Winning My First Trophy!
Yesterday, I won my first USTA champion trophy! I played a competitive match against my opponent. She was a very good player, but I focused on my strategies of consistency, taking charge at the net, and developing an approach that favored my strengths. I've learned a lot from my past matches, such as how I can develop greater control with my shots and use placement to make my opponent chase after difficult angles. I've also found that coming up to the net can really save me from long points and duking it out at the baseline.
When I won the match, I was so excited and happy! I've been wanting to win a trophy for a while, but in the past, I came up short. The losses could be kind of discouraging at first, but I learned how to move forward, take the lessons from them, and apply new strategies in my next matches.
One thing I learned from this experience - the tennis life lesson - is that you can't stay stuck in the past. When you lose a match, if you dwell on the loss for a long time, it keeps you from focusing on the next match and what you can do differently next time. I understand frustrating and disappointing things can happen in tennis matches, but if you take the time to reflect, look on what you can do differently, and learn from past mistakes, you'll find you will be moving on to the next match before you know it. Then you may even surprise yourself by how well you do once you focus on the present moment, going point by point.
One of the best mindsets I've learned from the greats, like Rafael Nadal, is that you have to go point by point. It is really easy to get too caught up in past errors, but if you let that distract you, it can be tougher to focus on the next point. One of my key strengths on the court is my ability to keep my emotions under control, even when things are difficult, or the opponent may not always be fair. That helps me focus on the ball instead of my reactions to what is happening.
In life, I think it can be a similar way, too. It's best to take things one day at a time. I can be guilty of overthinking sometimes, but I try to remind myself that it's okay to just be in the present moment. I don't have to overanalyze the future all the time.
I did have a lot of internal monologues during this match with myself, which was kind of funny. When you're on the court, it's just you and your opponent, and so you may find yourself thinking all kinds of thoughts while you're out there!
My opponent gave a strong performance, and I appreciate her effort. She made it a battle! The match taught me a lot about how to stay calm during stressful or difficult moments.
I won in straight sets and was able to bring home the trophy. I was really grateful that all my hard work is paying off. I hope to continue to do well and gain more experience throughout the tennis season. Every match teaches me something new.