by
Dan Obremski
- Five-time National Open Doubles Champion
- Two-time World Doubles Champion
- Three-time National Mixed Open Doubles Champion
- Website
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VETERANS VIEWPOINT
OF THE NATIONAL DOUBLES
I started training for this year's National Doubles about two
months out from the event. For me, standard training included a bit of
speed work with my kids, consistent (6:00am) lifting with my training
partner, and a once-a-week play session with a playing partner. I
focus on every set of everything that I do, because I don't have the
luxury of acquiring focus through high levels of on-court play.
I knew that this year was a golden opportunity for the winning open
team. That being ... the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg! I played in
the Pan Am Trials this year, and the thought of being involved in the
second largest sporting event in the world (second only to the Olympic
Games) inspired my consistency.
I also realized that I'm a 35 year old guy and my partner is 34.
Knowing the obvious, Doug and I make it a practice to hook up the
weekend before the doubles and play a good three days with local
talent. It just so happened that this year there was a small local
event in Doug's hometown (Columbus, Ohio) where we thought we could go
beat up on some young guns. We played both doubles and singles, and we
both limped away from the event feeling like we were in a fight. All
total, I lost a singles match where I felt like I injured every body
part trying to hang in there, and Doug and I lost two doubles matches
where we were over-powered and overmatched. Our excuse was that we
were trying new things. (actually we were ... but that's another story
in itself; just because you don't perform well the week before the big
event, don't let it get you down).
Funny thing was my 11-year-old son Daniel had a blast when we got
home, teasing me in front of the rest of the family. I always tell him
when he's playing baseball not to show it if you're hurt. You see, he
has the tendency to limp a little if he misses a ground ball. [I call
it the losers limp, but not to him] Well, Daniel went into an act that
had the family rolling on the ground. My wife kindly asked how I did,
and I said "OK" as I Iimped over to my office desk, holding
my right wrist. Daniel happened to be standing nearby and went into a
charade of me on the court. He started limping around the office on
his left foot, while holding his right wrist, swinging an imaginary
racquet with a contorted look on his face. I guess he showed me.
Well, I drove to Baltimore with that on my mind. In reality, I knew
that Doug and I had a chance to make history with win number four, but
something was in our way. The week before, I had learned that there
were 8-10 teams in the draw that I knew were just as hungry for the
trip to the Pan Ams as we were. And, I respect them all equally.
Karp and Sell cover the court like cats and have some of the
quickest hands in the game. O'Neill and Robinson communicate and
re-kill like no other. I've seen them take great teams apart, with
their calm demeanors. Eagle and Kachtik bring impressive credentials
and abilities, plus Drew is one of the greatest competitors the tour
has ever seen. I watched him come from 0-10 in game five of the finals
a pro stop, to win 12-10. I know what he can do. Rocky Carson and
James Mulcock beat us last year and they are now the young guns in the
sport. Bronfeld and Thoerner have never played together, but you
wouldn't know it. I had a chance to practice some doubles with Michael
in Canada, and he has some of the best hands in the business. Combine
that with Jason's reach, and they are a high caliber duo.
As I looked at the draw in my office, there were so many teams that
could break your hearts. DeJesus and Fuhrman with rocket serves,
Legends like Hansen and Lorello, athletes like Muller and Wright, and
lefty tandems who you can't figure out like Hart Johnson and Todd
Stead. All total, if we were going to win, it would take everything we
had.
One thing we practiced -- that we had never done before -- was to
switch sides on the serve. We always felt we played best on our own
sides, but as we thought back on a few matches we dropped over the
years, we felt that switching sides might have effected the outcome.
This would prove prophetic throughout the event.
Opening Day [Wednesday, October 14]: I drove in the day of
the event, and planned to rest a few hours before playing a few young
local legends. Every time I enter the club on my first day of a
national event, I get chills. I remember big names, big matches that
I've watched, and big matches that I've played. At Merritt, I saw
Marty Hogan win a car in a pro stop, a few months after knee surgery.
Great memories. Doubles is different though. You don't see people as
individuals. You see them, talk to them, analyze them, joke with them
and prepare for them as teams. Everything you do that weekend is
geared towards the common good of the team. Maybe that's why I like
the event so much. I seems like it's more fun. Result: Doug and I
played a but sloppy. I'm still nursing my wrist, Doug is still working
on finding the groove on his backhand, but we win in two, 15-8 15-9,
over Matt Gehling and Jamal Harris.
Day Two [Thursday, 10/15]: Doug goes to the club early to
practice his backhand. I go teach a backhand lesson to a friend from
Elite Camp. It's match time and partner #1 of our opponent team is
ready to go, but partner #2 seems to be caught in traffic. He decided
to drive into the city at 3:00 pm (rush hour inside the beltway) and
expected to return by our 4:45 starting time. Result: We waited a full
hour, then walked out with the no-show forfeit over Mike Johnston and
Tony Boscia. As it turns out, it was exactly what my wrist needed.
Just one day of rest. This proved to be an important 24 hour break.
Day Three [Friday, 10/16]: A chance to redeem ourselves from
last year's loss to Carson/Mulcock! We know their strengths, and they
don't have many weaknesses. Game Plan: Isolate the backhand corner in
the glass. Doug would try his combination of cut drive serves and deep
lobs. I would play the left when I served and hit a power drive to the
corner. Game one ...We feel crisp. All serves working and it
seems easy (not) to win 15-7. Game two ... We looked like we
did in Columbus the week before. Doug's backhand wasn't there, and my
drive serve was loose. They start to hit everything well and cover the
court even better. We lose 15-5. Game three ... Typical barnburner- A
battle to the end. At 8-8 Doug and I reel off three incredible shots
to close the match 11-8!!!
