Day Three – Playing Against the Worst Enemy: The Wind
Day three in Bahrain, and today we were playing against the worst enemy in tennis: the wind.
We knew it was going to be a long day on court with both singles and doubles scheduled, and from early morning it was clear that conditions were far from ideal. Cold, very windy, and extremely uncomfortable for tennis. These are the kind of days where the mental side of the game becomes even more important than the technical one.
We headed to the courts early as usual, but surprise, surprise, more and more players and coaches are now copying our routine. By the time we arrived, several players were already warming up on the federation courts.
We tried to get a solid hitting session in, but the conditions were awful. Strong, cold crosswinds made any rally almost impossible. We also worked on serves, but again the wind made ball tosses extremely complicated, especially for Rafa, who naturally has a very high toss.
Since our match was scheduled on Court 4, third turn, we hoped the wind might calm down closer to midday. Unfortunately, it stayed strong and consistent all the way to the start of the match.
Today we were facing the number four seed, a top ten player in Asia. A big, powerful player with very solid baseline shots. But today was not about power or technique. It was about experience, patience, and emotional control.
As expected, Rafa struggled early with his serve and quickly lost three games in a row, giving his opponent too much margin. The wind was bad for both players, and slowly Rafa managed to come back into the match. In the end, just one break of serve decided the first set in favor of the Singaporean player.
The second set followed a similar pattern. Both players struggled badly to hold serve, with many double faults on both sides. This time, Rafa handled the key moments slightly better, and the second set went his way, opening the door to a decisive third set.
What a third set it was.
The first six games were intense and full of opportunities for Rafa to take control of the match. Unfortunately, some rushing in important moments, trying to finish points too quickly, led to very costly and unnecessary errors.
The end of the third set was disappointing. Rafa went out of the match mentally, stopped constructing points, and rushed too much instead of keeping the ball in play. That made the victory for his opponent much easier than it should have been.
It was tough to accept because Rafa definitely had the game to beat this player today. But a few small details at the end of the match made it feel as if the opponent was clearly better.
We had a long conversation afterward to analyze the match. I hope Rafa understood how important it is to recognize momentum changes and manage the tempo of a match, especially in difficult conditions like these.
While waiting for our doubles match and just before going on court, our partner Arjun came to speak to us. Straight away we could see he was not well physically. He had a high fever and was shaking.
We told his father to take him to the tournament doctor, and it turned out he had a strong flu. Later, we also found out that all the Indian players staying on the third floor of the hotel had the same symptoms. Four of them had to withdraw from the event.
It was a big shame because Arjun and Rafa played very well yesterday and had a real chance to reach the semifinals today. But the most important thing now is that our friend Arjun recovers as soon as possible.
Tomorrow we will play for ninth place, which will still give us some good ranking points. Most likely we will face Sasha, also a good friend and someone Rafa used to beat regularly until last time in Qatar, where Rafa lost to him for the first time.
That gives us a great opportunity to recover some good sensations on court. Hopefully, the wind will allow us to play in better conditions.
For me, the wind is the worst enemy of tennis.
More tennis tomorrow.