October 27, 2024, 4:44 p.m.
Lost a close match against Amanda, 15-13 in the third. I started off on the good side and ended up finishing on, unfortunately, the worst side. And when the game got tied in third game, I actually got almost stuck to the back wall, and Amanda was able to get some momentum. But win or lose, it doesn't define who you are as a person, so I can't get too upset about that. I think I played well. I played my heart out, and I got to the final so that's already very rewarding.
But on a positive note, I just found out that I get to be at home next weekend so I can actually experience trick-or-treating for the first time in my life! Yay! We'll go get some decorations for the house to make sure the kiddos stop by. We'll get some healthy candy, and we'll see what it feels like.
Last match of the day is Erik and Max in men's doubles, so gonna go cheer for them. Max and Christine were actually able to get gold in mixed right before I played my singles so I'm extremely, happy for for Max. Hopefully he's gonna be able to take home another gold and we'll go celebrate as a team.
The last APP of the year. It would be nice to finish with a gold medal, but you can't win without losing. So on to the next one, and it's been a blast, Newport! California has been treating us great. Hope you enjoyed my blog this weekend. Thank you to the APP for putting on this amazing event and to all the staff, volunteers and referees who work so hard. Thanks, Newport! Until next time!
October 27, 2024, 2:51 p.m.
Just got done with the finals match. We fell short in the third game, 10-12, although we had a few match points. We were up 10-6 , and it probably got away from us, because we didn't really have a solid plan of how we wanted to close the game, and a few unforced errors allowed them to come back. In those tight moments, you have to continue doing the same thing. You have to continue putting pressure on and we took the foot off the gas a little bit and allowed them to get back in the game. But I'm still super happy with the results that Rianna and I got this weekend. It was our first time playing together, I think our chemistry was great and I think we were able to find the right rhythm together this weekend. Hopefully I'll get to play with her in the future again. Now, it's time to watch Max and Christine play mixed doubles and I still have the singles finals ahead. So, still gonna go for that gold!
October 27, 2024, 12:04 p.m.
Happy Sunday, everyone! It's finals day at the APP, Newport Beach. First up, I'm playing women's pro doubles with Rianna around two o'clock, and then after a break, I have pro singles finals against Amanda Hendry. I'm very excited for today, my other friends are actually in the other two finals. We have Max and Christine playing mixed pro doubles finals, and then Max and Erik are playing men's pro doubles finals. So it will be a very fun day between playing and cheering. I'm super, super excited!
Speaking of Max, I actually would like to give a shout out to him. He recently launched his own book called "A Pickleball Gospel." You should definitely check it out. He talks about pickleball as a community, pickleball competition, pickleball cooperation, and just his own journey through this crazy life of pickleball and his experiences. So go on Amazon and check it out.
Super excited for today, I'm gonna go find Rianna now and get a little warm up in. See you after women's doubles!
October 26, 2024, 5:06 p.m.
On to Championship Sunday! Let's go! Rianna and I just got done with our semifinals match against two Jill Bravermans. Jill was playing with her sister. It's funny - they're like, identical. They play the same, their voices are the same. Great match. Rianna and I won that one in three sets. In that type of a match we just had to be very disciplined, sticking to the strategy and keeping each other positive, because Jill can get a little crazy and try and get into her opponent's head. So we were doing a good job to just stay within our zone and doing our thing. I'm super happy for us. This our first partnership together. Rianna hasn't played in a long time, coming back right after the injury. She's still not 100% so I'm super happy to be able to do that with her. We are playing against Simone and Amanda tomorrow in the finals, so it's
going to be a great match. Super excited and can't wait to celebrate with a pasta bowl tonight!
October 26, 2024, 1:06 p.m.
Another match under the belt. Brianna and I just finished our quarterfinals match. We got that one in two sets again. We beat Shelby Bates and Cass Hoag. One point is that Brianna is a very steady, consistent player. She's got great patience, and I was trying to speed up the second I got the ball. So, it was a good match and I'm excited for semifinals.
