April 7, 2024, 10:20 a.m.
All right, so we just finished our bronze medal match. Unfortunately, we did not get that one. Big kudos to Simone and to Allison, they played incredibly. I think we had some really, really good points. We started off a little bit rough. They got us in a pickle, game one 6was 11-0. Then we were able to get back in game two and won that one 11-5, and then we lost 11-5 in the third. So lots of going back and forth in the second and third game specifically, they executed better. Kudos to them for winning that one. I think on a Sunday morning when we get out here, it's just nice to remind ourselves that we used to (most of us used to) have "real jobs" because this is not a job to me. It's a privilege to be out here on a Sunday morning with beautiful weather getting to play pickleball, so it's all perspective. I wish we would have gotten it, but still a privilege to be out here and getting to play pickleball on a Sunday morning. Hope to see you in the next one!
April 7, 2024, 8:51 a.m.
Good morning everyone! On to day four at the 2024 APP Vlasic Classic - Delray Beach. I'm looking forward to playing our bronze medal match. It was nice to actually get a day off between the semifinals last night and then coming into bronze. This is a little bit different. Since the finals were going to be streamed, they were played on Saturday. Bronze is typically played on Saturday, but this time we're playing it on Sunday since the finals were played yesterday. So it's actually nice to have a little breather. Susannah and I got a really good warm up going this morning already so we feel ready to go. In the next 10 minutes we're going to go out there and hit a few more balls and go into the match very, very warm. I think we have a good game plan going into this. I'm looking forward to playing with her one more time here, and I think we will be playing another tournament coming up soon on the APP Tour, so that'll be fun as well. Looking forward to this bronze medal match and to watching the finals later on today!
April 6, 2024, 7:32 p.m.
So sorry for the delay! So we finished our semifinal match and I was a little bit disappointed in how it went so it's important to know yourself in the situation. I went ahead and grabbed my stuff and headed back to the AirBnB to relax, get some food, hang out with mom for a little bit, and now we are watching the end of the men's doubles final. It's been a really good match and same with the women's final. We got a chance to watch that as well and will be heading to dinner here soon so it's been a nice little day after that match; it was a good match. We had a lot of good points. I think I could've performed better for sure. I think we had our opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them. Props to them for performing when they had to. It's been a good day with mom after after the semifinal match and bronze is taking place tomorrow at 9 a.m. so I'm looking forward to getting back on the court with Susannah and getting to battle one more time. Hoping to get that bronze. See you all tomorrow.
April 6, 2024, 12:00 p.m.
We just finished up our quarterfinal match. Got that one too - Susannah and I started getting a bit of a rhythm and we're playing much more solid together, getting used to each other's shots, getting used to how we communicate and how we shift together. Amanda and Ryann are a tough team. Ryann's very powerful on the left side and Amanda is a lefty, she plays the right side. We were up 11-2, 5-0 and Ryann unfortunately had to take a medical timeout, and that happens. She felt like she hyper extended her knee and I hate to see anyone ever get hurt, especially someone that I know. I know both those girls off the court and they're great. The interesting thing in pickleball, which is very different than tennis, is that the medical timeout takes up to 15 minutes. So she went to the physical therapist on-site, she got her knee taped and then came back onto the court. They made a pretty big run when they came back so I'm glad to see she was doing well. But Susannah and I kind of stayed on the court and tried to hit and stay warm while she was gone. We ended up getting that second one 11-8. So it was a very good match. Now we're on to the semifinals. I believe all of those will be played on center court, so we are waiting for our assignment.
April 6, 2024, 10:28 a.m.
