The Finale!

This past weekend I went to the regional Early Developmental Camps (EDC) tournament between three cities, Houston, Austin. and Dallas. (I was in the Houston team.) This tournament was like the grande finale for all the EDC camps at Giammalva for all rising Green Ball players in the Texas state. ​The training and tournament was held at Giammalva Racquet Club in Spring, Texas. The tournament was on a Sunday but we went there on Saturday for the third EDC camp.

Whenever we got there, they started separating us into smaller groups. I was in a group with Kate, Kori, Maya, Riley, Claire, and two other boys. We worked a lot on patterns. We worked on what would be a good decision and what would be a not so smart one.

After all that hard work, we had a little lunch break. We were laughing and talking and acting like real friends, not opponents. It was awesome.

After that we did a little stretching to warm-up our muscles. Next, the coaches started assigning practice matches. I did some doubles and singles which helped me work on my new serve +1 patterns.

We had so much fun playing our intresting matches. We were also very tired from the long day of hard work and practice. But the day wasn't over yet! They had a little festival with games and food but it started raining. Because of the rain, everyone went inside to eat. Everyone ate pasta with some salad which was absolutely incredible! I was really nervous and exited for tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone else was.......

When we left, we were still a bit hungry so me and my family went out to eat some veggie pizza! I was incredible how ordinary pizza tasted so good! After that, my mom and my two brothers had to go home but me and my dad stayed for the fun tournament we were going to have the next day!

Me and my dad stayed at this house we rented for the night. The people there were really kind and had great hospitality! I was really calm except one thing bothered my mind. Was Houston going to win tomorrow?

I woke up bright and early the next morning on Sunday. I was ready to play some tennis!

When I got to the club, I warmed up my shots with a boy named Elliot. After that I also hit a little with my good friend Kori. We were on different teams but we both weren't going to get the desire to win get between our friendship.

After everyone was ready and the courts were dry enough from the rain that we had, the coaches started assigning matches. We had to try to win as many games as possible. We started off playing with half the court (alleys included,) but then we started playing full court. It was a great experience! I got to meet a lot of different players with unique styles. I gathered as much games as I could. In the end the counted the percentege, not the games, and after that long day, Dallas came out the winner of this fun and friendly tournament. Houston came out second which was pretty good. I was really happy for Dallas they played really well and so did everyone else.

In the end I realized the whole part was to have fun, which, of course, I did!

Afterward, I played a match against a boy named Juno. He was very good. he made run from side to side a lot. Unfortunately I lost 4-3, 0-4, (6-8.) It was pretty close not counting the second set! Ha-ha!

At the end of this beautiful weekend full of tennis, me and my dad went to eat some delicious ice cream! I was happy for all the experience I gathered in my mind and in my heart!

With love for tennis, I'll move forward. <3
​Karina Zaharieva