Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Today's Doubles
Natalie and Jackie will play doubles today....vs.....Lumpken/Sotnekova. They will play third after nine....that's of course is code for 12:30ish.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Natalie meets Ann Meyers Drysdale.....wow....
Natalie and Ann Meyers Drysdale
Thank you Ann, for paving the way for Natalie and others like her!
 |
| Ann spoke at the players party tonight. I must recognize that fact that Ann was and is a pioneer in sports. Here a few of her many accomplishments as she paved the way for Natalie and others: 4X All American at UCLA ONLY female to be given a NBA Contract Member of the Olympic BBall team with Pat Summitt Played WNBA ball Currently the VP of the Phoenix Suns Currently the General Manager of the Mercury WNBA team P.S. Ann married the great Drysdale of baseball fame....one of the most accomplished pitcher the league has seen, I think he was a 9x All Star pick.....a great athlete as well. |
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Congrats to Jackie!
Congrats to Jackie for doing what it took today to win the match. What a great player and gal!
Natalie was down 1-3 in the first set, then 3-4 to take three games in a row to win the set. Seemingly, cruising to victory being up 5-1 in the second and serving. Natalie double faulted twice in a row and yet another HORRIBLE back line call by the chair and the game was over and Nat was "ticked off". Not a good thing....unfortunately there are STUPID coaches out there that think you should get "mad" during a match .....that is sooooooo not good! Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time and if you are mad about something that happened 10 minutes ago you are NOT in the current point.
Two more games that set were lost with a "chair" deep call. I was sitting on the back line as well as others...non of those sitting on the line agree with any of the three calls. Unfortunately, they cost Nat 3 games and her calm head. You know that calls are bad when perfect strangers come up to you and say something about them. One can't help but wonder if the "chair" happens to call matches at Jackie's school, ASU.
Not hard to guess that the set went to Jackie. Natalie had several match points, 3 times she played out balls due to the chair not calling the ball out and lost the point. When I say the balls were out....I MEAN OUT....no where even CLOSE to the line. She even called his attention to it, that he is missing the calls. So its kinda of hard to stay calm and play a match when you have two opponents.......Jackie and the chair umpire.
Losing the second set 5-7 took us to a tie breaker. Again NON DEEP calls by the chair, cost Natalie her mind and the match. She lost the breaker 3-7. Just a shame that the match didn't come down to two amazing players and friends battling for 3 1/2 hours and one coming out on top. Instead it will be remembered as a HORRIBLE UMPIRED MATCH. A shame indeed!
So, that ends Natalie's singles matches for the year. We will "hang" for doubles, will know about them tomorrow. Until then.....I will try to find Natalie's mind.....
Love and Blessings....Sherry
Natalie was down 1-3 in the first set, then 3-4 to take three games in a row to win the set. Seemingly, cruising to victory being up 5-1 in the second and serving. Natalie double faulted twice in a row and yet another HORRIBLE back line call by the chair and the game was over and Nat was "ticked off". Not a good thing....unfortunately there are STUPID coaches out there that think you should get "mad" during a match .....that is sooooooo not good! Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time and if you are mad about something that happened 10 minutes ago you are NOT in the current point.
Two more games that set were lost with a "chair" deep call. I was sitting on the back line as well as others...non of those sitting on the line agree with any of the three calls. Unfortunately, they cost Nat 3 games and her calm head. You know that calls are bad when perfect strangers come up to you and say something about them. One can't help but wonder if the "chair" happens to call matches at Jackie's school, ASU.
Not hard to guess that the set went to Jackie. Natalie had several match points, 3 times she played out balls due to the chair not calling the ball out and lost the point. When I say the balls were out....I MEAN OUT....no where even CLOSE to the line. She even called his attention to it, that he is missing the calls. So its kinda of hard to stay calm and play a match when you have two opponents.......Jackie and the chair umpire.
Losing the second set 5-7 took us to a tie breaker. Again NON DEEP calls by the chair, cost Natalie her mind and the match. She lost the breaker 3-7. Just a shame that the match didn't come down to two amazing players and friends battling for 3 1/2 hours and one coming out on top. Instead it will be remembered as a HORRIBLE UMPIRED MATCH. A shame indeed!
So, that ends Natalie's singles matches for the year. We will "hang" for doubles, will know about them tomorrow. Until then.....I will try to find Natalie's mind.....
Love and Blessings....Sherry
Made it to Phoenix...
