I want to thank all my opponents, the commentators, the Production guys, and the viewers for helping make this series of matches an amazing experience for me. Beyond just tennis, this has given me the chance to share a side of my personality, my mental approach to the game, and some pretty solid stock tips, on a much bigger platform than I’ve ever had before. When Ian first suggested we play, I said yes without hesitation, assuming I’d figure out the rest later. I had many questions running through my mind, though: What was my success criteria for this trip? What will it be like playing indoors? Are there really that many power lines in Milwaukee? (spoiler: yes) The biggest question of all, though, was how would I perform when many of the advantages I typically enjoy (the outdoor elements, the element of surprise, playing when the markets are closed ;) were off the table? My personal answer is, not as well as I would have liked, but well enough to have plenty of positive takeaways and be proud of the effort I put forth. How many rec tennis players have the opportunity to play four high quality players in rapid succession, all of whom were geared up specifically to play against you? I’m guessing not many. This match series was invaluable in helping me identify ways in which I can improve. And yes, as the results clearly demonstrate, there are plenty of them! But I embrace that challenge, just as I have tried to embrace challenges throughout my life. I have already started trying to implement some of the changes that I think will help me become a better player. Before this series, I couldn’t understand why people thought I was unwilling to come to the net consistently, but I’ve since learned that shaking hands at the end of a match doesn’t count 😉 So that's clearly an area of development for me. There are several other things I’m working on, and it will probably take some time for those changes to reflect in future matches, but I’m hoping to have the opportunity to share more of my progress with you all if you’re interested. Specifically for Ian: My man, you played tremendously well. I’m really impressed with how much time and effort you devoted to getting back into match form, to overcoming your injury, and how you treat the people you work with after getting to see it first-hand. I also learned that “Competitive Ian” is on a whole different level than the cheerful, laid back guy we see in many ET videos. To the extent your time and interest allow, I would encourage you to continue pursuing competitive match play. You have a ton left in the tank and I think it’s something viewers would enjoy getting to see. To the people who watched: thank you all. Without you guys, this series would have never happened. I really appreciate all the positive comments, constructive feedback, and engagement with new people this opportunity has provided me. It wasn't easy to put myself and my game out there for such public scrutiny, but by and large you have made it all worthwhile. To the 10-Percenters (you know who you are) I would encourage you to reflect on what you have said, and ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. There’s enough negativity in the world as it stands- no need to add more. It’s not working, anyway- I’m still here, staying positive, excited for what the future brings. I hope all of you are as well!

can’t say enough how much i respect Ben taking this on. leaving his family and donating the reimbursement for travel to charity.....service and honor are clearly core values. could tell almost immediately you were former service member. Just a solid person! thx for sharing your time with us!

Great trailer. I’d have to give this entire series an A+. Great work ET team.

😳 Of course MEP saved the green shirt for Ian. 😁

It looks like Ians ability to put away overheads makes the kill

Yes! Come to ATL y’all! Play in the sun, heat and humidity. Great matches everyone, can’t wait for the bonus set. And let’s all agree we aren’t just here for the great tennis and sportsmanship, we love the sideline commentary as well. 🥰😂🔥

“I’m not giving up on any points; and I’m not going to give up at any point in this match.” Whoa. Respect.

Pushers are very ‘real’ tennis players. However, if they run into an offensive player running on all cylinders it’s a very tough game to counter. I personally love playing pushers like MEP. They bring out the absolute best of my game. They make me dig deep and focus on every aspect of my game in order to be victorious. This was a great match! Congrats to Ian and I know Ben will come back with a vengeance in part 2 of their matchup.

I'm only 5 minutes into this and I just paused it to say congratulations to the Essential Tennis channel for such excellent tennis content.

Very well played by Ian. He did not give Ben a chance to get into his game and did not allow fitness to be an issue. Very impressive play and very entertaining match. Well done, both of you!

"One for each member of my family" - You can't help but not love Ben. I'm glad they are playing one more set, I could watch them play forever.

I hope Ben has some good lines. I like his sense of humour.

OMG is this really happening!! 🤩🤩🤩 Quote of the year ''We are going places that he's apprehensive about and i'm not quite sure he wants to go there with me'' 🤣 mic drop

All of you at ET and Ben, have won my heart. Much respect and kudos. I’m a musician here on KZfaq but also a 3.5 player. I have learned a lot, and hope to play better because of these videos.

Ian, you have become my favourite player to watch on KZfaq. In an era of big hitters and big servers, you play with finesse, control, and consistency. Great inspiration that tennis is not just all about power. Beautiful game!

Wow, this is totally not the match I expected, but still totally hooked to this channel. Now the waiting begins for part 2. Ben and Ian, thank you giving everything no the court.