People have been asking me today about my nickname on the back of my shirt. All of my outfits right now have the nickname 'Yana Bear' on them. Obviously Yana is my name, and 'Bear,' that's what my husband calls me. I'm from Russia, so that's how I kind of got the nickname Yana Bear. My mixed partner, Erik, and I, we were trying to look a little bit more presentable and represent The Hub facility - they have Alameda and Silicon Valley locations. It's a great spot, if you're in California, you should definitely check it out. But Erik and I just picked a few colors so we could match and look very nice together. Speaking of Erik, on the back of his shirt, he has 'Bang Bang.' We call him 'Erik Bang Bang Lange because he has a very good one-handed backhand counterpunch. So that's how he got his - 'Bang Bang' - he doesn't like it but we told him he has to deal with it. We like it.
Time to get some food, and get ready for our semifinals match!
October 26, 2024, 11:58 a.m.
Rihanna and I just got done with our round of 16 match, we were able to take that one in two sets. It's our first time playing together and it felt great. We started playing regular, and then towards the end, we decided to stack with me on the left, which worked out much better with Rihanna's really great one-handed backhand counter. It's working out much better so we can both be in the middle when needed. So I'm excited for quarterfinals and we're waiting on our next match.
But enough about pickleball, let me share a few fun facts about me that you might not know. I was originally born in Russia, but I'm fluent in three languages, English, Russian and Spanish. I lived in Spain for about five years. When I was a teenager, I played tennis there, before I came to the United States for college. I graduated with a major in accounting, but I have experience in selling windows during the summer after my fourth year of college, which was extremely terrifying but also very rewarding at the same time, because it taught me how to be more extroverted. I also have a real estate license in Missouri and I am certified in belaying and rock climbing. Belaying is when you have a rope and you support your partner to climb up! Belaying is really fun. It strengthens your wrists because you need a lot of power in your fingers, because you've got to grab very thin boulders, rocks sometimes. So it's a cool exercise. And it strength strengthens your your back and your glute muscles. There are different levels so if you need look into some body strengthening, it's actually really fun and entertaining and good exercise.
During my free time I like playing video games, but not shooting games. I like adventure, roll-playing games, anything cozy. So my few games of choice are Hogwarts Legacy and Harry Potter Legos. Super fun! My husband actually likes to play video games as well. During our free time together, we sometimes play together. He likes shooting games. He likes Apex Legends and Fortnite, so occasionally I play that with him. At the beginning of the year, when we were trying to play pickleball tournaments together, we wanted to do some outside activity to strengthen our partnership, and we played the game called It Takes Two where you work in conjunction, trying to solve different puzzles, helping each other. So that was fun, but it didn't help our pickleball game, unfortunately, we are not playing together. (The post above is the last time we had fun on the pickleball court together and came away with medals!) Occasionally I bring my Switch with me to tournaments, but most of the time I don't have time to play because we're on the courts all day long, and there are a lot of people to talk to, but it's definitely my go to distraction activity.
See you in the next post!
October 26, 2024, 10:36 a.m.
Good morning, everybody! It is Saturday in Newport Beach and it's gender doubles day. Girls start a little bit later than guys today, so I got 10 hours of sleep last night and I'm feeling amazing. Got a little bit longer morning, so I got to chat with my husband, Benny, who is also a professional pickleball player, if you guys don't know him. Fun fact, we actually got to know each other on the pickleball court at one of the Chicken and Pickle locations in Kansas City. We met during the COVID time, and both decided to try out some pro tournaments. We started out as friends, and then we hit it off, and now we're husband and wife, and we can't play together anymore! Familiar story, huh?
I'm looking forward to today, Rianna and I are gonna have a lot of fun together. We just got a little warm up, the body's feeling great, and we have a bye in the first round. Let's go team!
October 25, 2024, 4:27 p.m.