Yesterday was a very long day, starting at 3:15 a.m. for me and 4:30 a.m. for Nat. She got out of Austin on time. I wasn't so lucky out of San Antonio. Went to return the rent a car, and Robert at Hertz locked my paperwork and keys in the car prior to me checking to make sure everything was out of it including Natalie's wallet. Thank goodness I had already popped the trunk or my suitcases would have been locked in it as well. After 15 minutes of all ten of us early travelers trying to find a way "in" via the trunk, I finally gave up. Didn't want any of us to miss our flights. Called Natalie as we rode the bus to the terminal and found out indeed she had her wallet.
I was going to upgrade my buddy pass to a ticket the night before but the phone call to the airline convinced there was no need. HHHHmmmm....I didn't get on the flight to Salt Lake for a connection. Instead I ran to the gate next door and was the last person to board to Minnesota to connect to Phoenix. Happy to be on a flight, I think....thought I might get a few hours sleep. Not so lucky, the three children behind me took turns crying and screaming for 90% of our flight. So, I rode with my fingers plugging my ears.
Upon my arrival in Minnesota, I noticed winter coat covered peeps staring at me as I walked by. I guess my suntan legs, short sleeve shirt and sandals were a unique thing to see in Minnesota. The thought of being stuck there overnight was giving me a sinking feeling until I thought about the Mall of America....hhhmmm maybe not such a bad place to be stuck. The mall was not in my future for I was on my way to meet my birthday girl in Phoenix. Thank GOD!
Natalie was at baggage upon my arrival, so off for the rent a car we went. Well, no such luck....my credit card would work to rent the car. I guess charging in three different states in the same day sent up a red flag to the card company. Unfortunately, for us the rent a car company has a policy not to run a card twice, if denied the first time. So, I had to find another company and card, and of course because not booked on line ahead of time it cost more money. How frustrating, I called the credit company six weeks ago and they went through the chain of command (supposedly) to have that "out of state red flag" thing removed. Big surprise.....it wasn't done. I mean can you imagine they want me to call every time I leave the state of Georgia to let them know.....wow....they have lost their minds....I have better things to do then report my schedule to a bank. They will be hearing from me on Monday.
Thanks to Payless Car Rental ...Natalie and I were on our way! The tournament is being hosted by the Phoenix Country Club. Please look at their website, it is beautiful here. Ok, need help with a contest to win a Fiat. All you math wiz peeps....how many tennis balls will a Fiat hold inside of it? The balls are not in cans, they are loose in the car. The Fiat would be great in gas, for us to use to attend tournaments and for Natalie to go to Atlanta for practice. So, text me your guess-ta-ments....678-326-9482.
Natalie found out yesterday evening that she "squeeked" into the qualifier draw for this 75K tournament. She is on the court currently warming up to play Jackie Cako at 9 a.m. (Cako is Nat's doubles partner". This will be a good match of tennis, these two really enjoy each others company and are great friends. We won't know about doubles until tomorrow afternoon, so until then.....
I'll be watching the yellow balls and updating you soon! Love and Blessings....Sherry
I was going to upgrade my buddy pass to a ticket the night before but the phone call to the airline convinced there was no need. HHHHmmmm....I didn't get on the flight to Salt Lake for a connection. Instead I ran to the gate next door and was the last person to board to Minnesota to connect to Phoenix. Happy to be on a flight, I think....thought I might get a few hours sleep. Not so lucky, the three children behind me took turns crying and screaming for 90% of our flight. So, I rode with my fingers plugging my ears.
Upon my arrival in Minnesota, I noticed winter coat covered peeps staring at me as I walked by. I guess my suntan legs, short sleeve shirt and sandals were a unique thing to see in Minnesota. The thought of being stuck there overnight was giving me a sinking feeling until I thought about the Mall of America....hhhmmm maybe not such a bad place to be stuck. The mall was not in my future for I was on my way to meet my birthday girl in Phoenix. Thank GOD!
Natalie was at baggage upon my arrival, so off for the rent a car we went. Well, no such luck....my credit card would work to rent the car. I guess charging in three different states in the same day sent up a red flag to the card company. Unfortunately, for us the rent a car company has a policy not to run a card twice, if denied the first time. So, I had to find another company and card, and of course because not booked on line ahead of time it cost more money. How frustrating, I called the credit company six weeks ago and they went through the chain of command (supposedly) to have that "out of state red flag" thing removed. Big surprise.....it wasn't done. I mean can you imagine they want me to call every time I leave the state of Georgia to let them know.....wow....they have lost their minds....I have better things to do then report my schedule to a bank. They will be hearing from me on Monday.
