*Update (7/31/13) Added a few pictures and a video of Frankie's match. Sorry about the poor quality, but taking quality pictures / videos through glass is impossible.
This country is full of stingy tennis players. And I say that in the nicest possible way. Every person you play is a backboard. There are no easy matches. Hell, there are no easy points. That being said I will give you a little glance into my match yesterday, and Frankie's match today.
As I mentioned I played a 31 year-old Swiss resident. He grew up in France and went to university in Paris but, as he told Frank and I, he now lives in Geneva because it is impossible to get a job in investment banking in Paris. Furthermore, he explained that as of last year the income tax rate in France is hovering around 60-70% which makes living in this country very difficult. We started the match outside but at 0-2 it poured rain and we moved indoors. The indoor courts at Yvetot Tennis Club weren't exactly like American hard courts, but they certainly were the most similar surface we've played on since we've been here. I dropped the first set 0-6 relatively quickly. I certainly didn't play well, but as I mentioned in the beginning of this post people here just don't away free points, and I was making way too many errors. In the second set I was much more completive and it stayed on serve until 3-4. I had game points to take it to 4-4, and even missed a sitter volley on game point, but he broke and then held for a 0-6, 3-6 win. I wasn't very happy with the way I played, mainly because I played so dumb and just gifted away games. Later in the evening we returned to the flat for the last time, had a few drinks with Gustavo, and went to bed.
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| Fortunately the score cards you see weren't my score...but they weren't that far off. |
In the morning we frantically packed all of our stuff and made our way 40 kilometers to Yvetot, a town of about 10,000 in Northern Normandie. We had planned on stopping in Beratin, a town about halfway between Rouen and Yvetot, to try and get some issues with our phones worked out, but we had no time so we headed straight to Yvetot. Frankie played at 3:30 and almost as soon as we arrived he went on court. He was playing a 15/1 French teenager who, like apparently everyone here, was a backboard. Though he was a 15/1 ranking, we've both learned that you can't really take rankings too seriously. Everyone is good, and I mean that. The match started well for Frank, he was moving well and hitting the ball with confidence. The match stayed on serve until 2-2 when Frankie got hot, and parts of the backboard began to fall away. Frank took the next four games and the first set 6-2.
It's worth noting that in every service game Frankie faced break points but managed to hold every game in the first set. The second set started much the same with the real difference being that the young Frenchman had decided that he was simply no longer going to miss. In the second set he probably made less than 7 or 8 unforced errors. He made Frank work for everything. Both players held until 1-1 when Frank got first blood and broke to go up 2-1. At 3-1 the Frenchman broke back and both players held until 5-4 when Frank played a fantastic game and broke at love to win 6-2, 6-4! His first win! He plays in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 5:30.
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| Frank up 4-1 in the first set. |
Match point Mr. Allinson...
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| Game. Set. Match. 6-2, 6-4. Frank's first W! |
I forgot my license in the SFR store so we had to go back and get it. I wasn't very happy.
Frankie found it wildly entertaining.
-Max
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