After waiting for quite some time for our second match of the day, we had to play our good friends, Max Manthou and Christine Maddox. We ended up losing. They played really, really well. They barely made any errors and played very clean. We had a really hard time putting the ball away. They would just dig in and dig in everything. So super happy for them, obviously not happy about losing, but super, super happy for them and gonna go watch them play in the semifinals here shortly.
In every sport when it comes playing to friends, some people love it and some people don't like it. I definitely find it harder to get fired up when you play against your friends, especially people as nice as Christine and Max. You just can't get mad, you can't get dark and just become that crazy competitor. And I play my best when I'm, super energized and I'm loud, and so I have a harder time getting pumped up when I play friends, which, I needed that energy because we had a pretty slow start.
It's almost five o'clock here in Newport. After we watch Max and Christine we'll probably go get some dinner together. Hopefully they make it through their semi finals so we can cheer them all on on Sunday. If not, we'll stay for another match to watch them play for bronze. Hopefully we go to another Italian place and get some pasta again. I'll do some recovery again for the body, maybe we will play some card games with with Erik and Max and and we'll go rest. Another fun day tomorrow ahead of us. I'm playing women's pro doubles with Rianna Valdes, a local California girl, and I'm super excited to play with her. We've never played together before, but very excited to have her on my side. She has very steady hands, she moves really well, she has a great backhand drive, so very excited for that partnership.
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today. Let's do it!
October 25, 2024, 11:21 a.m.
Erik and I had a bye in the first round, so we just got done playing our second round. In our second round match we played against Spencer Lanier and Brooke Revuelta. We were able to take care of that one in two games - yay! Starting the day right today.
Speaking of mixed doubles, I think everyone would agree that one of the most challenging things is trying to find the best fit for you when it comes to a partnership. I've played pickleball for a few years now, and I've played with a lot of different people, and I think what I've come to realize is when it comes to picking a partner, it's better to look at the chemistry than looking at which player has had better results. Because a better player might not fit your style of play, and you might end up not working as a team. So I started trying to look at the chemistry, understanding which partners and I have similar strategies, trying to understand how our styles can complement each other's games. The mental part is huge, too. How the person handles tough situations, and when you're down in the score, or when you play a tough team - it's really important to see what routines your partner has. Erik and I have talked a lot about that, and we were able to find little things where if I see Erik being down on himself I know how I can pick him up. He understands my patterns now and he can pick me up. And I think that's really important, other than just focusing on yourself. So my biggest tip would be when it comes to finding partners, find someone with who you can have fun with, who you can share smiles on the court with and who can pick you up when you're not having your best day. I've played a few events with Erik before, and it helps having a consistent partner for sure. So even if we didn't have great results yet together on the tour, we keep working together and we communicate, I think that's the most important thing.
October 25, 2024, 8:54 a.m.
Good morning from Newport Beach! We are experiencing a slight delay this morning due to the fog rolling in again, but it adds a bit of a spooky vibe to the tournament atmosphere. It's Halloween season, after all!
Speaking of Halloween, fun fact, after I graduated college and moved into my own place I've never been in my hometown in the United States during the Halloween season, so I've never done trick-or-treating. I was always away for either a tennis competition or pickleball competition. So there is a chance that I might actually be at home next week for for the first time and I'm just curious to see if the kids will come and knock on the door. That's the exciting part for me - I'm not gonna go trick-or-treat myself, but it'll be fun to see if the kids come by in our neighborhood. It would also be cool to have a Halloween-themed party!
Today is all about mixed doubles, and I'm excited to team up with Erik Lange. I can say the body is feeling great after singles day. I had some time to recover. Last night, we had a great dinner at an Italian place, and my wish for a big bowl of pasta came true, and I slept like a little baby after that. I'm looking forward to today and my goal with Erik is to bring all of the energy, make each other smile, have fun, and try to execute our strategy. And if we win, we win. If we lose, we just go get another pasta bowl!
October 24, 2024, 3:15 p.m.
