Nerves of Steel

Apparently there was a video game called "Nerves of Steel" once. Who knew?

Dateline – Saturday June 6th, 10:30 AM. Rich Trach and I had just completed our demolition of our opponents at #2 doubles (okay, demolition is a little strong. Sound defeat, perhaps?). Guy Van Alstine and Dennis McKernan had fallen at #1 doubles to a strong team. On the two remaining West Chester East courts, GV was down one set to none at #2 singles and #3 doubles. And God only knows what was going on across town where Brett Siegfried was battling Jakub Avramov at #1 singles. As I left the courts with my wife and son to meet a friend for lunch, I couldn’t help thinking that we were in danger of letting Easy Killer back into this season if things didn’t turn around…

What a silly concern! With a teamful of USTA League Tennis veterans like the Great Valley squad boasts this year, nothing is ever over until we say it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Dave U. put his infamous slow motion tennis/jedi mind tricks into action and rebounded to win his 2nd singles match in 3 sets, and Tom Mead grabbed Capt. Kenny by the scruff of the neck and willed 3rd doubles to a 3 set victory as well. Along with Brett Siegfried’s straight set victory and Rich and my win at 2nd doubles, GV put up another 4-1 win and maintained our 2 match lead over Easy Killer.

I didn’t watch enough of the other matches to add a whole lot more of my pithy commentary. I do want to thank my 16-month old son Aaron for trying to replicate the feel of a home Davis Cup match at the West Chester courts. Whenever our opponents would toe the line to serve on my son’s side of the court, he would start banging his hand on the metal risers as a distraction. Well played, boy!

#1 Singles – Brett Siegfried (7-0 singles) d. Jakub Avramov (0-2 singles), 6-3, 7-5
#2 Singles – Dave Umbach (2-0 singles) d. Michael Weidinger (2-2 singles, 3-0 doubles), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
#1 Doubles – Van Alstine (0-2 doubles)/McKernan (0-1 doubles) v. Ortega (2-0 doubles)/Hebenton (4-1 doubles), 2-6, 4-6
#2 Doubles – Heck (1-0 singles, 5-0 doubles)/Trach (5-0 doubles) d. Stevens (1-1 doubles)/Dharmaraj (1-1 doubles), 6-4, 6-3
#3 Doubles – Mead (3-0 doubles)/Werkiser (2-0 doubles) d. Francis (2-2 doubles)/Patitucci (1-3 doubles), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Notable: Brett just keeps on rolling. 1 lost set in 7 matches this season. Wow. Tom Mead continues his undefeated run in his rookie season with GV, this time carrying Kenny to a 3-set victory. Rich Trach and I played better this week, though my service problems continue. We kept points much shorter and poached effectively. Apparently our opponent Karthekeyan Dharmaraj is a 3.5 – he was a pretty solid player with a strong serve. He has to be a tremendous asset to his 3.5 team.

That’s about it for this week. GV faces Healthplex at the Healthplex sauna this week. I’ll be in the Poconos, 3 beers in by the time you guys take the courts. If conditions are similar to last year, drink lots of fluids. I think I lost about 10 pounds of water weight that day. Didn’t help that I choked away the 2nd set tiebreak and had to play 3…