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Florida Pro Diary: Amer Delic
Posted on January 1, 2008
Florida's Amer Delic has just relocated to the booming pro training center at Saddlebrook just outside of Tampa after climbing to a career-high No. 60 in July of last year, but then seeing his ranking plummet outside the Top 100 after a difficult latter half of the year:
"I guess when people say 'You win some, you lose some!' they are wrong...at least in my case they were. They should have said 'You win some, but you lose lots more!' That's pretty much the way 2007 went for me.
I did have some wins and I sure enjoyed them, but unfortunately it was all the losses that highlight the '07! Some 'good' losses, but mostly bad. Still, they were losses and unfortunately they counted against me.
People that know me will wonder about such negativity in the previous paragraph, because they know that I am usually the optimist in the group. By no means am I trying to be negative; instead I am attempting to be realistic about the whole thing. It's just the way things unraveled, and unfortunately they didn't unravel they way I wanted them to.
Last couple of months everyone was calling me asking 'What's wrong?' 'Are you injured?' 'How did you lose?' Some people are even sending 'hate' mail telling me that I lost them money on their betting sites because I lost my match. I laugh at all those gamblers and don't even bother responding to such posts, but for all the other inquirers...well, I just didn't have an answer for them.
Thankfully, I was not injured, so there goes that excuse; but it's really not an excuse that I am looking for, instead an answer to what really went 'wrong' in the second half of my season. However, even if the rankings show a drop or my win-loss column is skewed the wrong way, still, I feel that I have learned a lot from this year. (That's my positive side making an appearance!)
Knowing when to take a break may seem as a small thing to you, but I feel that was my biggest downfall. I have learned that it's better to take a few weeks off and come back 100% for one tournament than it is to play all the tournaments in a row at 80%. Quality over quantity. You hear it all the time, but its hard to pass up on all the tournaments that you get into when that is your opportunity, your chance to make that breakthrough.
Most of this year I was ranked between 80 and 60, so I was not really at a luxury to take off a few weeks and get ready for the bigger tournaments, because, simply every upcoming tournament I played was my 'next big one!' All that 'chasing' finally caught up with me in the second half of the year. By the time summer and indoor season was being played, both being my favorite parts of the year, I was not competing to win. Instead it was just simple survival on the court.
Thankfully, the great thing about tennis is that every January you get a fresh, clean start. My first tournament of 2008 will be Australian Open, and unlike last year, this time I will have to play qualifying rounds. Since the Australian Open is just around the corner, I have already started my training. At the end of November I decided to move to Wesley Chapel, Fla., home to most of the U.S. players. Blake, Fish, the Bryan Brothers are just the few to name. Sampras, Courier, Capriati, Hingis and Henin also used to spend their time training at the Saddlebrook Resort in their prime.
While Jacksonville was a great place to come back to, I struggled finding practice, so I packed up my bags and headed to southwest Florida. I moved in with John Isner, who I am sure most of you know for his Cinderella run at the Legg Mason tournament this summer and also for his performance at the US Open. First time ever I will be the 'little guy' at the house. I am not really used to looking up when talking to people, so that will probably be the biggest adjustment I will have to make.
Other than training in the month of December, I am also doing a couple of exhibitions. I just came back from my biggest exo and it was played at the University of Illinois-Chicago arena in front of 4,000 people. I was part of the exo that headlined Pete Sampras and Todd Martin. It was very interesting, especially since I have never watched Pete play in person. On the other hand, I have spent many hours practicing with Todd over the last 10 years and always felt very comfortable around him, but around Pete, I was little bit nervous. Even though Kevin Anderson (6'7"), Todd (6'6") and I towered over Pete, still his presence was much more intimidating than all of our heights combined.
Either way, the event was pretty fun and I hope to do some more in the future with those guys.
Until then, I need to get back to buckets and buckets of balls...Amer Delic
This article appears in the January 2008 issue of Play Tennis Florida Magazine, the official magazine of USTA Florida. Visit the Play Tennis Florida website for subscription info or media kit at www.PlayTennisFlorida.com, or visit the official USTA Florida website at www.USTAFlorida.com.
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