To France With Love
SFCC
"Wow." Said my coach, Tyler. "That was a great practice. You really played the angles and made me run, a lot. So I’m going to sit down while you pick up the balls and then you're good for today." I I rolled my eyes and grabbed a hopper and started picking up. As I picked up balls on the court, I saw a blonde lady walk behind the curtain and onto the court next to us. Was it her?
Everyone knew that Maria Kirilenko had been practicing here at Southfalls Country Club since she started dating Alex Ovechkin and came to DC. Everyone talked about her, but I hadn't seen her play here yet. Seeing her here, for me, was like seeing the loch ness monster.
It was her. She was going out to hit with the ball machine. I sat on the bench next to my court and watched her hit through the net that separated our courts.
I idolized Maria. I had been playing tennis since I was four years old. I played varsity all four years in high school. I had just graduated this month, but instead of going to college, I decided I was going to take the year off. I was going to try to go pro. I knew I was good enough and I wanted it so badly.
"Hey!" Called Maria from her court, the machine had just run out of balls. "If you gonna sit there and watch, can you make yourself useful and help with ball pick up?" She was looking right at me.
"Yeah." I said. The loch ness monster was talking to me! I grabbed a hopper off my court and pushed the netting aside to get onto her court. “You don’t mind me watching do you?” I asked.
“No. Everyone does.” She said motioning to the viewing platform on the second level of the facility. There were tons of people watching. I laughed.
“You’re right.” I said. “You’re the most famous person to come play here.” Occasionally some politician would play golf here, but that was as close to a celebrity that we would have.
“I watched the end of your practice. How long you play tennis?” She asked as we dumped the filled hoppers into the machine and started off to pick up the rest of the balls.
“Pretty much since I could hold a racket.” I answered. She smiled at that.
“You hit good shots. How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen now, but I’m turning nineteen in a couple of days.” I answered.
“That good age to play.” She said. We dumped the last of the balls into the machine. I sat down on the bench and watched while she hit. When the machine was empty, she walked over to me and grabbed her hopper and I grabbed mine. We picked up the balls and put them into the machine.
“Will you hit with me?” Asked Maria.
“Yeah.” I said. I had no idea how this was going to go. I thought I could maybe hold my own, but this was definitely the best player I had ever played against.
We went onto the court I had just played on, so we didn’t have to move the ball machine. We did a short court warmup, then moved back to the baseline. As we hit full court, the only thing running through my mind was “please just let the ball go over the net”. I did pretty well after I got used to how she hit. I was actually having so much fun! When we finished hitting we got our stuff together.
“It was cool to play with you today.” I said.
“You’re good.” She said. “We play again soon.” I smiled as we walked off the courts and into the pro shop. Maria and I shook hands and she left. I went behind the desk at the pro shop to look at my schedule. I was a “tennis pro” here. I taught lessons and kids clinics.
Tyler walked up behind me. “Ty!” I shouted. “Did you see me out there with Maria?”
“Yeah.” He said. “I think she likes the way you play. I’ve known her for a while, its not like her to just do that.” I smiled and raised my eyebrow. “Hey, I know you’re good. Who got your parents to let you move in with your brothers and take a year off from college?”
“You.” I said. It was true Tyler had convinced my parents that I was good enough to take a year off from college to just play tennis. He also convinced them to let me move in with my older brothers so I could be closer to Ty. I picked up my racket bag. “Alright well I’m outta here. I don’t have any more lessons for today.”
“See ya.” Said Ty
“Later.” I said.
Everyone knew that Maria Kirilenko had been practicing here at Southfalls Country Club since she started dating Alex Ovechkin and came to DC. Everyone talked about her, but I hadn't seen her play here yet. Seeing her here, for me, was like seeing the loch ness monster.
It was her. She was going out to hit with the ball machine. I sat on the bench next to my court and watched her hit through the net that separated our courts.
I idolized Maria. I had been playing tennis since I was four years old. I played varsity all four years in high school. I had just graduated this month, but instead of going to college, I decided I was going to take the year off. I was going to try to go pro. I knew I was good enough and I wanted it so badly.
"Hey!" Called Maria from her court, the machine had just run out of balls. "If you gonna sit there and watch, can you make yourself useful and help with ball pick up?" She was looking right at me.
"Yeah." I said. The loch ness monster was talking to me! I grabbed a hopper off my court and pushed the netting aside to get onto her court. “You don’t mind me watching do you?” I asked.
“No. Everyone does.” She said motioning to the viewing platform on the second level of the facility. There were tons of people watching. I laughed.
“You’re right.” I said. “You’re the most famous person to come play here.” Occasionally some politician would play golf here, but that was as close to a celebrity that we would have.
“I watched the end of your practice. How long you play tennis?” She asked as we dumped the filled hoppers into the machine and started off to pick up the rest of the balls.
“Pretty much since I could hold a racket.” I answered. She smiled at that.
“You hit good shots. How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen now, but I’m turning nineteen in a couple of days.” I answered.
“That good age to play.” She said. We dumped the last of the balls into the machine. I sat down on the bench and watched while she hit. When the machine was empty, she walked over to me and grabbed her hopper and I grabbed mine. We picked up the balls and put them into the machine.
“Will you hit with me?” Asked Maria.
“Yeah.” I said. I had no idea how this was going to go. I thought I could maybe hold my own, but this was definitely the best player I had ever played against.
We went onto the court I had just played on, so we didn’t have to move the ball machine. We did a short court warmup, then moved back to the baseline. As we hit full court, the only thing running through my mind was “please just let the ball go over the net”. I did pretty well after I got used to how she hit. I was actually having so much fun! When we finished hitting we got our stuff together.
“It was cool to play with you today.” I said.
“You’re good.” She said. “We play again soon.” I smiled as we walked off the courts and into the pro shop. Maria and I shook hands and she left. I went behind the desk at the pro shop to look at my schedule. I was a “tennis pro” here. I taught lessons and kids clinics.
Tyler walked up behind me. “Ty!” I shouted. “Did you see me out there with Maria?”
“Yeah.” He said. “I think she likes the way you play. I’ve known her for a while, its not like her to just do that.” I smiled and raised my eyebrow. “Hey, I know you’re good. Who got your parents to let you move in with your brothers and take a year off from college?”
“You.” I said. It was true Tyler had convinced my parents that I was good enough to take a year off from college to just play tennis. He also convinced them to let me move in with my older brothers so I could be closer to Ty. I picked up my racket bag. “Alright well I’m outta here. I don’t have any more lessons for today.”
“See ya.” Said Ty
“Later.” I said.