Do you see the excitement on his face, even with the mask on? This is a face of a 12 year old junior tennis player who qualified to compete in the National Clay Court Championships in Orlando, Florida.
We had a super early flight out of RDU on Southwest--our first flight to a tournament, carrying on the tennis bag and all that. Thankfully, Southwest let him carry on his big bag and I could check in two suitcases full of tennis gear like a yoga mat, soft sided cooler and even a small fold up chair.
Upon arrival, we made our way to the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona.
Pure excitement just from being here! The tournament is a draw of 128, compass draw. And only the best kids in the country for their age are able to compete in it. Mark at that time was ranked 99 in the country so he comfortably got in. And he was top 20 in the South too. Sections have a quota of how many players get accepted.
We come from the Southern section, one of the stronger ones.
I mean, seriously, how cool is it that it says "Boys 12 National Clay Court Championships"?
I was just so happy to be alongside with him for this exciting event.
We all had to arrive a day before the tournament officially started to check-in and have a player meeting. This tournament Mark was playing doubles with Tylan Lamb, his friend from TN. They did well and won their first match which was really great. They played really well in their second match but lost. Sheesh...I am getting really boring with my writing.
This is a picture from their second match.
Mark was guaranteed four singles matches, pretty much a match a day. He, unfortunately, lost the first match to a player that was just very scrappy and knew how to get under Mark's skin.
The kids had to sweep their courts.
I am writing a bit out of order... Here are the Southern Team boys, not all of them, but a lot of them.
Mark and his friend Brandon Bao.
Mark and Tylan Lamb.
One of the evenings, perhaps after another rain delay (man...we had so many rain delays, downpours and lightning!), Tylan's grandma, Tylan, Mark and I went to Top Golf.
It was super fun to break up our evening and try something new. I was horrible at it!
Another morning and another warm up. I didn't take any pictures or videos of Mark during actual matches.
Always working on his backhand.
Mark and Ryan Corcoran.
Mark and Ishan Mahapatra.
Oh yes, I have to tell you about the last three matches. So Mark's second match was a good match against a boy from WA state. It got interrupted by rain, but sadly Mark lost. It was very disappointing because he totally could have won and was so close.
Mark won his third match and played really well against a player from AZ. It was a three setter.
Mark's fourth match was against a duded from CA who traveled to FL with one of the coaches from Gorin Academy. The coach was Russian, sat near me and several times told Mark's opponent "Shut up, moron" when he would make a mistake and get down on himself. I couldn't believe my ears and glared at him. At one point he told him, "Stop slicing" and I told him, "That's coaching!", and he just said, "That's not coaching". Whatever. It was a very unpleasant match. At a very deciding point, Mark hit the line (it's clay courts) and the boy called the ball out. Mark asked to show him the mark, to which the boy said he didn't know how to look for a mark (they don't have many clay courts in CA). Of course, when the ref came over, all he could say was the call stands, although the kid couldn't even show the mark... So frustrating! Mark lost this match after all, but it was a great battle and he never gave up.
It was hard to say goodbye to the tournament sooner than hoped for. But that is ok! We are so proud of Mark to be as good as he is at tennis to be accepted into this big National tournament. He played well, putting so much effort into every point, fairly and aggressively. It obviously didn't all go the way he wanted, but he has high hopes for next year.
After the last match, we drove to the Orlando Outlets and then the temple. It was really nice to walk around it a bit with Mark.
A fabulous picture of me taken by Mark. That's what I wear to a lot of summer tournaments to stay cool.
Our friend Aimee invited us over to her parents' FL house for the evening. She was there in Orlando for her daughter's soccer camp, so we met up to hang out, have the kids play in the pool and chill.
That's our selfie after going to a grocery store to get some treats.
Beautiful sunset over the water.
The following morning, we checked out of our hotel and had a bunch of time to spare before having to go to the airport. So we drove to Disney Springs.
It was my first time here, so we tried to see a bunch of things. Mark ended up going on that big air balloon for 10 minutes, paying an arm and a leg, but I didn't care.
Yep, that's Mark up there.
We bought a few baggies of M&Ms at the store, and sadly ate a bunch before we even got home.
And we explored the Uniqlo store! We usually have to order their stuff online, so it was so amazing to actually go inside the brick and mortar store. Mark was happy to get an RF hat! Roger Federer is a Uniqlo rep, just to remind us all.
We did have a great time together, although it was sweltering hot and humid.
And after a quick lunch, crazy changing at the hotel, getting gas from an extremely busy gas station close to the airport, we were back at the airport, with Mark's tennis bag (they let him carry it on again), ready to go home.
And looks like we are doing it. We are real tennis parents--traveling for tournaments, learning all the tricks of the system, and helping our kid do what he loves. More to come, I am sure!
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