USTA 5.0 Women's Doubles - Super Tri-Level Sectionals with Commentary!

USTA/MAS Women's Super-Tri Level match at Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club.
Montgomery County (Potapova/Batkins) vs. Richmond (Schwenk/Meyer).
Big thanks to VBTCC (@vbtcc35), USTA/MAS (@ustamidatlanticfoundation), and the players for letting us record the match!

[@GodKnowsITry45]

Loved watching this match! Thank-you for posting it.

[@Tennisfiles]

My pleasure, very glad you enjoyed it! 😄

[@harrisrosenblatt9881]

so great to see this !!

[@Tennisfiles]

Glad you enjoyed, Harris! 😎

[@johngriffin1356]

The person that didn’t like your commentary is a fool. Your pace and comments were on the mark. I liked everything.

[@Tennisfiles]

Thanks so much, John! Very kind of you. I am glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@ejk188]

This was good but could've been better if M had included more strategic commentary - like why someone missed a volley... maybe b/c they were out of position and shading line when they should've been in the hot seat, things like that, etc. This match would be great for a post-mortem replay with that kind of tactical insight for club players to learn from.

[@Tennisfiles]

Great feedback! I definitely agree, and not an excuse but I was a bit under the weather plus it was my first time commentating a match, on not much sleep. But I would love to do it again and provide more strategery for sure :) I did throw some strategy in but could have done more. Thanks!! :)

[@c.l.2688]

What level are these ladies? 4.5? There's such a level difference between the team closest to you and the other side.

[@Tennisfiles]

It's 5.0 level! I didn't look up Richmond's players to confirm their ratings but I assume so as it was the 5.0 line. First set looked like a marked difference but second set was a great fight! I have played mixed many times with the 5.0 Montgomery ladies and it's always a tough scrap!

[@paulkramer4176]

5.0 is pretty high rating. Often clubs have problems fielding much of a team at the 5.0 level. Agreed that the one side was much better than the other side. In my experience the two women that won, (Montgomery) were definitely 5.0. Aggressive volleys, decent serves, good ground strokes. The Richmond team was weaker all across. Especially the woman in the black tights, too often just looked like she was rallying rather than trying to put the ball away. Her volley's were often directly back to her opponent when she had every opportunity to put it away. Note that the opponents tended to pick on her. I'd say she was a decent 4.5, but whatever. Maybe she was playing up. Good to see them play better in the other set.

[@supercat4452]

3.5 in my opinion

[@DenisePrisciandaro]

3.5 and 4.0

[@eugeniasalvo5087]

pretty low energy for a 5.0 level....

[@Tennisfiles]

The video doesn't quite represent the pace as well as watching/playing live. It was a solid match!

[@liwang6864]

they are not 5.0

[@Tennisfiles]

I can confirm this was a USTA 5.0 match :)

[@vickbak]

That ball was not wide! Boo!

[@dfzinn6065]

Volleying was first rate.. blue skirt foot fault habit

[@Tennisfiles]

Agreed, great volleying in the match!

[@Swerlware]

Maybe you had to announce with a soft voice because of proximity to the players, but your voice is already soft and it lacks energy/authority, give it an uptick...remember, this is video, viewers can see the action, so no need to repeat where shots are going, no new info there...needs more commentary on the tactics/strategy/alternatives on certain plays, more insight into the strengths/weaknesses of the players and how to exploit...most teams have habits, what are you observing, how do their tendencies compare to Will's "Tells" book? Ex's, serving wide on the deuce side - what opptys are created for the server, where should the return go, how are the players switching positions, good time to fake? etc Next time you watch a match on TV that has professional announcers, note what they cover, what they comment on and their pace...I think most of us just watch the matches on TV without paying detailed attention to the announcers...

[@Tennisfiles]

Thanks for the feedback, some good stuff to think about there! You're right, I was very close to the players hence the soft voice. I may do a more in-depth strategy video from a few points of this match.

[@Swerlware]

Since it's video, maybe you should consider adding some post-filming comments/observations from The Book of Tells where appropriate...looks like the gal in the gray dress is out of position when starting at the net...also, these indoor courts with sideline nets reduce the amount of space available...when I played 4.5/8.5/9.5 matches at SFTC, their guys always tried to serve opponents into the net...forcing the Away team to return closer to the baseline...