Six Month Plan

Success at this year's Midwest Open Series tourneys was not what I expected. I've been playing well and hoping to qualify as a singles player for the end of the summer exhibition tournament August 20-22nd in Cincinnati, OH.



Last year I was an alternate, who missed the opportunity to play thanks to my invite letter being lost by the US Postal Service. This year, I was determined to work harder, be better, and qualify outright. But tougher draws, nagging allergy problems, sinus/ear infections, so many reasons why I didn't compete my best in singles this summer. However, I did qualify for doubles with my doubles partner, Ty Ana.



I am so excited and once again, amped up to work hard. I have six weeks to prepare to play the most important tournament so far in my young tennis career. The Midwest Open Series Championships are basically an exhibition tournament held on the grounds at the same time as the US Open Series Cincinnati tournament.



I've mentioned before about being goal-oriented and needing that feeling of working toward something tangible. I need that picture on my wall, so when I get up every morning, I am reminded, 'this is the reason I dragged myself out of bed to run' or 'this is the reason I played tennis with that guy who's able to bagel me in six sets in less than an hour'. I came across a quote recently that I absolutely fell in love with; "Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character."



So, true. When I came back from California, never have I felt so accomplished as a tennis player and all of that is due to the work I put in beforehand. I trained harder than I've ever trained from anything, so I got in better shape. My game improved in ways I never thought possible. I gained confidence in my game.



So the next goal is to compete as well as I can in Cincinnati. I have a two tourneys to play between now and then and I am gearing up to play the USTA league post season with both my day and night teams in first place in their respective flights. There are practice matches to play and the never-ending work to improve that flawed volley! I want to be at my best. I want to surprise both myself and my thirteen year old partner with how well I play! There's morning runs to complete (something I've been neglecting because of both allergies and laziness). The plan is to compete to the best of my ability every time I step on a court between now and August 20th, the continue working on the "technical difficulties" of my game, and to better my stamina.

I will let you know how it turns out.

Stay tuned...
KS