Luckily, I was able to break my trend today and win this game in two. But I think I got a little bit lucky. I believe Shelby got a little bit more of a break than I did, and she was a little bit colder, so felt like a little bit easier match. But nevertheless, I'm super happy to be in the finals again. It's very easy to be positive and say all the cool things when you're winning, so I'm lucky that I get to do this blog today and continue my winning streak.
Positive energy is definitely a huge. The second you show frustration to your opponent, you lose the momentum a little bit. So just reminding yourself that and having positive body language is huge. Remind yourself that in the majority of the matches, the other girl or boy is not going to give you the match. Everyone's going to fight, everyone's going to try to win. So just constantly remind yourself that you can always push yourself a little bit more, you can bend your knees a little bit lower, you can move a little bit faster, you can focus on putting a little bit more pressure. So just doing a little bit more of something in the match always helps. And at the end of the day, if that doesn't work out, you gave it all, and you pushed hard.
I think it's really important to have a team with you. Singles is a is a lonely sport. It's just you and your head out there. And it's really very easy to get negative, so it's nice to have someone on your side. It's just that one look, you look at the person and you know that the person is rooting for you, and a lot of times you're doing a certain thing, you don't really see that it's wrong, and your team is able to point that out. So just having one or two people that make you feel very comfortable when you're in the match is very huge. Also, having a routine is also very important. There are a few things that I do in the match that kind of calm me down, lower my heart rate a little bit, if the point was intense and I lost it, or if the point was intense and I won it, there are a few things that I think are important to have and do them and just bring yourself back to the into the rhythm.
I'm glad that I finally get to enjoy a meal. Championship Court has been a little bit challenging with all the nice smells coming out of the restaurant. So I'll watch my friend in the other semifinals match, and we'll go get something to eat. I'm excited for tomorrow, I'll be playing with Erik Lange. I really like having big dishes of pasta the night before I play. I don't know - something about pasta just is just heartwarming and soothing. I really want a big bowl of pasta right now if you can't tell! I will probably try and ice my feet a little bit. I've been dealing with plantar fasciitis pretty much my whole life, and in the last month it's been acting up a little bit more. So gonna recover my body, and try and get an early night of sleep.
Oh, and Harry Potter, of course.
October 24, 2024, 1:39 p.m.
Crazy day, another three-setter! I feel like it's a trend today for me...or maybe I'm just trying to keep you guys entertained.
I had to play Dominika Turkovic. I played her in Dallas and also had a three-setter there. It was a great battle, with very close games. I was just trying to stay focused and disciplined, not focusing on the score. She had to lead in the first game, and she had the lead in the in the third. So just staying present and focusing on one point at a time helped me get through it.
It's really tough to play on this Championship Court. The food area is right here, and it smells absolutely amazing. So I was trying as hard as I could to keep my focus on pickleball! And speaking of food, some of my favorite snacks that I like to eat during the tournaments are, lately have been grapes, but my go to snack is dried mangoes.
The weather has gotten much better compared to the morning. It's bright and sunny. The air feels great, and it's not super hot. There's a little breeze of cold wind, which feels really nice after long points. I'm grateful to be here, Newport's amazing. There are lots of great people here, and let's keep going! I'm gonna watch some friends play, and we'll be back at it!
October 24, 2024, 12:06 p.m.
Second round done, another three-setter. I believe it was 17-15, in the third. I'm loving it! No, I'm not. It's too stressful for me, for my team, for everyone watching. I played against Nicole Eugenio. Great player, lefty, moves great, has very nice, deep shots, very low, above the net. So it's really hard to come in on her shots. So she was just hitting really good through the ball. She started on the windy side, so she was hitting through the ball and keeping me back, coming in, putting pressure on me and it was working. When we switched sides, it was a bit easier for me to be with the wind and I got the second game. Then she started off the third game with the wind, and again, pretty much the same thing. In these types of matches, you have to just push a little bit more, stay a little lower, hit through the ball a little better. All the basics that you do, you just have to do them a little bit better, because at important moments, Nicole pushed a little bit, especially in the first game, and I didn't. So I think I was able to get through that third game by getting one level above her, if that makes sense.
