Hi College Tennis Coaches,
My name is Anna Christopoulos, and I am a sophomore at Hasbrouck Heights High School. This season I played at second singles and was undefeated in my league, named first-team all-league my freshman and sophomore year. Being a High School student I am often asked questions such as "What are your plans/dreams after High School?" Well, my dream is to play tennis at a collegiate level. Stepping onto those tennis courts when I was six I knew that tennis was my sport, I would give up everything to play tennis. Being able to play at a collegiate level is an honor and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I started tennis at the age of six and fell in love instantly. By the age of seven, I started to play at a tennis club (Maywood Tennis Club, NJ) and played twice a week and later on played more days a week, now I play every day whether it was at the courts with my friends, the tennis club or with my private coach. As I got older I took it more and more seriously and started to compete in UTR matches at my club which is great practice for me to get a feel of what my High School Tennis matches would be like. Stepping into my first tennis season my freshman year which was in 2023 I excelled and play first singles varsity and at the end of the season, I had the honor of being awarded first-team all-league as a freshman and was named MVP for my tennis team.
Tennis truly taught me discipline at a very young age to always think a few steps ahead and to have the mindset of a problem solver. Playing tennis you have to be mentally prepared for the worst I could be down 4-0, but having a positive mindset gets me through. This just recently happened to me, I was playing a UTR and was having an off day, I mean I hadn't played that bad forever. I was down 4-0 in the first set and was thinking of a way to fight back and get all those negative thoughts out of my dead. So I battled through the wall that was blocking me in my dead and was able to win the set 6-4 and later on won the game. Tennis taught me so much off and on the courts and I can't imagine a life without it. This is why I hope to play at a collegiate level because I know tennis will forever have a place in my heart.
"A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall" -Serena Williams