Sumter, SC

Hilton Head, SC, ended up being cheaper than Sumter, so we decided to stay there for a couple of days and enjoy the area. We spent our time walking to the beach and letting Guinness run, exploring the surroundings, and relaxing.

On Sunday, October 26, we made the 2 hour drive to Sumter, stopping at Congaree National Park and visiting one of Madi’s best friends from high school who lives nearby. This tournament was another 15k, so we were curious to see what the level of competition would be in comparison to the previous tournament. Lately, it seems that the level of play is nearly the same between 15ks and 35ks.

In the round of 32, we were matched up against 2 girls who played for Clemson. One player, from Japan, was ranked around 400 in the world in doubles, while her partner was unranked, making them an unseeded team but still a very dangerous one. It was a tough draw for the first round. To make things more challenging, a cold front had moved in, and we played in 52-degree weather with light rain. Because the tournament was on clay, the drizzle didn’t stop play, but it certainly made the conditions difficult.

The other team came out firing, playing aggressively and keeping us on defense. By the second set, we were able to adjust and apply more pressure. Our ability to rally from the baseline against hard hitters has improved tremendously over the past few weeks; a team like this would have run us off the court not long ago. Even so, we lost 0–6, 4–6, and walked away with more questions than answers.

We left the court feeling that we had played the best tennis we possibly could, yet it still wasn’t enough. That was a frustrating realization and raised doubts about whether we can truly compete at this level. It feels as though we’ve reached the maximum level we can with the resources we currently have. But with three tournaments in Florida coming up in November, giving up wasn’t an option. All we could do was commit to playing our very best.

In the end, these two weeks were invaluable. They gave us time to develop our game further and reminded us how much progress we’ve already made. We were excited to head home and prepare for the upcoming Florida tournaments.

Points Earned: 0

Price Breakdown

• Gas: $42

• Food: $75

• Hotel: $439

• Tournament Entry: $20 x 2 =$40

• Total Cost: $596

• Total Earnings: $74