One of the things about tennis is that when you have been knocked out of a tournament you have to pick yourself up and start thinking about next week. I went out of Winchester in the 2nd round so I had some hits with playing partners and then got my head into Beckenham which was the next grade 3 tournament. I was really looking forward to this tournament because I was playing doubles with my partner Sam Taylor and would be staying at his house during the week. I don’t do staying away well, something I will have to get used to but Sam and his mum Alison are really nice and they made me so welcome.

Tournament: Goodacre Property Services Beckenham Junior Open
Date: 21 July 2008 – 26 July 2008
Event: Boys Under 14’s
Draw: 64
My Rating: 7.2
Seeded: No
Venue: Beckenham Tennis Club

1st Round (64)
Bye

2nd Round (32)
Opponent: Jack Lloyd
Seeded: No
Opponent Rating: 8.1
Won/Lost: Won
Score: 7-6, 6-7, 6-1
This match was one of my worst matches of all time I could not get my head around the match, and I did just not turn up. However I stuck in and bit my tongue and just hung on. Eventually after 3 hours and three gruelling sets of tennis, I had won. It had been a tough emotional match but I had been happy with the guts and determination I showed.

3rd Round (16)
Opponent: Ben Blackwell
Seeded: [1]
Opponent Rating: 7.1
Won/Lost: Lost
Score: 6-1, 6-4
In the first set I continued on from my last match and everything went terribly badly. However I said to myself things can only get better, and they did. In the second set I played great and I found myself a break up at 4-3. My opponent then played the most amazing three games I had ever seen I managed 2 points and he hit about 7 winners, I was out of the tournament.
The double with Sam went really well and we reached the semi-finals. Doubles is such fun as there is not the pressure when you are playing on your own. It really helps with your net play as well as you get to volley so much more. Sam is a very different player to me. He goes for every shot and is very laid back. I tend to think more about each point so we are a good combination.
Looking back on the week it was really good fun. The double semi final was fantastic and I achieved one of my goals which was to reach a last 16. Rafa my coach was pleased when I texted him on holiday.

After a week away at Beckenham it was so good to be home and see my mum and dad and be in my own bed again.  I was a week away from summer holidays in Portugal where I was going to get intensive coaching every morning to work on various aspects of my game.  This week I was at Woking and it would mean daily trips round the M25 to get to my matches.  The hour each way in the car is a real drag and if you are playing first match it means getting up so early.  Good news was that I was number 3 seed and therefore expected to get to the semi final.  The summer tournaments often throw up odd draws because many of the players you expect to be there are away on holiday.

I can’t eat anything that has lots of sugar in it before matches as it give me a glucose rush so breakfast is oats or Weetabix and banana with a bagel.  Mum is great as she gets me the right sort of food if I have to play more than one match in a day. I also can’t play on my PSP on the way to the tournaments it will effect my concentration.  It is all these little things that you don’t think about, but your mum and dad do that are so difficult to deal with.  The M25 is really boring.

Tournament:    Colbornes Woking Junior Open
Date:    28 July 2008 – 2 August 2008
Event:    Boys Under 14’s
Draw:    64
My Rating:    7.2
Seeded:    [3]
Venue:    Woking Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

1st Round (64)
Bye

2nd Round (32)
Opponent: Tristan Andrews
Seeded: No
Opponent Rating: 8.2
Won/Lost: Won
Score: 6-1, 6-0
This was a rather simple first round. The boy I played had no real weapons apart from a hard serve which was not very accurate. All I had to do was play within myself and I would win. Well I managed to do this and the match was mine very comfortably.

3rd Round (16)
Opponent: Felix Plom
Seeded: No
Opponent Rating: 8.1
Won/Lost: Won
Score: 6-4, 6-2
It was a rather weird match this because the boy I played was not good at all. However I seemed to struggle to put him away. He had nothing to hurt me with but nevertheless he put a good fight. He rather got on my nerve at some points. For example: he bounced the ball about 15 times before he served. He took far too long in-between points and at change over’s. Plus he made four horrendous line calls and a referee had to watch the reminder of the match from the side. In the end though, I got through it comfortably.

Quarter-Final (8)
Opponent: Billy Ellison
Seeded: [13]
Opponent Rating: 7.2
Won/Lost: Won
Score; 7-6(8), 6-3
This was by far and away my hardest match so far. The boy I played was very talented. He was extremely consistent and used a lot of topspin. He did not hit the ball that hard but he moved the ball all around the court quite superbly. His game plan was mainly to topspin to my one-handed backhand. In the first set he did this very well and he ended up three set points at 6-3 up in the tiebreak. However I clawed it back with two great points and a lucky net cord and end up winning the breaker 10-8. The second set was rather easy apart from I had to recover from 2-0 down, however I overcome that hurdle and went on only losing 1 game from that point to win it 6-3.

Semi-Final (4)
Opponent: Ryan Lonsdale
Seeded: [9]
Opponent Rating: 8.1
Won/Lost: Lost
Score: 7-5, 6-1
This boy was a great player he did not come from England and had been training abroad and had come to do the English tournaments this summer. In the quarters he had beaten the number 2 seed 6-1, 6-0, he had also taken the number one in the country for under 13 to three sets. So I knew I would be in for a fight. I guess this is why I was so surprised when I stared a set point in the face in the first set. He served a kick serve high to my backhand that I sliced low to his forehand because he was left-handed. He then played a lovely drop shot cross court. I was nowhere to be seen and the set point at 5-4 up was gone. The first set then played over in my mind which was a bad thing and I could not seem to make it disappear. It is something I have to come to terms with as I was not focusing on the set I was playing.  I crumbled and only won 1 game to his 9. I had lost in a bad way and felt I had let myself down badly.  The journey home was a very quiet and long one.

On reflection I had achieved beyond where I thought I would this summer I had reached a semi final of a grade three tournament in my first year at U14.  This was better than I had ever done as a first year U12.  Much to my annoyance Ryan lost in the final to another 7.2 and I was left thinking what might have been had I closed out the first set.