Day 4: [Saturday, 10/17 -- Team Qualifying Round]:
Thoerner/Bronfeld.Our game plan again is to isolate the left rear
corner, where the two glass walls meet. We figure a guy can't beat us
from the deep court, especially with his backhand. We were wrong.
Everything Bronfeld hit was flat. Drive serve ...rollout. Deep Lob
serve...rollout. Add to that the fact that Doug's backhand and my
serve went south, and you get a 6-15 loss. The green ball seemed
really slow on the courts, which was not good for my serve.
New Strategy. Since we couldn't score on Bronfeld, we felt the only
recourse was to test the younger, less patient, Jason on the right.
His forehand is BIG, his hands are soft, and he covers the court well,
but that looked good to us considering what had done Bronfeld the last
game. Our object was to test Jason's patience. I lob z'd his forehand
and the strategy paid off. This allowed both of us to establish good
court position and re-kill virtually every ball. Doug found his groove
on the backhand and rolled ball after ball. You see, most people in
the crowd counted the old guys out after game one.
But game two told a different story. We dominated 15-5, and for the
first time in three years, I felt inside that we could be National
Champs again. Game three was back and forth again until 8. I don't
really remember the dive that saved the rally, but people tell me I
made an unreal dive into the back wall to save a point at 8-8. To
close the match I had to muscle Jason out of front court to hit a
running splat that flat rolled out of the right corner. Doug laid a
soft backhand into the left corner, and Bronfeld skipped a deep
forehand from center court into the right corner to close the match.
Elation, US Team member again, relief, high hopes, confidence for
tomorrow's match. We just beat two high caliber teams in 11-8
tiebreakers.
FINALS DAY [Sunday, 10/18 -- Pan American Team Qualifier]: At
10:00 am we are asked to do a live TV bit for the local news. All
eight of the open finalists show up, but I am the only one asked to do
the three minute piece. All goes well and Doug does a light early
morning practice to find his number one and two racquets. Match time
comes and Doug and I feel very fresh. I'm hitting so crisp, I snap a
frame in two just warming up. I rarely do this. The wrist feels good.
Game Plan ... again: Isolate the deep left hand corner, keep the ball
away from Drew's forehand. Basically, we decided that if they are
going to beat us, Doug Eagle would have to do it from the deep court
with his backhand.
Game one ... Doug serves first and rolls off five quick
points with re-kills from both of us. We knock both servers out with
immediate kill shots. Ganim serves again, and again and again, until
he gets to 15. The game ended at 15-0, and I never served. In fact I
hardly started to sweat. Ganim killed every shot he hit, I re-killed
every ball, and Eagle was still not into the match. I told Doug
between games to expect a different team for game two, and that's
exactly what happened. Game two ... The sleeping giant woke
and blistered every backhand he hit. Before we knew it, we were down
12-3. In the deep court I looked at Doug and told him, "We can do
this, it's not over. We promptly got the serve back, and went back to
game plan number one. Doug found the rhythm again, and laid down every
backhand opportunity. I also felt unusually crisp. Doug's serve got us
to 8-12. We switched sides and I walked over to Doug and whispered to
him that all we needed to make history was 7 points. He said "Let's
do it." One serve after another made us better and better. We
tied them at 12 and I finally realized, we can do this. I still had
the serve and got two quickies on a backhand re-kill and a skip by
Drew. It's match point.
For the first time this weekend I am nervous. I
consulted with Doug about taking a time out. He looked at me and said
in his compassionate way "Just serve the ball and finish the
match" Well, this really reassured me. I lofted the deep lob to
Eagle's backhand and got a weak return that Doug hit offensively, Drew
returned around the wall to the backhand corner. I was playing the
backhand and saw the ball would come short about thirty feet, off of
the left wall glass. I positioned myself against the glass so I could
hit a forehand when the ball trickled off of the wall. My focus was to
kill the ball in the left corner even though all three of them were
positioned in front court. Natural instinct took over and the next
thing I knew Doug was screaming in my face -- I had flat rolled the
ball in the left corner! He screamed it about five times.
It didn't sink in until I got home. Fourth time with one partner.
Pan AM team. Redemption for the older guys. Proof that physical
training and mental preparation still do work.
I'll say that I've known Doug Ganim for a long time. We've been in
each others weddings. We've won four National Open titles together,
and finished second once. My middle son is named Braydon Ganim
Obremski. I named him that because -- at the time -- I never knew if
Doug and I would play again. So when Braydon was born, the name seemed
like it might be the only way to keep the legacy of "Ganim/Obremski"
alive.
When Doug sets his mind to accomplish something, he gets it done. I
recommend that when you are looking for a partner, find someone who
sticks behind you, no matter what. Someone who works with you for the
good of the team. Someone with whom you can communicate. Someone who
knows their limitations. And most important, someone with whom you
have that unexplained chemistry that all great teams have. Teams like
MacKenzie/Paraiso, Wright/Trent, Kwartler/Malowitz, Grapes/Schattner.
Hope you enjoyed my week at the Nationals as much as I did. |