SUN., OCT. 20 • ENTRY NO. 9

Today was filled with excitement and drama, as each of us took to the court for our second round matches, eager to continue the success we had found on the opening day. The start was a little later than yesterday which was a relief to us all as we were able to claim a vital extra 30 minutes in bed. It might not seem like much but the difference was huge and it was wonderful to wake up to the sun's vibrant morning glow illuminating Montgomery. However, not all of us would be lucky enough to play in the warmth of the sun as matches were scheduled indoors and outdoors, so we were split in half, separated by a 10-minute uphill drive. Head coach Juancarlos Nunez certainly had his work cut out for him, racing between venues and desperately trying to support all of us at the same time. It proved to be a challenging day for us all, with many lessons learnt and, continuing the trend this Fall, two new firsts occurring on our second day at Regionals.

Starting off the day was Janja Kovacevic at 9:00 a.m., who was playing a freshman from Penn on the indoor courts. Her opponent had previously been ranked as high as No. 32 in the nation, so it wasn't the easiest first match on paper, but Janja made it look like a breeze. Her calm and efficient decision making saw her opponent scrambling around the court, just trying to secure herself in the match. Yet, it was not to be as Janja never relinquished the pressure on her opponent and claimed the match in roughly an hour; I started my match outdoors at 10:00 a.m. and was 15-0 up in the first game when she finished… The first of our players had secured their spot in the second round, so our attention now turned to myself on the outdoor courts.

I'd like to say that I walked into this match filled with confidence and certain that I would perform well and emerge victorious but that would be a lie. The thought of "bye and goodbye" as Janja refers to it was consuming me and I was terrified of letting my team down. Thankfully, I don't think I could have had a first round opponent more suited to my game-style; she loved to slap the ball as hard as she could and try to hit winners, whilst I enjoy running around the court like a headless chicken, praying that the other player misses. My prayers were answered and I managed to pull through 6-1, 6-4 thanks to the stellar coaching and support of Martina Bocchi and Coach JC, and also progress to the third round.

Martina and Anna Napadiy unfortunately faced some dangerous seeded opponents and put up ferocious fights, but were unable to prevail. Martina took a player from Columbia, who has previously competed in the World Junior Championships, to three sets but fatigue prevented her from making it over the final hurdle. At the end of the match her opponent even commended her and claimed that she thought Martina would have beaten her had she not have been so tired from her three-set contest in the first round. Not much consolation, but it's nice to know that you are thought of so highly and can not just compete, but beat players of this calibre.

Anna also faced a strong opponent who has a WTA ranking and a 10.7 UTR, which is far more important according to Anna. She struggled with self-belief in the first set, expecting to be blown off the court but managed to bounce back in the second and force it to 5-5. Confidence proved the deciding factor in this match, as her opponent remained slightly more self-assured and cool under pressure to clinch the match. Anna's opponent was a very good player, but no better than Anna herself or anyone else on our team, we just need to believe in ourselves rather than the things that we read about these people before we play them.

The third round was the end of our singles campaign as Janja and I both fell to higher seeds. I faced a top-8 seed from Princeton who has had a stellar fall and made it through pre-qualifying and qualifying at the ITA All-American Championships. She was a good player, who liked to dominate the pace and step up the court, but the match only came down to a couple of important points. For someone who is potentially one of the best in the country, she didn't sweep me off of the court, in fact one of the firsts occurred in this match: I stayed on the baseline not in the back fence. With a little more practice from this position on the court, I will grow more comfortable and be able to claim those crucial points in the match.

Janja had an even closer match, with no breaks of serve happening throughout both sets. She fell 7-6, 7-6 to a 6-foot-5 opponent who has one of the best serves in the country. Unfortunately, she also performed amazingly well on the day, making fewer than 10 unforced errors despite being an incredibly big hitter. Even though she lost, I have to say that I am personally proud of Janja.

It's a shame to see the singles tournament end earlier than we would have liked, but we must leave Regionals with our heads held high; we competed in competitive matches against some of the best people in the draw and learned some valuable lessons, like believing in ourselves more and having the confidence to stay on the baseline. Once again, we have proven that we are up there with the best in an incredibly strong region, we just have to keep working to improve our games and self-belief if we want to not only compete with them, but beat them. As soon as we get back to training, these will be our prime focus, but for now, we are going to focus on our last remaining duo in the doubles draw and preparing them as well as possible for their third round tie.

- Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor, sophomore, UMass tennis

Scoreboard

Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #9

SUN., OCT. 20 • ENTRY NO. 9

Players Mentioned

Martina Bocchi

Janja Kovacevic

Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor

Anna Napadiy

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #9

SUN., OCT. 20 • ENTRY NO. 9

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Players Mentioned

Martina Bocchi

Janja Kovacevic

Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor

Anna Napadiy

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