Definitely want to see more playing from Ben. He's tenacious. At first, I wanted to learn how to beat MEP. Scott pretty much nailed it with his assessment. The winner here was an attacking style, with well placed approach shots and volleys. But you know what? I'm definitely in Ben's camp now. I really want to see him mentally deconstruct the "conventionally trained" player and find a way to prevail. That, for me, is icing on the cake. Thanks guys for putting yourself out there. Ian, Mark: Yes vote for match-up between ET and TT universes. But it has to be in Atlanta. Let the sun, wind, and humidity be factors in the match. 🙏🤞

The Epic Conclusion to the MEP Saga

man, Ben is such a beast! love that he never loses his good mood!

Well done, Ian! It should be more than fair to have a rematch at Bens home-court somewhen. The difference between outdoor and indoor is huge. I would love to see Ben and Scott playing outdoor against Ben.

So much good tennis! Wow, Ben is truly the star of this series and a great sport! His game was analyzed and dissected for days while he played multiple matches against different opponents before finally playing the match against Ian. Surprised that Ben had an ounce of gas left in the tank but he still came out and put on a great show! Continued success in your game your way and however you choose for it to evolve! Thanks for this series, Ian and team!

18:19 Ben: "So I'm guessing that's not what the people came to see" HAHAHA dry and wry, in the middle of a heated battle, LOVE IT So of course the solution is to play MORE until the people see what they came to see!!

We think it's over, all is right in the world, and then plot twist: Ben pushes for a 3rd set. Jaw dropped. Love it! Game on!

This is something to look forward to! Great build up and amazing work Ian in putting so much hard work ! Multi camera mic and commentary- everything enhances the experience. U are setting new standards for tennis KZfaqrs

This series of matches were so entertaining! The quality of play was really high. Thank you so much for producing such great content! Big shout out from Toronto!

God that was a joy to watch. I'm so pumped to see the bonus tennis. Feels like Christmas, man. Incredible tennis, guys.

Great series! Ben is nice enough to come all the way from Atlanta. He's a great guy. But in the end, reality kicks in on why we need to learn tennis strokes with the right technique to play and compete effectively at semi-advanced level.

Gosh...that whole series was one of the funnest things to watch I have seen in a very long time. Truly great content for tennis lovers! Well done and thank you to all who made it possible!

Thank you Ian, ET, Ben and the commentators. As well as the other terrific players that had matches with Ben. This series has been highly entertaining and just so much fun to watch. Excellent production. Great job everyone! 👊🏻✨

Teaser: "I did not come to Milwaukee, to lose to Ian" Me: "Oooo this is gonna be close, maybe Ben wins?" Reality: "I did not come to Milwaukee, to lose to Ian 0 and 0" 😂😂 the power of edit

After Ben loses the 3rd set he’ll challenge Ian to play another set with both playing right handed only. After he loses that one in the tie breaker they play another with frying pans. Ian let’s him win it to avoid having to play another set blind folded. Great event, thanks for the entertainment and the lessons.

Good solid match here. Just want to shout out the ppl behind the computers editing this footage for us on an even smaller timeline. I agreed w/ the consensus that highlight vids/ trailer vids were a bit much, but just want to praise Ian for his professionalism on this whole situation. Thanks for always providing quality content and always thinking about the people :)

As far as I’m concerned this series of matches with Ben has elevated the match play style videos of Essential Tennis to anime-status.

I have really enjoyed this series of matches. Thanks to the players and those behind the scenes for putting it all together. I would love to see some rematches in a year or so & see what improvements Ben makes in his game. He seems determined and I just know he will add some elements to his game that will give him some cheaper points.

Essential Tennis team - you guys are awesome! Thank you for providing the great content you do. It's a huge added bonus to see the players perspective and if I had to compare it to anything, you guys are the Twitch of Tennis! Thank you for allowing me to live this sport through you!

Well done, Ian. Two observations, your preparation paid off as did your game plan. It is way more difficult to play an opponent with Ben,'s playing style than most people can imagine. It seems that agaisnt such an opponent we fall under a spell of sorts and play outside of our skill set, and frequently LOSE.

Well done Ian. I'm shocked, shocked, that you were able to play so loose and free - but under control. I think seeing the other matches really helped show the path and gave you confidence. Kudos to you both!

Great fun to watch and hats off to Ben and the ET team. The display of sportsmanship was fantastic too. Ben, you're a gentleman on/off the court too

Congratulations to Ian! You did a flawless match, The training has paid off! Now we're hoping for parts 2 and 3 and 4............nice to see these games! You're the best tennis channel on youtube!

Great job Ben and everyone at Essential tennis, this is a hell of a series

Wow- Ian’s strong lefty serve and approach shots really set the table for his crisp, well-placed volleys and “automatic” overheads! En fuego!

So what happens after the MEP saga concludes? Guess it's back to watching cat and dog videos. Like the end of Friends all over again.

