The girls’ tennis season is striving off of inspiration and influence towards their success for the season. They currently have a league record of 1-1, apart from just the league competition they have also attended a couple tournaments throughout the season. They all continue to push for more improvement and motivation with the love of their sport.
Tennis is very disparate compared to any other sport. It’s upon the skill as an individual to determine the win or loss of a match. There isn’t a team to depend on when walking in between the grid of the court, just you and your racket. It takes time as practice comes into play during the matches.
“You must learn to lose before you learn to win. Losing hurts sometimes, but that feeling you get winning, this is easy,” stated Coach Casarez.
Coach Casarez has some high hopes for this year’s season. He has taken the opportunity to introduce the girls into a scope deeper towards the meaning of tennis.
“Every person’s game shot up about 50 percent since we took a field trip to the Fresno City Championships. It made our girls want to improve even more in our league,” explained Coach Casarez.
The game itself is a complete mind game through the intimidation on the court with nerves and seeing the opponent across from you.
Sophomore Miranda Mendoza has experience in the sport for a total of four years. Not every match is easy, which is made clear just by the amount of time she has been playing. However, she’s had the experience to focus on her mistakes or overthinking and improve for the next match.
“To keep up with your opponent in a difficult match, you have to let them make the mistake. If you just focus on keeping the ball in, they will eventually slip up and give you the point,” observed Mendoza.
Every movement and eye towards the ball is all strategic with focus. Difficulty is always a challenge for sports in general. Sophomore Apollonia Kapturek is a foreign exchange student from Germany, who is currently placed third in her division.
“We played strong teams but I see the other girls. I know that we all have a lot of fun and that we’re trying our best!” exclaimed Kapturek. At the end of the day, the girls tennis team sees the opportunity of improvement whether it is either a win or lost in the match. They are inspired by each other, their influencers, and when they look back from where they started. Fun and friends is the environment that makes them have the love for the sport.