On July 30 and Oct. 2, the Cupertino varsity Girls Tennis team crushed their opponents at the annual Battle of the Bay tournament, which has been hosted by Cupertino for the past three years. The tournament was two days long and consisted of two parts each day––a doubles round and a singles round. The girls started off at 9:30 am for the morning doubles match, and once they completed their match the singles players took on the court. At 12:30 pm, the high schools switched opponents. This year Cupertino competed against Piedmont Hills, San Ramon Valley, Miramonte, and Tamalpais. At the end of this two-day tournament, the girls finished strong, and ranked first. They beat Miramonte 5-2, San Ramon Valley 6-1, Piedmont Hills 4-3, and Tamalpais 4-3. 

   While most sports consist of two teams and an official to keep order on the playing field, in tennis the points are not kept track by a referee. Instead the players keep track of the score and the coaches keep watch in case of disputes. A plastic ladder with slots holding tennis balls keep track of the games and sets won. 

   Said sophomore varsity player Irene Tsai, “[The scoring] is generally all in your head, and the girls on the court yell out the score after each point.”

   Cupertino took three pairs of doubles and four singles players. The girls are assigned either singles or doubles for each tournament. Said Tsai “playing singles is more difficult than doubles because having a team-mate on court helps bring out my confidence.” On the sideline the girls cheer each other on because they know the importance of confidence on the court and that encouragement helps their team mates through these grueling matches. Sophomore varsity player Victoria Yang describes tennis as “a mental game” in which “the opponent that is more alert and concentrated wins the match.” She was able to come back from a deficit against her San Ramon Valley opponent, and her win contributed to their team victory of 6-1. For many competitive athletes winning or performing well in games has the ability to extinguish fatigue. Once Cupertino had successfully defeated San Ramon Valley, they moved on the compete with Miramonte High School. Their coach laid out the statistics of their opponent, and it looked like they would all be playing against very strong players. But with their large win at the back of their minds, they confidently swooped through and crushed Miramonte in a 5-2 team win. Together the girls varsity tennis team beat each and every one of their opponents and came home with wide smiles, proud of their accomplishments.