Maccabian Games July 2013

Eleven of my teammates advanced to the gold medal round today with semifinal wins. We started with twenty three players on our teams and fifteen of them will leave Israel with medals and memories of a lifetime. How many people can, in one week, march in front of 40,000 people, compete for the USA and get a bronze, silver or gold medal. It is a small number. I have come to love many of these guys as we have worked on this over the last year. We are bonded forever and I am a better person for it. For me, each medal feels like personal gold. I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach these guys….

Tomorrow morning is the semis and I play a fine player from Argentina. I am a strong favorite in the minds of most of the people in the Games based on how I have moved through the draw until now. There was a time that being the favorite felt like a burden to me, but that has passed over the years. Being the favorite has to do with the past. I know that whatever happens in the past has very little to do with the present. Nadal and Federer can certainly attest to that. Everything has to do with what I bring to the court tomorrow. My opponent and I are starting the match at the same starting line. The score starts at 0-0. We both will be on the 39×78 and we both have a 3 foot net.

I know who I am and what I need to do. Play with dignity and class. Ball in the court. Play within myself. Compete for every single point. Never quit. Welcome the adversity. Be accepting of how things play out. Find solutions. Be a positive role model for my USA teammates who are playing for medals for the first time in their lives.

Play with joy!

There is very little to write about my two matches today. I won easily, playing well within myself as my opponents were unable to hurt me in any way. The red clay is slowing the pace down and I can run down any ball. Knowing that to be the case I can play with high shot tolerance, meaning I can put the ball back in play and not have concern that they will be able to hit a winner. I have made so few errors in my matches. Add that into my opponents not being able to hit winners and it is a winning formula. For my five matches in the round robin part of the tournament, I have won 40 games in a row….

It is late here and I am tired from a long day of being at the courts that included supporting many of the USA players as well as two matches that I played. So this will be quick.

The day started with me realizing that I have been way too on edge with the many organizational breakdowns regarding the Games. The shuttle buses from the various hotels to the Tennis Center, the internet challenges that impact on communicating with the team and the general confusion in the way the Israeli organizers of the tournament are operating have contributed to me feeling a lot of anguish.

This is not who I am and I needed to fix myself.

Matches started today at Ramat Hasharon, the Israel Tennis Center. It is the equivalent of our Billie Jean King Tennis Center. There is a major ATP Tour event played here. Most of the courts are hard courts. The ITC decided to build 5 red clay courts for the Maccabian Grand Masters players, as 65-84 year olds can play more easily for 7 consecutive days on softer courts. This is quite a consideration for which we are appreciative.

Although I have been practicing a little each day, my feeling of being at a major tournament didn’t kick in until this morning. The buzz of the event is always exciting. As I looked around and saw all of the International flags, it brought be back to 1985 when I played in the 35 and over Maccabian. I realized that one of the new clay courts is the court I played on to win the gold medal in doubles in a 6-7,7-6,7-6 thriller. That match actually helped me start to believe that I could play tennis at a level beyond my dreams.

Hi all.

Opening Ceremonies tonight for the Maccabiah Games. It will be live streamed at 1:00 PM eastern on JLTV.TV. Double check the site for the time.

I have had zero time to write but will do so soon…

Opening match tomorrow.

Bob

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