Tennis Tournament

Today was Abigail’s first tennis tournament.  And it was quite the doozy!

First off, it was scheduled for 1-3pm but they had to move it because it was going to rain.  We made it there with plenty of time and hung around until her 1100 start time.

She was paired with her friend Luke from practice and they were playing doubles all morning.  Since they had to wait a while before their first Match, Luke’s Dad took them to do some practice on an empty court.

They went through an entire bucket of balls before they were called for their first Match.  They did a great job and won!!  It’s all about the serving at this level.  There were a few good rallys but the majority of the points came from serves that were missed by the other team or the other team not landing their serves.  Regardless, it was fun to watch Abby and Luke work together as a team.  Abby’s serves are really getting good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, they played three tournament Matches and one “Just for Fun” Match (the other team lost one of their doubles and had to forfeit but the kids still played the game so the remaining girl got to play.).

The kids made it to the semi finals and played a pair of girls much older than them.  They pulled through their obvious fatigue and ended up winning that Match!!  Luke’s Dad, Tricia, and I couldn’t believe it!!  They did such a good job and made it to the finals.  I’ll just add that batch of photos as a gallery with a few comments sprinkled in.  I had to shoot through the fence for a lot of these so that’s why they look a little funny.  Make sure you keep reading below those photos!!

So, by now it’s almost 2:30pm!  We’ve been there since 10:30.  4 hours at the courts.  I had already left and come back with Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Ellie was doing her best to stay busy with Aunt Amanda and whoever else she could find at the courts.

 Now, after 4 hours at the courts.  No lunch.  The threat of a rainstorm that will drown the area.  And facing two girls who easily have 4 years on them (with a mother who keeps admonishing them to “bring home that medal for me.”). We found ourselves down 3 sets to 1.  The loss was imminent.

But, then something happened.  Luke and Abby just pulled it together.  They won one set.  Then another.  And another.  We were tied, 3 to 3.

 And, before we knew it, the score was 40, Love.  That’s us, 40, them, 0.  One more point and Luke and Abby win.  Well…

It was quite a day and we were just glad they had fun playing.

But, still…it was nice to bring home the victory.

 

Epilogue…

On the way out, we discovered that since this was not an official tournament, there would be no “medal” awarded.  The kids didn’t care.  The rain started just as we were leaving and we had to make a mad dash to the car.  It was off to Sweet Frog for a celebratory ice cream.

Best.  Day.  Ever.