Tennis roadtrip!

At the very beginning of the month, Caleb had an opportunity to play in a high level tournament for boys 12s, one in which selection into the tournament is based on ranking.  As you might have guessed, he was selected to play. He was quite thrilled at the opportunity, even though he knew that most of the players would be ranked higher than him.  This boy loves a challenge!  Anyway, at this tournament they also have doubles, and Caleb partnered up with one of the boys that he trains with back at home.  We were fortunate enough to be able to take his partner Amadeus down to Miami with us in our RV, Charlie.  It was a fantastic weekend of tennis and togetherness.

The boys started off with their singles matches.  And unfortunately for both of them, they drew seeded players.  They might not have won those first round matches, but they played pretty well.  Despite the extreme heat (over 100 degrees on the court) and rain delay, Caleb easily pulled off a win in his first match in the consolation draw.  He was pretty pumped.  His third singles match was, again, a tough one, completely outmatched in size, but still, he played well.

After singles was finished, it was time for dubs (doubles.)  Although completely unplanned (unlike lots of the girls teams), the boys managed to pull together a few coordinating outfits for their doubles matches.

You see those two big smiling faces?  They belonged to the winning team in that first round of doubles.  What made that victory extra sweet for Caleb was the fact that he beat the boy who cheated him in the semi-final match at the 10s state chamionships back in June.  Oh, it was pretty awesome.  And I have to give a big shout out to that boy's partner, who was very honest and overruled his partner's bad call in favor of Caleb and Amadeus.  It was a pivotal point in the match.  Playing a pro set to 8, they had been down 2-5, but they clawed their way back on top and won it 8-6!  It was an incredible comeback!

Their next doubles match was against the #2 seeds and the tallest 12s doubles team ever....I'm not kidding, as the following photos will prove it.  Anyway, the boys knew they were outmatched.  They just wanted to get out there and play their best.  They did such a great job of managing the match, even though they lost 8-1.

See what I mean about size?  I bust out laughing when I downloaded my photos later.  Caleb's feet don't even touch the ground, as these two on his right are nothing but legs.

This shot above demonstrates how Caleb had to hit most of his shots....well out of his strike zone and all the way back at the fence.  These boys hit hard and deep.

Yep, it's hard to believe the boys on the left were playing in the 12s, but they were. lol

Anyway, it truly was a great opportunity for Caleb to play against the top 12s players in the state.  It has certainly boosted his confidence in subsequent tournaments.  He can hang with the best of them, and now he knows it.

Well, just this past weekend, he had the opportunity for yet another tennis roadtrip.  This one took us to the heart of Gator Nation, Gainesville, FL.  We got into town early so we could check out the campus before the tournament.  I did managed to snap a few quick photos with my Fujifilm.  So I will get those up soon.

I apologize that I have been absent from my blog for (gasp) a month.  We have been busy getting back to our home schooling, in addition to dance and taking on even more tennis training.  That has left me very little time for shooting or blogging.  Once things settle down here in the next week or two, I hope to get back behind my camera more frequently.  Anyway, thanks for still hanging around and checking in on our little tribe.

He did it!

Caleb had been looking forward to the Bobby Curtis Junior State Championships since, well, last year's tournament ended. lol  I kid you not.  He had talked about it regularly throughout the year.  He was really looking forward to playing well and finishing strong, and that he did.

As I mentioned in my last post, he had an early start time on Saturday.  So he left with Patrick while I hung back with the girls.  Havi had a fever throughout the night.  So I wasn't even sure I would be heading over.  But her fever broke.  So we all hopped in the car and made the drive.  

For the 10 and under division, the format was short sets using green dot balls and a modified compass draw, which insures that each player will get 4-5 matches regardless of whether they win or lose. The goal is obviously to continue winning and stay in the main draw (the East).  And that he did!  

He won is first match against a strong, young player from South Florida.  This boy's older brother won the main consolation draw last year. So he knew his little brother would be good, and he was.  The girls and I arrived after the match ended.  So we hung out a bit with my sister and her family and the other players as well.

Caleb's second match was much easier than the first.  He even surprised himself with how easily it took it.  His opponent was as nice as pie.  When they shook hands at the net, he put his arm around Caleb and was genuinely happy for him.  From then on, you could find him watching Caleb's matches and cheering him on.  It was the sweetest.

(And this is what a compass draw format looks like- lots of consolation draws for each round of winners/losers, with the goal to stay East.) 

After two wins in the main draw, it was time for Caleb to play one last match on Day 1, the Quarterfinals.  He knew that this would be a tough match.  His opponent was a very strong green dot player.  Nerves got the best of him, and he dropped the first set.  But he pulled it together in the second and took it handedly.  Then he took that confidence right into the third set tiebreaker and pulled off a win!  I have seen Caleb pretty happy at the net after winning matches, but I have never seen scream with such joy as he did after winning that quarterfinal.  It made my heart swell.  And another tennis dad that we are friends with was several courts over watching his daughter and immediately texted me (he was THAT loud) "Heart always....pulls through".  And it's so true.  Caleb poured every ounce of himself into that match and found a way to come back and win it.  We were so proud of him.

