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Tennis Champion
It was the dream of 14 year old tennis player, Paul Harrison, to be the best tennis player in the world. He asked himself: how can I be the best tennis player at 14? The answer came quickly: beat the World Open, a tournament open for professional tennis players of all ages. If he won the tournament, he should definitely be the best player in the world, right? Right. Paul went to register for the tournament online, which took place in 3 months time.
Three months passed, and Harrison was ready to tackle the tournament. He was ready, confident, and warming up until he saw last year's champion: 26 year old George McCartney. A chill ran down his spine, as feelings of admiration and intimidation completely took over his body. He tried to keep his cool, as he was called out for his first match against rookie Brian Jones. He quickly defeated Brian and moved up on the rankings.
As Alex won the match 3 sets to 1, he stared at the screen that displayed George's score: 3 sets to 0. He felt terrified, powerless, and weak as he saw George flawlessly beat household names like 24 year old Mick Richards or former champion Stevie Redding. Alex was no pushover, however, also beating household names like Jack Johnson, Eric Johnson and Robert Johnson, a group of brothers known for their incredible technique and precision. Robert was known to be specially great at tennis. So much so, rumors started to spread around about him selling everything he had for tennis lessons so that he could one day have everything.
Alex was a surprising semi finals contestant, as no one, not even himself, believed he would make it that far. As fate would have it, him and George were on separate brackets, meaning he would face George on the finals, were they both to win. Alex swiftly defeated another household name, Zack Marley, and now, he was a potential candidate for the title "Best Tennis Player in the World."
In a surprising turn of events, George lost his match against an unknown player, a player who seemed to have little or no experience, and people assumed his playing to be luck. 18 year old unknown player Kurt Smear.
Alex was getting even more nervous. How could he defeat someone who defeated last year's champion? That seemed impossible! Alex went back and forth in the locker room, trying to find a way to defeat Kurt and take away the title of Best Player in the World. After thinking for 15 minutes, he had no strategy but to go out and give it all he had.
He did. As both players reached for the center court, Alex gripped his racket tightly and gave Kurt a handshake to start it off. In a game that lasted one hour and 45 minutes but seemed an eternity to the players, a winner was chosen.
Everyone was silent, no one moved. They looked at both players, both sweating as they played this final game with all their might. This was it, the champion, the Best Player in the World was finally upon them. Everyone started to cheer in disbelief as Kurt's racket fell on the ground.
Alex was the winner. He played in a way that no one else had. A combination of technique and ability that few before him had ever shown, but never at his age. He had all the potential to keep his title of "Best Player in the World".