Thanks to Payless Car Rental ...Natalie and I were on our way! The tournament is being hosted by the Phoenix Country Club. Please look at their website, it is beautiful here. Ok, need help with a contest to win a Fiat. All you math wiz peeps....how many tennis balls will a Fiat hold inside of it? The balls are not in cans, they are loose in the car. The Fiat would be great in gas, for us to use to attend tournaments and for Natalie to go to Atlanta for practice. So, text me your guess-ta-ments....678-326-9482.
Natalie found out yesterday evening that she "squeeked" into the qualifier draw for this 75K tournament. She is on the court currently warming up to play Jackie Cako at 9 a.m. (Cako is Nat's doubles partner". This will be a good match of tennis, these two really enjoy each others company and are great friends. We won't know about doubles until tomorrow afternoon, so until then.....
I'll be watching the yellow balls and updating you soon! Love and Blessings....Sherry
Friday, November 2, 2012
Better late then never???
Better late then never...sorry folks! Haven't updated the blog, been online trying to find flights to Phoenix. Been looking at flights into Vegas, Tucson, San Diego, LA, El Paso and Albuquque. My mind was spinning when I finally shut the computer off at 1 a.m. But finally, Natalie will stay in a hotel in Austin tonight so she can taxi at 4:30 a.m. for her flight. I will drive back to New Braunfels tonight to sleep, so I can fly out at 6 a.m. This of course was made crazier then normal due to Sandy, so we can't complain knowing what folks are going through in her aftermath.
OK....back to tennis! Natalie struggled on the court during her singles match with Oudin. It was obvious that the emotional singles and dubs matches from the day before took much out of her. True to herself, she continued to push herself through match even tho the unforced errors were getting to her mentally. Losing the first set 2-6, then being down 1-5 in the second...Natalie continued to battle at the level she could for that day. Battling back to lose 4-6. Unfortunately, when facing a great opponent as Oudin, you have to be at the top of your phycial and emotional game in order to beat her. Sooooo guess God is saving that for another day!
Doubles started out strong, with "our team" going up 4-1, seemingly cruising through the first set. Then, someone threw up a brick wall and we lost 5....yes 5 ....games in a row. We couldn't volley, return serve....nothing....we had nothing.....not sure where it went....but we had nothing. And to the credit of their opponents, they started to smell success and stepped up their game. Taking the first set 4-6 and then the second set 4-6. Needless to say Natalie and Jackie were disappointed in their performances and the loss.
Now onto Phoenix 75K....leaving tomorrow. At last check Natalie was out of singles by four spots, we feel she has a good chance of getting in the qualifier draw. And she and Jackie will play doubles, which will begin on either Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be the last tournament of the year.
OK, gotta go drive Natalie to Austin so that I may get tucked in for at least a couple hours of sleep. Love and Blessings....Sherry
OK....back to tennis! Natalie struggled on the court during her singles match with Oudin. It was obvious that the emotional singles and dubs matches from the day before took much out of her. True to herself, she continued to push herself through match even tho the unforced errors were getting to her mentally. Losing the first set 2-6, then being down 1-5 in the second...Natalie continued to battle at the level she could for that day. Battling back to lose 4-6. Unfortunately, when facing a great opponent as Oudin, you have to be at the top of your phycial and emotional game in order to beat her. Sooooo guess God is saving that for another day!
Doubles started out strong, with "our team" going up 4-1, seemingly cruising through the first set. Then, someone threw up a brick wall and we lost 5....yes 5 ....games in a row. We couldn't volley, return serve....nothing....we had nothing.....not sure where it went....but we had nothing. And to the credit of their opponents, they started to smell success and stepped up their game. Taking the first set 4-6 and then the second set 4-6. Needless to say Natalie and Jackie were disappointed in their performances and the loss.
Now onto Phoenix 75K....leaving tomorrow. At last check Natalie was out of singles by four spots, we feel she has a good chance of getting in the qualifier draw. And she and Jackie will play doubles, which will begin on either Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be the last tournament of the year.
OK, gotta go drive Natalie to Austin so that I may get tucked in for at least a couple hours of sleep. Love and Blessings....Sherry
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