So after letting Peter suffer on the bike for 3 hours and making the first point in the first match on the Squash World Tour, things deteriorated quickly: 1:0 became 3:11 quickly due to a well moving Peter and me not getting the touch on the ball.
“I should have trained more”, was my first thought walking out of the court. But I quickly focused on the task ahead: “Move better. Let him run more. Try to find your touch – without it you can’t win anyways.”
It got a little better in the second game. I was down by 5:9 when I finally hit some strokes like I wanted to and equalized at 10:10 after two game points for Peter. With some magic (luck) #teamyellow took also the second game 12:10 and now led 2:0.
But my touch was back. I was more confident in my drop shots and I used them to move Peter a lot and forced him to make the mistakes. He digged deep and with some incredible moves he was able to keep up until 8:8. Under a lot of pressure #teamorange won the 3rd game with a phenomenal finish 11:8.
It was on. Being down 1:2 is not an easy situation, but I felt confident in my play and knew that I had the stamina for 5 game.
The fourth game started with some lucky points by #teamyellow and easy mistakes from #teamorange and soon I was down 5:7. My memories are somewhat blurry as I couldn’t hold up the focus of the 3rd game and Peter also started to hit some ridiculous drop shots even Usain Bolt couldn’t have reached. My spirit was broken, Peter won the 4th game 11:7 and thus won the match and the first point of the Squash World Tour.
I still wanted that burger though. After a short shower and a friendly goodbye from the charming old slovakian receptionist, we headed to the restaurant. The burger compensated for the bitter loss I had suffered just minutes earlier.
As if loosing the squash match and paying for the meals was not enough, I got a flat tire too. Just my lucky day.
It was time to head back home. By bike again of course. It was obvious Peter gave his all in the match as he was suffering from the beginning in the battle against the wind. We moved as fast as a kid walking on the street. It would be a long journey home at this pace. Fortunately Hainburg was not far away and we could take the train from there. And indeed, as we passed the train station Peter stopped and we three had some lack of motivation to continue the long drive back.
For some reason I still don’t understand, we continued. And it became the long journey we had all feared. My only delight was Peter’s face, slowly deteriorating over time. Some revenge after all. But to be fair, he fought like a king and we got to enjoy a wonderful evening in the Donauauen with a beautiful sunset and even a hog at some point. After about 4 exhausting hours, we reached Vienna. What a day. Looking forward to the next stop on the Squash World Tour – this time organized by #teamyellow!
