Friday, May 2

I'm so pumped up!!!  We won two doubles matches today to advance to the semi-finals tomorrow!

The round of 16 went pretty smoothly, but the quarterfinals got a little hairy in the end.

We were up 6-2 and took a 5-2 lead into the 2nd set.  My partner was serving for the match. In the blink of an eye, they broke our serve and held easily to cut our lead to 5-4.  The momentum had turned in their favor, and they were getting really psyched up.

I have been in these situations many times before, and the challenge is getting over the fact that you were almost off the court and now you happen to be in a dogfight with a team that's on a roll.

My serve...they play an awesome point, and we are down love 15!  I'm thinking to myself...is this really happening?  We gather ourselves, and I keep saying just take it one point at a time.  I take a deep breath and blow out any tension and stress that is building up.  I tell myself I have been here before and the keys are to be decisive and go after it!!  Don't hope they give it to you and make a mistake.  GO AND TAKE IT!!

5 minutes later...We take it!  Now I can relax, and enjoy the truth that we will be playing in the semi-finals tomorrow.  What a great feeling.

Want to give a shout out to my Watt Ahh friends today.  I ran out of my favorite drink, but they sent a friend down from Jupiter Island to bring me more so I'm able to drink the good stuff in the semi's and hopefully the finals too.

Thanks to all of my Hallbrook friends who have followed me all week.  Looking forward to seeing everyone Monday!  Have a great weekend!  I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Carl