Still ahead of Zylberberg despite losing, 2-3

First-- yes, we lost to Zylberberg yesterday in a heartbreaker, going 2-3 in a match we could have won. Second-- yes, we are still ahead of Zylberrberg in the standings, by a whopping 2-game margin. (Use the link to Tennislink on the left to see the standings, etc.) Here are the scores:

1s: Sue Lin had an easy first set vs. Kim Parker but had to regroup after losing the second. She did so in emphatic fashion, winning the 3rd set tiebreaker 10-1. 6-1 4-6 1-0 (1).

2s: We got a free pass on this one by default. We'll take it!

1d: This was a killer of a match. Alyson and Joy also cruised through the first set and were up 4-2 in the second before losing the second and getting eked out in the 3rd set tiebreak, losing to Lisa Vieira and Carol McCarra 6-3 4-6 0-1 (11).

2d: Second and thirds doubles had similar experiences and similar scores. Jean and Neena got off to a slow start and couldn't quite shift the momentum to take the second set, losing to Mary Ann Sattler and Lisa Martin 1-6 3-6.

3d: Katharine and Donna got even closer to making the comeback happen in their match vs. Lisa O'Boyle and Cam Deline, losing 0-6 4-6.

After the match, we talked about these near-comebacks and close wins/losses and came up with two lessons to be learned: in the case of #1 singles and doubles, it was to keep your focus in the second set if you have an easy first-set win. Even the 6-0 sets at this level don't always indicate that one team is measurably better than another, so if you're on the winning side, don't let yourself let up, and if on the losing side, don't give up. On the 2 & 3 doubles courts, the lesson was that we needed to really come out of the gate full on. Taking a set to "ease into" the match or just trying to keep the ball in play is not going to win you matches against these opponents.

One strength of Zylberberg's team is that they are used to winning (they are a consistent attendee at Districts) and so they started with that advantage. But it seemed to me that we actually fielded the stronger players. So next time we play them, let's get 'em!