In October I had the pleasure of having my new Pro Staff Six One 100 fitted fully with L-Tec threads by the one and only TennisThis.com guru, Javier. After only a few rounds with the new strings I could feel what an amazing difference these strings provided to my game. Accuracy and increased spin were something I desired in my heavy spin lefty game and these new strings gave me both.
After a few months of play peppered with many victories, I decided it was time to get in a tournament. This would be my FIRST singles tournament ever and the first real competitive tennis I had played besides USTA Team play. I entered the 3.5 Men’s Singles Tournament at San Francisco Tennis Club on February 2-4. SFTC is my home club so I thought this would be a great place to get my feet wet.
After receiving a bye in my first round I found myself matched up to play against an opponent I had previously met up with in a final of a Flex League about 6 months prior. We had both gone 7-0 in the Flex before meeting in our 8th and final match. It was an all out war for the honor of winning Flex League Champion. In that match I lost the first set. Won the second. Went up in the third before running out of energy to be overtaken and sadly lose the match. Needless to say this was some excellent fuel for my first rounder in this first tournament I was about to play.
This time I took the first set. My confidence in my new strings by now had months to build and I was nailing placements like a headhunter serving Ivy league candidates. I was slicing bacon sizzlas, firing off heat seekers, delivering tornado spinners and making a concerted effort to head to the net for a multitude of bazooka bomb blasters. Before I knew it my opponent was flat lining and heading for the showers to defibrillate.
Needless to say it was a dominant first tournament match win. I was into the quarters.
In the next match my confidence was even higher. I was playing an opponent who was significantly older than me and I felt that my fitness in combo with my ball placement and accuracy from my L-Tec’s would lead me to the promise land. In this match I learned that confidence is key… but never get too confident. This guy ended up chipping away at me with his “pusher” style and worked the second set out of me taking us to the 10 point third set tie breaker. I re-focused and got off to an early lead with confidence in my heavy spin serve and ended up winning out 10-4.
Thanks to L-Tec I was on to the semis…
My semi-final match was a bit more difficult than the previous one. We were pretty evenly matched and we both tended to win our serves. I’d say I had two big advantages. 1. Motivation. I was so laser focused on winning one point at a time, one game at a time, holding my serves and looking for the soonest possible break of his. And 2. L-Tec. My shots were going where I wanted them to. I was driving liners, lobbing winners, precision passing, and pop jumping lefty serves out of the solar system. My weapons were just too much for his defense. A few points later we were shaking hands at the net and I was heading to my first final of my first singles tournament!
By this point I had made it farther than I had ever imagined going into this thing. It was Super Bowl Sunday at 6:30 and the lights had just gone out for my Niners allowing them a chance to mount a seemingly insurmountable comeback… and it was time for me to go play. You might think I was satisfied at making it this far but my feeling was quite the contrary. If I was going to make it to the final AND be missing the big game with my team in it… I was never leaving that court without the trophy. You could say it was almost a foregone conclusion. My focus was in a place that I had never experienced in any tennis match prior. I didn’t feel nervous although at times on the change over I would literally see my hands shaking. I kept doing what I had done in every match prior. Confidence in my shot. Heavy hitting the serve. Driving the net for the put away pressure play. And always winning my serve. It was a good match and he was a good opponent. But I don’t think he wanted it as bad as I did. In what seemed to be about an hour I had closed it out. I HAD WON MY FIRST TOURNAMENT EVER!!! 6-2, 6-2.
I was so amazingly happy and completely overjoyed to be hoisting my glass tennis ball trophy. Even though my Niners hadn’t pulled out the comeback I can home to my family with an even more important and valuable piece of hardware. L-Tec, Javier, my family, friends and teammates were all part of my victory and I can say with all truth that this was the greatest victory of my whole life.
Greg Duncan 3.5 – Champion – SFTC
Greg Duncan had his Wilson ProStaff Six.One 100 strung with L-Tec Premium 5S mains and L-Tec Premium 3S crosses at a reference tension of 52lbs. Installed with the JET method. If you would like to have your tennis racquet strung with L-Tec using the JET method, please contact me.
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