I woke up facing my first ever tournament where I was not the most experienced player taking the court, but one of the least experienced players taking the court. It was going to be a hot and humid day once I stepped onto the court so I had to prepare myself to stay hydrate, therefore my bag was packed with many bottles of water as well as my usual match nourishment of GoGo Squeez applesauces.

I started my day with a light breakfast of granola fruit and yogurt and orange juice, then my grandpa came and picked me up to take me to the courts to meet my coach for a short hitting session before my 11 a.m. match.

My match was with a girl who is my age and from the county in which I live, and I have played her once before and beaten her. From what I remember of her game she did have good solid ground strokes, but her serve was rather weak, especially her second serve.

It was time for the match to begin and as I stated it was pretty hot and humid. In the beginning of the match, I was trying to settle in and things were a little tight and I feel I was over hitting a bit out of the gate. The match went back and forth until I finally broke her serve late in the first set. Even though I was a bit tight from the outset and making some errors, I was still dictating the entire match which is what my game is all about. I ended up winning the first set 6-4.

The second set, I believe my opponent was pretty dejected that she lost a tough first set and that was pretty much the end of her confidence. I, right from the start of the second set, sensed this and jumped right on it. My game is usually playing a point out until my opponent makes an error. I could have continued that strategy and gone onto victory, but I wanted to end this quickly. I started to pounce on her weaker first and especially 2nd serve and the rallies became much shorter. She only won one service game the entire set and the set lasted less than 30 minutes. I won the set 6-1.

So, my first match of the tournament was a success, although I do feel I need to improve on stepping on the court and getting my focus on right away. As I stated, I never look at the next match ahead, but since the player I will be playing in the next round completed her match, I do know I will be playing the #8 seeded player tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. She is also from my State, but not from my county, and she is one year older than I am. I have never played her before, nor have I ever seen her play.