R2: Phoenix Amanda high on stress against Grace

Amanda :  I don’t think I played particularly well. It was the first match of the tournament and I had so much anxious energy in me.

Honestly, these courts are great compared to the standard courts in Egypt, I don’t mind them, but for some reason it was one of those days where I was just so anxious, you know, we all get those days.

I had all this anxious energy in my body and I was trying to settle, but ‘we were not settling’…. So I thought: we’re just going to go turbo mode, run and hit, take the ball as fast as we can, and not think, just do. That’s basically how my brain was. I was thinking, “Oh my God, I can’t breathe, I’m not even playing rallies,” but we were just going to keep going. I told myself: let’s just get this over with.

Tomorrow I can’t do that. I have to find another tactic. This one worked today, and it can work when I need it, but I don’t think it will work tomorrow. I’ve got to figure out a better solution.

I’m probably playing Hania tomorrow, on the glass court outside. I think I’m going to chuck the ball up into the air and see what the wind does with it, then assess less. I’ll give it more height, let Mother Nature do her thing and let the wind carry it. That way I don’t have to think about a shot, I’m just going to lift the ball. And if I get tired of tactics, I’ll launch the ball off court, out towards Hong Kong Bay…