Last Saturday was a highlight of my modest TT career.
I registered with my buddy E for the Japanese National Doubles Championships. Don't worry, of course we don't have the level, but it's an open competition, anybody can register, even 2 French guys (long term residents) in this country. We went there not because we were expecting to win anything but because we could. Actually i showed up 2 years ago, paired with an American guy and we lost in R1 of qualifiers to a very strong pair (they made it to the main tournament and won a few rounds there)
So we went there, with a very nice uniform, we had not only the same blue Tshirt, but also red shorts (tricolore !)
When we saw the draw, we were surprised. I knew one guy of the opposing pair in Round1, a modest veteran player that ive played and always beaten in amateur tournaments. i didn't know his buddy but during the warmup i noticed he had difficulties to control our FH topspin drive, while E is a player well above me so i thought we would win this match quite easily, and i was quite excited about having the luck of facing another "tourist pair" and obtaining a win at the national champs (even its only the qualifying event)
Furthermore we had been practicing for a month specially for doubles. Here goes Game1. in less than 3minutes, we're already down 1-9. The veteran guy plays with long pimples and its like i don't know how it works, I miss every ball that he touches with it. its a nightmare. we manage to come back a bit 7-11. in Game2, we're not playing great still but we're more focused, and im not playing behind the LP guy, we get a 4 point lead, but E misses an easy ball, then loses his confidence and starts making mistakes. at 9-9 under pressure, i miss 2 FH topspins, and we're 0-2 down !!! The referee was wondering perhaps wtf we were doing there.
I really was angry at myself and thought I'd never forgive myself to lose such a match, and was pretty sure we would lose, but its a team play i didn't say anything negative to my partner, just that we could still win and should fight, and it depended on us. Game3 was almost like Game2, we had a 4 point lead, then they came back to deuce, and had a match point 11-10, with their serve, fortunately E didn't miss his receive and the other player netted the ball.
That was the turning point. We came back to 2-2. In Game5, it was their turn to have a lead, 7-3, but we came back. We had found at that point a winning tactic and even when ahead, we could see in their body language they were not confident at all. With extra care and focus, the came back was completed 11-8
if it happened in any other tournament, we wouldn't be happy at all, but here oh my boy it did feel good afterwards. We choked but still made it.
in Round2, we were playing a very strong pair, one of the guys was a national uni champ (Numamura). They didn't see surprised to play against 2 foreigners. They also played very professionally, attacking full swing / full power and left us with no chance. we were ultra-dominated in serve/receive and i can remember only 1 opportunity to make a BH opening topspin that i missed largely, and 1 semi-opportunity to make a FH topspin during a rally but the ball was a bit out of reach from me and low. our few points came from ace serves, ace receives and blocks, and a couple mistakes from their side.
I hope to come back stronger with a higher play level, because we've not even shown 1 good rally against the strong guys, but on paper, our victory remains, and is probably the first one ever from a European pair at the Japanese Championships. We are making history !
---
btw i've regaining form lately. I was at a low in August. I'm playing much better and in another tournament (at our level) i got the best win of the year against a chopper. It was a very curious match, because ive watched the guy play doubles before playing my match, and he had really a good FH topspin, hitting many winners, didn't see him miss anything. And when we played, he played only defence against me, like a chopper, or with lobs. not attacking at all. I was surprised. Was it because he saw me play my first match where i was playing very poorly because i wasn't warmed up yet, and my opponent (veteran, beginner level) was playing too slowly which i don't like ? it was like it was a handicap match. and i love lobs, i seldom miss smashes. I didn't miss a single one on that day. I don't understand why he kept trying to win points with lobbing.
anyway, i was quite clumsy in Game1, struggling to drive against backspin, and lost 6-11. But i played well in Game2. I had trained earlier this week against a chopper coach, and started to find the rhythm and feeling as if i was playing against him. i win G2 easily but somehow G3 i rush too much and miss everything, losing it 3-11. Fortunately i recover my mind, and start to playing again like against the coach. I don't miss drives any more. can loop, can drive fast , in both corners, can push back short against his defence. i dominate G4
In G5 i am up 7-0 with 3 or 4 lucky points (edge / nets). ONLY THEN he decides to attack finally with his FH. I am surprised and stunned. his FH is quick spinny, well placed, and he comes back to 7-7
but i don't panic, im serving, and he's been struggling all the match with my BH serve, and i serve well the next 2 points, so i can attack first, and i win the 2 ensuing rallies. Then he serves, and attacks first, I counterloop his 1st drive, but he counters even faster while pivoting. I have a reaction counterloop shot in the empty crosscourt, like on TV (body stayed low, short stroke, taking the ball in front of me) that was the point of the day. with my serve, i am able to close the match 11-8
its really strange to play a guy that plays 1 or 2 levels below his true level, and only starts playing his level from down 0-7 in the decider. thank you mate. it was a team tournament, and he made his team lose. i can't remember playing such a strange match and i've been playing for several decades.