Great Britain vs USA

We didn't find out until about 11:30 this morning who our opponent would be for the playoff for 3 & 4. Great Britain and the Netherlands had to finish the match they had started late yesterday that was called for darkness. The match would be decided by the doubles, as they had split the singles. It came down to a decisive third set and the girls from the Netherlands won, so we'd be playing Great Britain. I was first match on again at #2 singles. I am striking the ball so cleanly. I knew that the girl I was playing just finished a tough match. Our team had warmed up earlier and I was confident, fresh and ready to play. With the help of a lot of unforced errors and superb play, I won the first set 6-0. The second set she found her groove and starting making fewer errors. I won a lot of points but no games. I lost the set 6-0. A strange turn of events. The third set was tight through the first 4 games. She then went up 4-2, then 5-2. I held off a couple of match points on her serve and broke to make it 5-3. I was serving to stay in the match. I got down early in the game and lost my serve to lose the match 6-3. I was disappointed, but I knew Fran was ready to redeem herself from her disappointing loss yesterday. I was right. She steamrolled through her opponent and won love and love. Now it was down to doubles again. We had a good feeling about putting Mary and Susan back out clinch the match for us. They knew they could make it happen for us. They cruised to a 6-0,6-2 victory. We finished third out of fourteen countries! How awesome is that? France went on to beat the Netherlands to win the Cup. Remember, we only lost to France by one set! We all feel great about our play and how we represented the USA. Closing ceremonies are tomorrow afternoon after the last matches finish. The USA men's 55 team is in the final of the Austria Cup. We all be there to cheer them on! The USA men's 45 team lost in the semis today and will play a playoff tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow. Then I travel to Manavgat on Sunday to get ready to start the World Individuals. I found out today I am seeded 6th. I should see a copy of the draw tomorrow. A great big thank you to all of you who have sent emails and comments on the blog! I wish I could respond individually to you all, but right now it's too difficult. Stay tuned there's two more weeks to go!