessions I did get in were very productive; I AM excited to play again and continue improving. I am actually sitting in St. Jospeh, MO right now waiting for the draw and tomorrow's schedule of play to be released.

Hibi went on to qualify for the main draw, and managed to do some damage there as well. She beat Kyle McPhillips (the winner of $10K Cleveland event) in the Quarters before losing in the Semis to Nicole Melichar.

I had a short (18 hour) hiatus in Prairie du Chien, WI with my family and parents on Thursday/Friday. We drove up to De Soto, WI for pizza at the Great River Roadhouse....another treasured find! The bridges en route were quite a sight, especially as evening fell and reflections glistened off the water. A picture of Emmie below (on a jet ski with a family friend):