summer's gone by way too fast. I made myself a summer bucketlist of about 30 ish items. and I've only crossed off 3, 1 month later. I realized that most of these goals were very unrealistic, so I will probably just start from scratch. all of my friends are either on vacation or working, so I haven't really gotten to see them. but this is the one highlight of this not-too-exciting summer:
TENNIS.
Oh, how I love to play tennis. I love wearing cute tennis skirts. I love the smell of opening a new can of tennis balls. I love hitting perfect serves. I love playing games, with strangers or with my teammates or my mom or my friends. and most of all, I just love hitting the ball with my racket. It just feels really good to hit things. when I'm upset, I can take out all my anger on the tennis ball. (unless I'm angry about losing a match, and I hit it too hard and it ends up going out.) when I'm stressed, it just helps me feel a lot better.
ever since I was really little, I had always loved the idea of tennis. I knew nothing about the sport, except you use a racket to whack a yellowish greenish ball over the net and score points somehow, and that people like to grunt a lot. in the summer, i would ask my parents if I could do tennis lessons, but I was already in swim team and we could only do one thing. finally, I got really tired of waking up to swim, and I said, "MOM. we're doing tennis next summer. no more swimming." so I did a little 2 week tennis camp where all they teach you is what a forehand is, and what a backhand is. so I kinda knew the basics. then, my mom and I would play together, but I would always hit the ball out. the next summer, we played every single day. I could slowly see myself improving. I had really started to love the sport. in 8th grade, I decided that I wanted to make the tennis team at Timpview. there was 1 problem: we would be living in Japan for 4 1/2 months, and I would miss tryouts. we played a few times in Japan, but it just wasn't enjoyable in the humid weather and on the astro-turf courts. as soon as I got back, my mom and I would just play on weekends, but no tennis team for me. when it started to slightly warm up again, my mom and I started playing again and boys tennis season started. I had one really good friend on the team, Jackson. we would talk about tennis a lot, and because I had no idea who was on the girls team and how I would get on for next year, I asked him some questions. then, I got the idea that once I got better, we could play each other. he just kinda laughed and said he'd destroy me, but if I practiced the entire summer, then maybe we could play each other. that day, I decided that I would practice as hard and as often as I could. I told my mom this was mostly to prepare for tryouts. (which it was, kind of.) so that's kind of the story of how I got into tennis.
school ended, summer came. I got signed up for the City League, which practices 4 days a week for an hour. matches are held weekly. I also go to Timpview summer practices every Friday. my mom and I still practice everyday, and on Saturdays, I go to a private coach. he was actually BYU Mens Tennis captain!
last week, Jackson got back from a really long vacation, and you know what that means: we're playing tennis. I knew that I probably wouldn't win. I knew that he was on Timpview Boys Varsity tennis, which I think came 3rd in state and were undefeated. half of the people who try out get cut, as opposed to how every girl who tries out gets on. so I knew that he had to be really good, and the idea of me beating him would be very unrealistic. but at least I could try, and it would be more of a friendly game than a real match. so, we went up to his court last Thursday and just hit with each other for a few minutes, and then we started a real game. we played 2 sets, and he won every single time.I admit, I was sort of expecting this to happen, but I didn't know exactly how good he was. and he's serving these lightning fast serves. it was like he was hurling fireballs at me from every direction, but you have no idea where they're coming from, with topspin and all. my game wasn't as pathetic as it sounds, because I did score some points and some of the games were really close. he was actually complimenting me on my serve and how consistent it was and how I have never double faulted. but in one game, it was game point. I had messed up on my first serve, and I never double fault in games. I always make it in on at least the second. so he was teasing me and saying, "you're gonna double fault! you're gonna break you're perfect serving streak!" so I just told him to shut up, and tossed the ball. but I wasn't ready, and I whacked it into the net. MY FIRST DOUBLE FAULT IN A GAME. thanks a lot, jackson. goodbye perfect serving streak. and it was game point. if I had made that shot, I would've actually won a game against him. but oh well. he destroyed me, I accepted my defeat, but both of us had a really great time playing each other!
that very same day, I had a match at American Fork with the city league. not only was it hot, but it was very windy. yet I still managed to win both sets, 6-3 and 6-1. and guess how many times I double faulted? NONE. so I guess my perfect serving streak started again from scratch. but last night, we did a match with both Spanish Fork and American Fork, and there are only 3 other girls on the Provo team, and one of them wasn't there. there are 4 girls on Spanish Fork, and my friend Jen had to play the 1 American Fork girl that showed up, so that meant I had to play 2 matches. the first girl, like me, has a private coach, but after my first serve, I could tell she was a way more serious player. I lost, 3-8. (we did an 8-game proset instead of best of 3). the second girl was about as good as I was, but it was my second match, I had practiced for 2 1/2 hours that day, I had gone swimming, and I was just really tired. I tried my best. but because I was worn out, she beat me, 3-6. If I had played her first instead, I probably would've won. I admit, I was really disappointed for losing both matches, but I guess you learn more from your losses than your wins.
so yeah. that's pretty much everything I've done this summer. Timpview tryouts are in August, and I still haven't decided if I should play doubles or singles. but I am really excited for once the team starts practicing, and hopefully, my perfect serving streak will continue. but really, if I hadn't gotten into tennis, then I honestly don't know what I would do with my life. I'm too short to play volleyball and basketball, we all know that I can't kick a soccer ball to save my life, and I just don't think I can do anything else. I would have nothing to do all summer. but because of tennis, I have been able to have lots of fun, make some new friends, and I have gotten so much better!
and for your enjoyment, here is a picture of Sophie and I before a match. photocred to Jen Farnsworth.
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