We just finished our first match. That took a very long time. It was a very, very well-disputed match. We went down 10-6 in game one, they were playing incredible. It was against Brooke Revuelta and Katerina Stewart. Kat has a very strong tennis background, she's transitioning to pickleball right now and she's making very big strides quickly. She has some unusual shots and I think she's a little bit wristy like I am. Brooke was smacking the ball and it was going in and we had to change our strategy a little bit to be able to come back, so we actually came back and saved a few game points in game one and won 12-10. We go on to go down 9-5 in game two. We come back 10-9 and then we lose 12-10! So they did well again, a couple unforatunate shots at the end there to lose game two. Then Susannah and I were dialed in for game three. We started of very, very strong, switched that 6-2 up and ended up winning 11-2. So we dialed in our strategy, we're getting used to playing with each other, which is awesome. She's a very positive partner, very uplifting. It was even when we were losing we were bouncing energy off very well from each other, we stayed positive throughout the whole match and were able to pull that one off. So quarters up next; we should be called again soon. Looking forward to it!
April 6, 2024, 8:45 a.m.
Good morning! On to day three. Today is women's doubles day, which is an early day for the girls. Typically in tournaments we vary who starts on women's and men's doubles day, sometimes it's the guys first, sometimes it's the girls first, and today we were the unlucky ones. So we have the 8 a.m. start time. Susannah and I got a bye, so now it's 8:45 and we haven't started yet. Our first round match up is over so we're waiting on opponents. They're ready to play us now, so we should get a court any time. We got a good warm up, got some points, and feel ready to play. First time partnerships are always interesting, but I'm looking forward to it, I think our games mesh pretty well.
This morning I actually ate breakfast. I have a really bad habit of not eating in the mornings, but thankfully my mom visiting makes it easier. I woke up and I had a nice breakfast cooked for me. So I had some eggs, drank my chocolate milk and I feel ready to go!
April 5, 2024, 6:12 p.m.
We just ended our day here, Jack and I ended up finishing with ninth, which is awesome for a first-time partnership. We just felt like we got better every single match. It's even more special to have my mom on the sidelines. She lives in Brazil and she gets to visit me from time to time. This is only her second time here, watching me play live. She does a few tournaments in a row when she comes just to be able to keep up and it's just special to have her watching after all my tennis years. She's very excited that I no longer work an office job and that I get to play pickleball and she gets to watch that.
April 5, 2024, 5:01 p.m.
I've just finished our third round of the back draw, got that one too. This one was a little bit different. The previous team that we played, Susannah and Austin, they're very calculated, play more of a traditional old school style of pickleball. They think a lot, they're patient, they look for opportunities to get creative. The team that we played just now, Hannah Blatt and Grayson Goldin, plays the exact opposite. They are a very, very powerful team. They hit the ball very hard, so Grayson and Hannah did a really good job starting off - both of them blasting serves and making us miss quite a few to start off. They went up, 7-3, and then we kind of were able to contain their aggressiveness and move forward from there. We came back and won 15-7, so that's a good win from Jack and me. I think we're getting more and more comfortable as the day goes on, and we're looking forward to playing the final of the back draw.
April 5, 2024, 3:59 p.m.
We just finished our second back draw match. It was an interesting match, we played against Susannah Barr and Austin Gridley. This is one of the teams that has done well for a long time, individually and together, they used to play together back in the day a little bit. They both have very unique ways of playing, so it was a fun match, different than your usual doubles match. I'm playing doubles with Susannah tomorrow, so always interesting to play against the person you're going to play with the next day. But yeah, it was a good match, I think a lot of good points, lots of hands battles, and we ended up on top, so looking forward to our next one. I'm going to watch our opponents now, and hopefully we keep it rolling.
April 5, 2024; 3:05 p.m.
We just finished our match. But for the past couple hours I got a chance to relax and find some shade. It is extremely sunny and hot here in Delray, so all of us get tired, right? It's not just the people that don't do this full-time. We do this - train - every day and we still get tired as well. We have to get our rest so I found some shade, watched some great matches on Championship Court, and now the back draw started again, and all the matches are out right now. We just finished our first one, played really well there, and took that one. So we're looking to watch a little bit of our opponents before we play our next one.
