November - December 1998 | Vol. 9, No. 6

by Dan Obremski
  • Five-time National Open Doubles Champion
  • Two-time World Doubles Champion
  • Three-time National Mixed Open Doubles Champion
  • Website

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.

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