Clubsport Pleasanton

Warmed up well - although it felt a little rushed.

I lost the toss and was receiving serve. The points were pretty short for the first couple of games. The games went with serve until I was serving at 2-3. I won the first 2 points but then hit a couple of lose shots - even at at 30-30. An untimely double fault set up break point which was converted with another errant shot.

At 4-2 down I focused on the ball and tried to keep the footwork and breathing on point. I hit a some steady shots and brought up a break point. Converted and moved on to serve a strong game - back on serve at 4-4. I had another solid return game and broke again.

Serving at 5-4, 30-0, I thought it was in the bag. Famous last words. I sent the next 4 balls out to lose serve. Annoying. Hitting the ball into the back net didn't help things much.

We were back on serve at 5-5. The next 2 games were full of errors. I went 7-5 with minimal fuss.

The start of the 2nd set was awful. Short points - he kept hitting down the middle with lots of top spin. There were lots of errors off both sides. I was not hitting the backhand well at all.

I was 3-0 down after dropping one service break. I seemed to snap out of it in the 4th game. The next 2 games went with serve. I was receiving at 2-4. I started to return with more authority and put some pressure on the 2nd serve. I sealed the break and was back on serve at 3-4.

Just when I fought my way back into the match I played a loose service game to drop a break. I wasn't able to hold off his serve in the last game and he closed out at 7-5, 6-3.

Matt Ray got through the first round - well done! Lets hope he takes down the #1 seed tomorrow!!