April 5, 2024, 11:39 a.m.
We just finished our second round in the round of 16. Unfortunately we didn't get that one. We were able to get the first game to get a little bit closer but weren't able to pull all the way back to 10; they got us 11-8. In the second game we got unlucky on a few points. They played pretty well, 11-3, so definitely didn't go the way we wanted to. I don't think we played well. I don't think we executed our game plan well, but that's just part of it. That's how it goes. They did a good job putting pressure on us, so looking forward to playing the back draw. Since we lost before the quarters we get to play the back draw for ninth, so that'll be starting shortly. So I'm going to go get some food and get ready for the next ones.
April 5, 2024, 10:10 a.m.
Just finished our first round. As I mentioned, it was going to be interesting and it certainly was. We went up really big so we won a very, very quick frist game, Jack and I played incredibly, and didn't make any mistakes. In game 2, we were up really, really big as well until they got crazy hot and they did not miss a ball for about 10 points in a row on their serve, so that's brutal. We lost that game, and then we recomposed, talked about a game plan again and were able to execute in the third so we won in three and now we get to play Andrei Daescu and Jill Braverman, so that should be a good match as well.
April 5, 2024, 8:58 a.m.
Good morning! It's Friday today, so mixed doubles day. Looking forward to playing with Jack Munro for the first time. We just got a good warm up. We had to hop around a little bit - things are very busy this morning with pretty much every court full. We have the main courts up here, the stadium courts already have matches on them, and then the back courts have Humana Cup going on, which is a really good team competition happening with the Champions and Masters players. We should be going on court anytime now - we already got the text that the draw has started, we just haven't gotten our court assignment yet. We have an interesting first-round matchup. It's also a lefty guy and a righty girl, so we're going to have two forehands in the middle on both sides. Should be interesting, I'll keep y'all posted!
April 4, 2024, 2:33 p.m.
I just finished up my quarterfinal match - unfortunately I did not win that one. Megan Fudge played pretty well - gotta give her credit there. She does a good job of putting pressure on opponents by essentially not going for too much but not going for too little either. She's not popping the ball up, but she's not allowing me to do anything with the ball either. She did a good job holding me back. Tough match. Now I'm done with singles day; since that was the quarters I will not participate in the back draw, which is probably better for my body. So I'm done for the day with singles. I'm going to go get some food because I haven't had the chance to eat yet between the matches. So going to eat now and then go practice some women's doubles with Susannah Bar -. I'm looking forward to that first-time partnership! Jack Munro doesn't get in until tonight, so we'll be getting some reps in tomorrow morning before we play. Thanks for following along!
April 4, 2024, 1:36 p.m.
Just finished my first singles match. It's a little bit different, I had a bye, so my opponent was a little bit warmer than me. She had already played a match - a good three-game match - right before me, so she came in playing really well. I played this girl, Alejandra Lopez Borobia, probably four or five times - we somehow ended up getting lucky and drawing each other every tournament, but it was a great match. I think I played actually very well. I don't practice a lot of singles, my focus is definitely in doubles, but my game translates well from tennis to singles, so I was able to use the wind pretty well to my advantage. It's pretty windy over here and I was coming to the net as much as possible to finish of my volleys. I got that win in two games, looking forward to my next one.
April 4, 2024, 10:53 a.m.
So this is Mari Humberg! I think you know that already, I don't need to say that for the blog, but I'm excited to be playing in Delray Beach this week. The venue is amazing -very, very nice. Looks like about 30 courts, a lot of them are permanent, which is awesome. The stadium is amazing, there are three courts right behind me, center court, lots of space, two grand stand courts behind it. Today is singles day, which is my third favorite...so we go up from here! I'm looking forward to playing some singles, though it's very windy so the conditions are going to be interesting, and I'll be warming up soon with Emily Ackerman. I'm waiting for her to get ready, she's slacking! I'm watching a little bit of men's singles in the meantime.
