“Braaoirniawrvoevavr…!” someone yelled from far away.
“Whaaaaaaat!!” I replied.
“I’m signing you up for a tennis tournament in Arizona! Kay?!?!?”

I was confuzzled. I had never been to a tournament outside of California before, and it was only for good players.
I walked up to my dad and said, “Wait! Dad I don’t want to go!” I quickly yelled, as my spirit left me.
“Too late. I already registered you.” 

We finally arrived in Arizona. It was really hot and dry. My skin had begun to smolder as sweat trickled down my face. There were cacti everywhere. They were green, but not pure green, like the beautiful ones in the trees next to my house, it was more like a dirty poo green. Many of them were very tall at the point where the top is blinded in the sun. It was my first time in Arizona, so it was pretty cool, but I had to get used to it. In the city where I live, there are tons of trees, but in Arizona there were cacti instead of trees. It feels more fresh with an abundant amount of trees that clean the air and lots of grass with rocks, but here there are cacti and dusty sand which make me sick. My friend came too; he was my doubles partner. He was better than me but he lives nearby so we know each other and became doubles partners. My dad told me he spent a lot of money and effort in this tournament. I agreed with that and continued in life. Later, I thought about it after he said that, I started to feel anxious and worried. What if I lose on the first round? What if I play terribly? Unanswerable questions roamed in my head. I came all the way to Arizona to win, not to lose. 

The first game was at 8 am. We ate breakfast at the hotel, warmed up, and talked about how I’m was going to play during today’s game. The opponent is the number five seed which is pretty good. I was nervous. My dad spent a lot of money and effort in this tournament, and if I lose I go straight home. That’s a waste. With that motivation, I played. I played my best, my hardest, and I won. I was very happy and proud of myself as I finished the game to shake hand with my opponent. My motivation increased and I won the next game within one hour.

“COME ON!” I said as I won the game. “Good game.”
“Thanks. You’re very good,” he replied.

My nervousness slowly began to fade away and I began to feel more confident. I felt dumb because there was is no reason to feel nervous. I was very glad I won, but I remembered that the tournament wasn’t over yet.

The next day, we ate breakfast and warmed up again. He was the number two seed. People call him the “genius”. His national ranking was in the top hundred and mine was four-hundred but I don’t care. It doesn’t mean that he is going to beat me. My dad told me to just play my best. And that is what I did. My motivation made me fight and run for every ball and unexpectedly, I won! My confidence stacked up and my mentality got stronger. I won the next game again in a very tight game. He was Utah's number one. Everybody was watching and I beat him. I was now in finals!

My finals opponent was very good. Usually I would feel nervous, but today I feel confident. I made it all the way to finals and even if I lose, I’m still proud of myself. This is much more than I expected to go, I sadly lost. It was a tight match but a very good game. I wasn’t it the best condition because I was tired from yesterday. My dad was happy even though I lost. We went back to the hotel with my trophy, took a shower, then went to a national park for fun with my friend. We had a good time except that a cactus stabbed me. It was still blazing hot. We took the plane back home. My mom and sister were just as happy as my dad. I got a trophy, ranking points, and a lot of pride and courage.