Personal Narrative

On the afternoon of August 8th, 2016 a young girl was facing the tennis match of her life. The Girls 14s Nationals were coming to a close and the championship trophy was only 3 games and 1 set away. Everything she had dreamed for was so close, yet so far. The extremely sunny sky glared into her eyes, making it impossible to think. But she couldn’t lose hope now, if she won this match, she would be crowned the Girls 14s Nationals Champion for Tennis. All she had to do was clutch this game. Just a few more points…

Next up, Christine Huynh and Serena Williams. Walking out to the court was probably the most terrifying, but honorable accomplishment that I have ever achieved. Serena Williams, ranked number one in women's singles tennis, had always been a role model, from her constant determination and ambition to her fierce movements on the court. After years of training, I considered myself assuredly prepared to compete with the legendary player. The first game passed, following the second. I noticed crowds were roaring. Parents were crying. Lights were flashing. The officials announced, “Christine Huynh, winner of the 2016 Tennis Tournament!” Tears ran down my face. Knees fell to the ground, as I can finally say that I defeated Serena Williams.

“Get out of the court so I can beat you at tomorrow’s tournament.” Tom growled, a reply of snickering erupting from his lame posse. Anthony looked at Tom, mixed feelings forming in his head. Anthony rose, took his tennis equipment from the floor.

“Please line the halls to send off the Boys Varsity Tennis team as they leave for states.”

Many variables add to accomplishment on the tennis court: ability, methodology, encounter and mental strength. Tennis matches are not just chosen by ability; mental strength regularly decides the victor. Despite the fact that this is vital it won't triumph over enormous ability contrasts, however in matches that are adjusted in ability mental assurance is regularly the triumphant consider. Numerous abnormal state tennis matches are long and tiring for both sides, this is on

It is, for me, an arduous study that requires relentless experimentation. It requires the perfect balance of power and finesse, endurance and spurts of strength, but most of all, unwavering focus. Strangely, in the sweaty frenzy of a match, with the sun baking and peeling the skin off my arms (it happens a lot) and the blisters swelling and bursting on my ankles, my mind settles into a lagoon of unbreakable calm, and I am at peace. A sanctuary and a laboratory, the court is where I belong, where I can push myself and my team to the furthermost physical and mental level, develop strategies, and find satisfaction in triumph through adversity: the most delicious of all triumphs. More than that, I have found each match I play, little by little, punctures the stereotype of the weak female nerd, if not simply the weak female: no longer do people say that I run fast, for a girl, that I serve well, for a girl, that I hit hard, for a girl. Through tennis, I silently dare the world to see me raw--not just as scholar, just an athlete, just a girl, but a creature undaunted by limits: a thinker, a challenger, an

The day had started off more unusual than most. Instead of sweating through a physically and mentally intense tennis match, I sat in the bed of my hotel room. After sleeping for 14 hours, the cold which had forced me to pull out of my match from the previous day still left me feeling exhausted. After my weeks of training and preparation for this tournament, the bitter loss stung like a hornet.

There became a point in my tennis career, after I learned all the shots and techniques any player needs, that I decided I could do anything with tennis. It took me several years for me to realize that in order to achieve success in tennis or anything else in life, I couldn’t do everything on my own. I had many great mentors and coaches growing up that would do their best to help me but I just wasn’t listening to them. At my peak of frustration I had lost my first 3 matches junior year of high school tennis, playing number 2. I was ready to quit, throw all my racquets and shoes away but I decided to listen to my school tennis coach and give it one last shot.

It was a scorching hot day during the summer of 2006. Tensions were rising on the court as drills went on, sweat dripping off of our bodies like rain from the sky. I held my raquet with a tight grasp as the next feed entered the court. I rushed towards the center of the court with hopes to hit a hard slice. I was only seven at the time yet it felt as if it was the US Open and all the pressure was on me. I glanced over to my right and saw my mom waving back, watching intently as I played each

“Life is like tennis, no matter how many times you try, if you keep doing the same mistake and don’t practice to get it right – you will never get better,” women’s tennis graduate assistant Zorica Djuric said. “That’s what we try to teach our players – try to get better every

"It was sunny and so windy. It was impossible to return [Bellucci’s] serve in the first set.”

On this Saturday morning, we were in pregame walk through as I imagined myself making immense plays in the game. As I got dressed for the game my nerves began to grow uneasy. I started to gain negative visions of making mistakes and forgetting everything in order to prove myself. I was frightened of making those mistakes and abusing my opportunity. The next thing I remember is running out onto the field in front of 21,000 people. It was loud, the crowd was “roaring”, and I was ecstatic. I knew my family would be proudly watching me on ESPN 3 all the way from Silsbee, Texas, 1, 800 miles away, in which made me more excited. At this time, nerves had gotten the best of me. During the National Anthem, I found myself near a garbage disposer vomiting my guts up. One of the team managers covered me with a towel to block the view of the people.

Even though both groups of players physically stopped during their breaks, the tennis players who stayed mentally engaged during breaks were still playing the game in their head even when “resting”, never truly switching gears, while the athletes who were able to disengage and focus on a different task--even if only for ten seconds or less--returned to play with a mental edge that allowed them to consistently best their opponents by the end of the match.

So here we are a bunch of short, mediocre tennis players from some place called Hampton-Dumont standing to meet these tall players from Mason City. As I start praying as hard as I can the Mason City coach starts talking about the game. He says it’ll be a 10 game pro-set with add. When I hear that my heart drops and I start dreading how long this game is going to go on, more so because if you're losing it tends to feel like ages before you get out of that twelve foot fence of tyranny surrounding the four courts in this prison. When we get into who’s playing who and greet each other I pay attention as to make sure whatever guy is placed with me won’t just scoop me up and swallow me whole. First position is announced and the coaches continue to fire off names, back and forth, and back and forth, until they until they get to number five, that's me. They announce Mason

I looked up at the scoreboard and the time read 8 minutes left. As I looked at the scoreboard I felt a jolt of energy enter my body. I had felt as if a fire was lit under me. My eyes opened as if I had just seen a ghost. I remember thinking to myself, “how can we lose this game?” I made a promise to myself that I would win 4 state titles while being at Battlefield High School. This was my sophomore year of high school and I had already won one state title, how could I give up now and let my dreams be crushed, I worked too hard for that to happen. In that moment I knew there was only one result I was going to walk off the field with, and that was with a win and another State Championship. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, “My team needs energy. They need a leader.”