I played my first two rounds on Friday in the Slovenian International 2010. My first round was against Ernesto Velazquez (Spain), a young lefty with speed and deception. We had never met in competition before so I was not too sure what to expect. The first set started out quite tight, there was alot of feeling each other out on the court which gave easy points to both players. However after the 11 point break I was able to start racking up more points by being a bit more steady and also reading his game. I ended up winning the first set 21-15. In the second set it was a little bit the same, tight until 11 and then me pulling away to about 16-11. At that point the game changed a bit and he started to play a bit better and I made some unforced errors which brought him back to 18-18…..he even got a set point at 20-19. I was able to save the set point and then take the following two points by being a bit more resolute with my shots. That ended the match 21-15 22-20.
In my second round I had to play Lukas Schmidt (Germany), another player I have never played. In this match there was no feeling each other out period. He came out very strong and was on top of me from the get go. I was down 11-5 in no time and was not too sure what was going on. He was doing a very good job of keeping the net and not allowing me to push him around. He took the first set 21-12. In the second set things looked and felt the same. He was making NO mistakes and was constantly on top of the rallies. I could never figure out how to turn things around. At around 13-11 for him I started to figure things out and I was able to get him off the net and return the pressure. However he was always staying a few points ahead of me. He got to 20-17 and I was able to save 3 match points, two of which were net kills by him which I magicaly got back. Unfortunatly I was not able to take the set and lost 23-21. It was a shame, if I had taken that second set I had finally found the way to play him and stood a good chance in the third. But that is badminton…no second chances.
Even though I lost second round in this tournament, which was dissapointing, I must say I played good badminton but my opponent played better on the day. That is also badminton, even on a good day you can lose. I hope to keep up my good play for next week in Spain for the Spanish International 2010, but win on my good day 
To view the results of the Slovenian International 2010 please click on the link below
RESULTS