Fun to watch. Thanks. Thumbs up!

Love these matches! They are a clinic in selftalk and keeping your head and heart in the game!

Ian the overhead God. Great match guys!

Great match! Ben was such a good anti-hero throughout this quartet/tetralogy/quadrilogy. Looking forward to seeing more content-- especially the ET Universe vs TennisTroll Universe

i’m loving these matches! kudos to all @essential tennis, ian, goes to show with generosity in collaboration ( which you’ve shown over and over again) something magical happens. i enjoy this tennis community so much, thank you!

Great job producing this match. Loved the commentating and the in-game updates from Ben and Ian. I have to admit I was rooting for Ian, knowing how much effort he put into training for this match and bouncing back from injury. It was inspiring to see him pull it off. At the same time, it was inspiring to watch Ben compete effectively against Ian with a less conventional game. He may have lost the match, but he kept the points going. MEP gives those of us who come to tennis later in life hope that we can play with higher-level lifelong players even though we’ll never have the same number of reps they do. Thanks guys! (Edited to correct name mix-ups.)

Good job Ian. Like Ben said, you put up a master class on how to play an attacking game at the net and how effective it is against a player with Ben's style. Also kudos to play the third set and give us more what we want to see.

WHAT DID I JUST SEE HERE!!!!?!? AWESOME!!! 3RD SET? Best of 5 sets?!? Loved this regardless. Thanks ET team!!

Great stuff Ben and Ian!! These videos have been really insightful for club players....I wish we did something like this in Australia. Kudos to the ET team.

Awesome match. I really enjoyed the entire series with Ben. Looking forward to more in the future!

Nice work ET. This is like the WWE of tennis 🎾. If you don't have a good overhead against ben you are done. You made my day after a bad day at tennis!

Hahha Ben is Brilliant, amazing sense of humor 😂🤣

Big cudos to ian and all The other essential tennis CREW for an fantastic event. And ben aka Mep, looking forward to see more of you. You are a legend 🎾 greetings from a fan from Sweden

Excellent job, ET team!! You nailed it with this series

So mad props to Ben for putting himself out there - playing on an unfamiliar surface and indoors. Would be great to see the ET group travel to Atlanta and take Ben on in his element. I'm guessing the views and likes for these videos justify it.

Great job Ian! You executed the winning game plan to perfection. Also, def go play the Tennis Troll crew in ATL. Tennis in the south during the summer is a different animal. Bring a few shirts 😂

I enjoyed watching this. Ben just left to many balls short. I don't know that many people can truly appreciate how different indoor tennis is versus out door. Great series and very entertaining. I hope you guys do come down to Atlanta. That would be fun to watch

When you go to Atlanta, can we expect to see a commentator booth and confessional cameras? Those features add so much to the content, and increases the enjoyment factor tremendously.

I like the trailers better than the match highlights, good switch!

Well done for dropping the whole match at once!

Can't wait!! Super great series Ian.. So fun to watch 😁

amazing series. thanks for the content. I'd love to see you guys play TennisTroll's squad. team Essential Tennis all day!

Best of 17! Yay!

Mad props to MEP for playing all this tennis and being a straight up gamer. Respect.

Thanks for amazing content. I truly think what you are doing and offering is genius! It connects on so many levels.

Congrats Ian! Was a pleasure watching all matches, so thanks to you and your team! Great job!

Does Ian want to hang out in those places Ben talks about? I guess we'll find out!

Ian’s strokes might not be all that, but he closes sooo well. His anticipation to come in, identify the right time, and the opponent’s next shot, plus never missing an overhead since 1993 can be such an overwhelming force. I feel like once Ian’s ground strokes get consistently more dangerous, he will beat out a lot of the people that used to give him trouble

Great final comments from Ben. Great sense of humor too! I'll be watching....mostly on ET...since their production value with the cameras, confessionals, and commentators make it much more enjoyable. Hint, hint to Tennis Troll. Thank you to everyone involved in putting the whole Saga together.

Great content as always. Awesome match, Ian, and great competitive spirit by Ben.

First, Ian owes a great debt of thanks to Ben for his willingness to engage, and for helping you build your audience. Ben is one tough player who fought gamely, even though he was out-gunned in the last couple of matches. There is a lot more to his game than meets the eye. Ben took a couple of hard losses, but we can all learn from his approach to the game. (He’d kick my butt so bad I would want to cry.). Congrats to Ian on his win. He played smart, aggressive tennis and didn’t let his own mistakes throw him off track. Congrats to Ian, Ben, and the other competitors for this whole series of entertaining and high-quality matches. I enjoyed them all.

