Medals

Sunday, May 4th

Hello all,

Painful day.  Hurts to come so close but fall short.  We lost the World doubles title in a third set tie-breaker today. 

It's been a long tournament, and I'm definitely missing home.  I am so blessed to have gotten this far.

Looking forward to seeing everyone this week!

Carl

Saturday, May 3rd

It's 8:30 pm Saturday night and it's been a long day.

It began with my partner and I playing well and winning our doubles semi-final match this morning.

The final was scheduled for 1:30pm.  We started the match and won the first set 6-3.  At 2 all in the second set, the thunder, lightning and rain came, so we waited and waited and waited!  The tournament directors kept thinking things would dry, and we would be able to finish.  Unfortunately, every time the courts were almost dry, it rained again.  Finally, after making us wait for 4 hours, they called it off for the night.

Definitely a little stressful knowing we were 4 games from a World Championship!

Oh well, I guess I'll have to sleep on it.  11:30am Sunday.  I would appreciate all of the prayers and good thoughts you can send us.

Until tomorrow.......

Carl

Venus Williams Practicing Near Our Court

Ballenisles Country Club

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

Thunderstorms Postpone Matches

Just a short post today...Spent a lot of time at the tournament site this evening waiting for our doubles match.  Unfortunately, too many thunderstorms wiped this evening's action out.  Going back to my place to eat a healthy dinner, then it's off to bed to prepare for 2 matches tomorrow.  The round of 16 will be at 9:00 and the quarterfinals will be at high noon. 

Planning to get up at 6:00am to start hydrating.  Humid conditions expected again and I won't have too much time between matches to drink or eat much. 

Really looking forward to performing well tomorrow.  If we win both matches, we are in the medal round.

Thanks so much for all of the support.  Looking forward to bringing good news tomorrow.

Thanks,

Carl