That’s Danielle Collins in the photo, competing at the US Open. I was inspired by my day at the Open, where I saw the world’s best players compete with intensity and ferocity.
I couldn’t wait to play again, and this morning I did. I won the first set handily. I was hitting my shots, my opponent wasn’t. I tried to focus on moving my feet and getting in position to hit the ball. Those two things, which is actually a lot to keep track of in a bang-bang game.
The second set went back and forth. I started missing and double-faulting. I was down 0-2, then up 4-2, then up 5-3 and had two set points, but couldn’t close it out. I hate when I do that. It makes me feel mentally weak. I lost the set in a tiebreak.
It was good tennis, a beautiful morning, sun shining. I love that game. And I was lucky to be at the US Open.