MEP just ran into a buzzsaw that was Ian's game. Ian knew exactly what to do - take the ball early and be ferocious at net. It suffocated MEP and he didn't quite know how to counter this. That is where MEP needs to improve - making adjustments. Perhaps we'll see some adjustments in the 3rd set. I like how this match is continuing. Nothing like friendly competition!

the competitive Ian is a beast. Love your killer lefty serve, the overhead and the footwork is tremendous.

Haven’t watched Ian’s channel in years. Reminds me why I aways liked him. Tough match but you brought the goods and put your money where your mouth was!

"Like Roger and Rafa in the 09 Wimbledon final" Andy Roddick- " *AM I A JOKE TO YOU* "

Unfortunately, it's midnight for me, I'll have to watch in the morning and post the stats then. Look forward to it!

Ian. I am so pleased how you played this match.Tactically this a winning game against most players. Well played sir. It was also great how you addressed the adrenaline factor.This is a very common issue in match play. Respect to Ben for playing 4 matches in a row. Looking forward to the additional extra play in part 2.

Great work guys, thoroughly enjoyed the series, real competitive tennis.

Ben seems like a really good dude, but I can see Hollywood working on a Freddie Kruger/Michael Meyers tennis thriller with Ben as the killer who just won't die!!! Love this series Ian!!!!

The match we've been waiting for since the dawn of time...

I was driving home from work, and i remembered! Ian is playing Ben today!! What an amazing content ET and Ian can create! And man... What a monstrous overhead you got Ian! That thing can do some brutal damage! hahaha

Probably the best video series of tennis matches I've seen. To this isn't like watching pro tennis, I like it better than that.

As one of the people that said, “There is nothing to gain from Ian playing Ben”. I was clearly wrong. Ian worked relentlessly to improve his game, technically, physically and was rock solid mentally. I had Ben winning this match a few months ago and never expected the strength of Ian’s resolve to get better. Congratulations Ian and Ben....thank you for showing us what class and determination look like on a tennis court!

Mark made the comment at the beginning at this had the prestige of Nadal and Federer at Wimbledon, I have to admit honestly but I kind of feel that way too, I’ve been looking forward to watching this Match ever since it was announced! Thank you for all the great content on your channel!

Well done Ian and crew. The whole MEP content was outstanding. Big thanks to everyone involved. 🔥

It's always a joy to see Ian come to net. Those crisp volleys and eye-pleasing yet ripping overheads are his signature. I am so excited !!!!

Ian during the match: "More! More!" Ben at the "end" of the match: "wanna play more?"

Loved watching all these matches. Thanks ET team! Ian was able to hit very few backhand groundstrokes and (as far as I could see) no topspin backhands for the entire match.

I wish all tennis matches had this format. Great stuff mate. Can't wait :D

very solid match Ian BUT to be honest you played against Most Exhausted Player... maybe next time try playing 3 matches in 2 days and then play Ben :)

Ben is very brave to play Ian and friends in their house (indoor) This is a clear disavantage for Ben to play in that kind of conditions espacially according to his style of play. Would be fair to play in outdoor conditions in Ben's playground. Would be a different story for sure. The other thing is Ben played many matches in few days. He mus be exhausted. Ian and friends had also many time to study ben's play. In that kind of conditions, Ben is clearly disavantaged. Congratulations for him, for his courage and great mentality

This explains the "Part 1". Keep 'em coming!

definitely taking this match into consideration for playing my own backboards and pushers so called Patience key for sure and placement of your ball Ian but still maintaining your technique and playing your game. Lefty here as well.

In an earlier video Ian said when Ben’s unconventional style reached its peak he would start from scratch as a right hander. That would make a great series to watch, Ben being coached in the conventional style as a right hander. Well it worked the opposite way for Rafa!

Ben is what nightmares are made of......otherwise great friendly dude and is genuinely a good sport, a self-trained athlete as well ........and horrifying.

Scott and Ian executed my thoughts on winning consistently against Ben which is - get to net and control the net. Having a quality overhead is mandatory and great volleys are a plus. Well done, Ian and I projected you as a tough matchup for Ben with your net game. While not a singles player, this is the exact strategy I would have in general and against Ben, any neutral ball - get to net.

Ian you played well! If I could have you confidence at net I'd be a happy man haha. 22:53 Ben with some pro-level CONVENTIONAL Looking groundstrokes?!!! That Federer one-handed backhand came out of nowhere followed by a rafa forehand passing shot!!! In all seriousness, I loved this matchplay series and I commend Ben for his incredible attitude and will to compete. Kudos to the whole ET team for putting together this whole thing. Gave the tennis community something to be excited about beyond pro tour tennis!

I know Ben disagrees, but I think his legs are dead from the previous day playing two matches. He just doesn't seem to get to balls as quickly like in the Topher match. Still alot of credit goes to Ian as he executed beautifully and made few unforced errors. Would love to see a rematch this summer outdoors in Atlanta.