Everyone's playing great right now. To my surprise, I'm actually the number one seed this tournament, and I absolutely don't like that, because all the pressure is on me. Everyone's playing loose. Everyone's playing great. And I expect the next person who plays me will probably play better. So, you just have to forget your seed sometimes and you just have to go and do you. It's you and the ball.
Enough about pickleball. I have to get distracted, so might go read a book a little bit. I'm right now reading Harry Potter. Please don't laugh at me! I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter, and I've probably read the books and watched the movies, 10, 20, 30, times. I don't even know how many, and in multiple languages! So it's just nice to have it in my ebook, and anytime I need to get distracted I just pull it up and read the chapter that I'm on. I can go without reading it for a long time and it's just nice little fantasy. Now on the second book, Chamber of Secrets. I did the test and I'm Hufflepuff, but a lot of people tell me I'm probably Slytherin. I don't blame them for saying that, considering if all the houses were equal, and if we didn't portray Slytherin as evil it's not a bad house! Very ambitious people, aggressive, they achieve their goals. But I'm fine with Hufflepuff. Very mellow, very friendly, bubbly!
October 24, 2024, 10:49 a.m.
First match done. Feels like I've played five already! Michelle Murphy was great. She just came off a win in her first round. She is a very heavy hitter and was hitting pretty flat, hitting very deep at the baseline, and put me in trouble. I was able to get her in the third, 15-12. She had a lead on me, 6-2 in the third, so I just had to stay disciplined. I tend to get nervous sometimes in these matches. But just had to remind myself, 'hey, it's just you and the ball, control the controllables.' And all I could do is hit my strokes a little bit deeper to force her to make some unforced errors and come to the net before her because she was moving really well, covering the net, passing me well, so I just had to keep the ball a little bit deeper and make it a little bit harder for her. I was glad I was able to pull that one out, because she was very tough, and I could definitely see her making a finals run, she's a great player.
So yeah, let's go get a snack!
October 24, 2024, 9:27 a.m.
Good morning, and welcome to Newport Beach! We got a little foggy weather this morning, which is unusual and unique. I don't think it ever happened to me before, but we got a little delayed start, and I have a bye in the first round, so I have little bit of a wait.
I personally love Newport. I think the weather is usually always great, except for this morning! But I've met a lot of nice people here. There are plenty of great pickleball facilities around, and this club especially, The Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach, holds a lot of great memories for me. A few months ago, Emily Cederquist and I actually took gold here in women's doubles. It was a great event!
I arrived yesterday during the day, got a chance to play some singles practice with a Russian friend of mine, Maria, who is also playing today in the main draw. I have to admit, singles is not my most favorite event, although people keep telling me that I always do well, so I should technically like it! That's not the case. It's a love and hate relationship, usually, and it's been definitely a challenge for me to appreciate the game more over the years. I had times when I would stop playing singles for months and not train at all, and then would go back. When you don't practice, you kind of come and play and you don't have expectations because you didn't train. So I was just trying to find my right balance. But lately, what's been working for me is trying not to set any expectations for the singles day, treating it like a practice day before doubles, just feeling my strokes, trying everything, getting my body moving. Another thing was also if my friends were playing in the bracket, kind of giving them a little bit of energy that day, and watching them and cheering for them. So Max Manthou is playing today, so I'll go watch him, and as I said, Maria is playing. So just giving a little bit of energy to other people kind of distracts me from feeling too pressured about my own singles game. So that's been great.
I like waking up an hour-and-a-half to two hours before the singles match and I have a little face care routine, make some coffee, make some oatmeal, read a book for 30 minutes, so that I'm fully awake when I go to the courts. After a good warm up we're ready to go!
