Monday Morning Match Memories

Where are clutch doubles teams formed? What makes them who they are? Well, they are forged in the sweltering summer heat of a Michigan Border War league, of course.

Throughout the 2009 season, Kyle Miller and Austin Loucks provided some of best performances under pressure. They pulled out a tiebreaker against Jimtown to give our team a 3-2 win. They pulled out a tiebreaker against Triton to give us a 3-2 win. They fought back from a set down against Bremen to win in three sets. They came out firing against an undefeated Eastern #1 doubles team and took them to the brink, playing their best tennis...

But there were days when I thought I'd never see that. Sure, Austin had an amazing kick serve that he could also hit hard. Sure, Kyle is solid on every area of his tennis game, if not spectacular at any one area. And yeah, they had the comradery to make a doubles team work. But sometimes the energy was missing. The footwork got poor. The intensity just wasn't around.

And it wasn't on June 23 in the 100-degree heat of a southeast Michigan afternoon. Playing the #1 doubles spot together for the first time, Kyle and Austin slumped to a disappointing finish where it looked like they could barely get their legs to move. They lost to Buchanan, 2-6, 0-6, and I was sure they would never work as a doubles pair. In fact, the loss cost our team the victory as well, as it sealed a 2-3 loss.

At Subway after the Buchanan loss, I pulled the team aside and said, "In your next match, you have to bring energy. You have to move your feet. Even if you don't feel like it."

Well, apparently Kyle and Austin didn't feel like it, because they opened up that evening's match against Berrien Springs by repeating their drab performance from the afternoon and going down 1-5. Basically, they were just letting their opponents take it to them.

So we had a little heart to heart at the fence. They would lose every varsity match they played against a halfway decent team if they didn't move and play aggressive doubles. Attack the net, poach, do something!

It sank in quickly. With booming forehands, Austin pegged the Berrien Springs net player several times. After a brief apology, he skip over to Kyle for a high five. Kyle was attacking the net and finding putaway volleys over and over again. He'd slice them between the opponents, at the net man's feet, down the alley, into the net man. Each well placed shot, winner, and opponent error built the energy for Austin and Kyle. They plowed through the next 6 games to win the first set 7-5.

Now they had the idea. And they used it to good measure in the second set as well. Soon, they were the well deserved winners of a 7-5, 6-4 match against the #1 doubles team of the #15 ranked team in the state. And our team was 4-1 winners, although it had been Austin and Kyle's match that had given us the third and decisive point.

This match reminds me of a conference tournament match I had in high school, where I was so tired that I could barely change sides. But when the match was on, the point was being played, I pretended with all my might that I was full of energy and ready to go. And it worked, the energy from my mind transferred to my game and demoralized my opponent. I was able to play aggressive while he just hoped.

Energy, belief, movement of feet, readiness, mental concentration. All of these things are so overlooked in tennis, and people are much more willing to get down on themselves and their partner than they are willing to get up, get aggressive and go get it. Kyle and Austin learned this lesson, and for the rest of the season, I always saw them be aggressive and active under pressure. And it paid off. This season, we need players, like Austin and Kyle, who are ready to go get it!