Woodlands CC Junior Open

I had an Open tournament starting over the weekend, the Woodlands CC Junior Open, which was played in the Woodlands in Texas. There were only a few girls, so my entire draw was played to conclusion in one day.

I had a decent amount of time before my scheduled 2:00 p.m. match. We got there around 1:00 p.m. for my brothers match. Before my match, I stretched and warmed up as well as hit a few shadow swings so that I can be prepared. Soon after, it was time for me to play and fight.

checking in with Maeva

My first opponent was Alina Vishnia. She was an aggressive base liner. Her powerful shots caused me to make a lot of forced errors. I was able to counter them however with a low and deep slice. My slices also confused her which gave me short balls to attack. I also had to play defense in this match because of her solid and powerful shots. The shots that she hit also came with a price, the errors. She was able to attack me but with her errors I was able to win the match. I was happy I won 6-2, 6-2 in the end.

​I was halfway through to winning the tournament. I needed to win only 2 matches to win this tournament. Can I make the other half? Do I have the guts? Those questions will be answered in my next match, the finals.

preparing for my match

My second opponent, for the finals, was Maeva Elizabe. She hit very nice and clean shots but she also made a lot of unforced errors. I was able to force some errors by changing the speed of the ball faster once in a while to throw her off. In the second set, I lost focus and became very careless with my shots. My errors gave her a few games, which putting a little bit of pressure on me to hold. It was tough mentally to pull through by staying aggressive and force errors but it was worth the plan. So, I won 6-2, 6-4.

I was very inspired, to train and play harder after these matches. These wins gave me a boost of confidence to keep train harder and work more on my game. For some reasons, the little fire inside of me became a little hotter making me eager to get back on the training court to start burning tennis balls with groundstrokes. I was able to clearly see what I have to work on, and why. I could see my weaknesses as a chance to make them weapons. That little fire inside of me, it is never going out!

Thank you for spending time with me. See you next time.
Karina Zaharieva

with my friend Nadia, Zacky wants to be in the photo :-)