Serena Williams Research Paper

Game Point: The Journey
The score is almost identical with Serena Williams, the number one singles women’s tennis player in the world, owning the first set; her sister, Venus Williams, claimed the second set. My heart races knowing how much they both have on the line; for Serena it’s a chance to continue her Grand Slam bid. As they battle out the third set to finish the match, I sit back and reminisce about my surprising, even to me, tennis career. It started out with my own sister, hitting a ball around on an old overgrown, weedy playground court a short walk from my grandparents’ house. We were just focused on hitting the ball and getting it over the net. Now, we are the number one doubles on our high school tennis team and in the top

It was the match that we have been waiting for all week. We had battled out set after set and we were in the top three doubles left in the tournament. As we faced our coaches on the green, dusty clay court that we had practiced on against them throughout the summer, laughing and improving night after night, I knew that all the work was worth it. We were playing two of the best tennis player I know, and this time it wasn’t practice; we were playing them in competition. Shot after shot went by, and after an amazing comeback on our part, the match ended with us losing a close breathtaking set. We had seen how far we had come by almost winning against our coaches, the people who had helped make us the players we are today. Competitions like this one only reinforced why we practiced and worked hard. It reminded me of last year’s districts where we played another set of highly trained identical twins, and lost by a small margin. That competition, which has only propelled our intensity of practice this senior year, and others like it: the mini matches at practice, the matches we play against the teams around us, the nerve racking seeding tournaments that place us on the team, are tests for us; they showed us how we improved and what we had to work on. Our first ever competition that we won was one of the best days I’ve experienced; as we walked off the court smiling wide

My life will be unfolding as I close this chapter in my life. I know that I will keep playing tennis; it is a life sport and I expect myself to be like my coach’s eighty year old, slightly hunched over aunt whom we have played numerous times, and who is still playing strong. The lessons that I have learned in tennis have prepared me for life; these are a few lessons that I have learned well: everything begins with love, take advantage of second chances, and no matter how close you are to losing you can always make a comeback. I will remember the struggle and the fun that my sister and I have shared and it will inspire me to keep my determination throughout my life. For us, tennis is not just a sport like it is for most players; it was a journey, and a journey that we are still on. Like life, tennis is something that we can always improve on and we will have to fight to improve ourselves until we can’t play anymore. Life is a struggle, but with hard work and determination, learning, practicing, and competing, I’ve learned that I can conquer