Typical Day
Deuce Moonball is up at 6:15AM. It takes him a second to remember where he is. Oh, yeah. Vegas. In town for the Delray Beach Open. Why this tournament is now hosted at a casino/hotel in the middle of the desert rather than in Delray Beach, Florida, is beyond him, but it's not his job to ask questions.
This is Deuce's fifth stop on the ATP Tour so far this year, and he's hoping to improve on his previous record—once into the round of 16, the other three times only into the round of 32. Little over $20,000 in total earnings so far. It's only late February, so there's plenty of time left to hit a big score, but in the meantime that $20,000 (about two-thirds of that after taxes) is barely paying his travel expenses. He needs to step it up a notch this weekend.
First, time for an abbreviated workout. He doesn't want to exhaust himself with a tournament to play later that day, but he also has to keep his muscles in tip-top shape. He hits the gym for about an hour—thirty minutes of cardio, thirty minutes on weights—and then cools down, both physically and mentally.
He focuses on the task at hand. Envisions himself winning the whole kit and caboodle this time, taking down that $82,000 first-place prize. If he can prove himself in some of these smaller Tour outings, maybe soon he'll be able to truly compete in the Grand Slams, where he can make twenty or thirty times that much for a win.
After showering and suiting up (in what other job can you show up to work wearing shorts?), then grabbing a quick and nutritious breakfast (plus two bottles of 5-Hour Energy), he makes his way to the courts. The early rounds are just getting started and he has an hour to pace and build up adrenaline.
He's got a tough draw in this first round. Alejandro Lopez, the Spaniard. Always gives him trouble, especially on hard court. Well, this is just going to have to be the day he evens the score a little.
Pretty soon, he and his opponent take their places on the court and the match gets underway. From this point, any worries about winning and advancing, what it would mean to his finances should he lose, paranoia about how his critics might respond if his slump continues, all of that is gone, replaced by the rush of being out there in his natural habitat, doing what he was born to do.
Both players hold serve for the first four games, until Lopez jumps out to a 40-15 lead in the fifth game and manages to squeeze out a break point. Crap. Lopez has one of the better serves on the Tour, and now he's going to have to break him back in order to get back into this thing.
It doesn't happen. In fact, Lopez breaks him once more en route to a 6-3 first set loss. Wonderful.
The only silver lining is that Deuce traditionally starts slow and picks up steam as he goes. It holds true today—he quickly takes control of the second set 4-0. He gets a mini-scare as Lopez is able to creep back into the set, making it 5-3, but Deuce holds and sends this thing to a third and decisive set (it's an early round, so at least he doesn't have to worry about going a full five sets with this guy).
The third set is a classic. He'd certainly prefer a less stressful battle in which he swept his opponent in a landslide, but while these back-and-forth matches aren’t ideal as far as his checking account balance is concerned, it definitely reminds him of how dearly he adores the thrill of competition at the highest level.
Fittingly, the set ends up tied 6-6 and it goes to a tiebreak. However, either because Deuce has simply worn himself out (maybe he should have shortened his workout this morning?) or because of an unlucky and ill-timed stretch of points not going his way, Lopez never leaves the remainder of the match in doubt, winning the tiebreaker 7-2.
Ugh. Out in the first round. Never a good feeling, but part of the game. He'll pick up a small check and go on his merry way.
The rest of his day will be spent sitting in a bucket of ice, then laying around a lot. Man, the older he gets, the more these things take out of him. He turns thirty-seven next month, and if he's not careful, his dream of being the next Federer is going to pass him by….