add api check before getting matches

Author: teddav

web-app/src/pages/api.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import { UserPreferences } from "./Preferences";
 const API_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;
 
 export const getMatches = async (token: string) => {
+  // make sure the API is up
+  await fetch(`${API_URL}`);
+
   const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}/matches`, {
     method: "GET",
     headers: {