As I mentioned in my last post, that night we headed back to our neck of the woods for Madeline's dance recital.  The next morning, we all drove over to the tournament together.  We had gotten word from another family that Caleb's Semi-final opponent was known for cheating.  And well, Caleb learned that first hand.  Ugh.  I hate cheaters.  Caleb did a good job getting an official after the first bad call.  But unfortunately, the boy made bad calls during both sets on "pressure points" and that took momentum away from Caleb.  He fought hard, and the sets were tight, but he couldn't overcome the bad calls.

The good news is that he still had one match left- a playoff match between both players that lost their Semi-final match.  Caleb, again, had to play a tough, young player from South Florida.  One of the boys he regularly plays with/against in Central Florida, played this boy on Day 1 and gave Caleb some good advice.  Nerves were a bit of a factor, and Caleb found himself down in the first set.  But he clawed his way back and took the first set in a tiebreaker!  He found himself down in the second set also, but he finally managed to wear this boy down and took the second set also.  That last win meant he took third place in the whole tournament (out of 32 players!)

One of Caleb's tennis friends (and his cousin Josh) came over to the tournament desk to watch Caleb receive his trophy, which is glass!

His opponent's dad shook his hand and congratulated him.

These cousins shots crack me up. Josh adores Caleb.

Although you can't see it in the shot below, the tournament desk let Caleb write his name and score for his 3rd/4th place playoff win.  So that is what he's pointing to. We are so proud of him.  He was the only "non-South Florida" player to make it to the Semi-final round. 

After we got home, the kids had some gifts to open.  We got Madeline a little marker maker kit to celebrate her dance recital.

Can you tell who was also a wee bit excited?! lol

Then Caleb opened up his gift- a painting that Bammy did of him playing tennis.  It was promptly hung up in his room near his trophies.  He just loves it.  Thank you, Bammy! 

We are so proud of him.  While he would have loved to play in the finals, he was hoping to at least make it to the semi-finals of the main draw.  Not only did he successfully do that, but he also won the playoff match and took third overall.  The gal who gave him his trophy commented to me that day that she still remembered the first tournament he played at that facility.  She helped to run it.  She told me should couldn't believe how much he has improved since then.  I told her that, at that point, he had only been playing tennis for about 6 weeks.  That's it!  He's made so much progress in his game in less than two years.  That just goes to show you how hard he trains every day.  His determination and work ethic are second to none.

Caleb, we love you and are so proud of you.  Keep aiming high, precious son!

And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to our precious peanut Havi.  Today marks two years since we met her in Taiyuan.  Happy Forever Family Day, Hav!  Love you girl!

Did somebody say tennis?

Last week was filled to the brim with tennis.  And the reason it was so was due to the Women's USTA Pro Circuit tennis tournament that was played where Caleb trains.  Consequently, this precious tennis loving boy of mine was able to be a ball kid once again.  And boy did he love it.  He worked four long days, only taking breaks to participate in his own privates and group lessons.

The first day's matches included two girls that also train with Caleb, as they were given Wild Card spots.  Caleb really enjoyed working one of the girl's matches; it was very special for him to ball kid for her.  She'll be heading off to the University of Oregon to play tennis for them next season.

The first day of main draw action saw the return of Taylor Townsend, who won both singles and doubles last year.  (And that singles win earned her a Wild Card spot at the French Open, where she upset Serena Williams in the first round and eventually lost in the third.)  It was a great match to watch, but a repeat was not in the cards for Taylor; she lost in the first round.  

Sometimes he got to work matches alongside his friends.

Sometimes Caleb got to work alongside his coaches too because he's homeschooled and could help out earlier in the day.

The one position he was itching to do was the scoreboard.  And on his last day working, he was finally able to do that for a doubles match.

After his own three hour practice (yep, you read that right), he came back to stadium court to work the doubles feature match, which included Taylor Townsend and partner Maria Sanchez.  It was quite a match!  Taylor and Maria won that round of doubles and, eventually, the tournament.

Someone else apparently thought Caleb made a cute ball kid and couldn't resist snapping his photo.  Of course, I couldn't resist capturing the moment! lol

It was such a fantastic week of tennis.  The girls were troupers.  The days were long, and there were times that Madeline had had enough and wanted to go home.  But overall, the girls did great.  Unfortunately, we had to miss the last three rounds because we headed out of town for my birthday/Mother's Day/tennis tournament extravaganza.  I'll share all about that next time!