Wesley Chapel, FL

On February 5th, we had the opportunity to play our first tournament in the US on our home courts After reaching out to the tournament director, he was kind enough to give us a wildcard into the W35k hosted right at Saddlebrook. Qualifying for a W35k was going to give us 1 WTA point which would allow us to have a total of 3 points. With these 3 points, we were going to obtain a ranking. Therefore, getting into this tournament was a big steppingstone in our journey.

For our first round match, we were going to face a really hard team. We played the 2nd seeded team, a pair of American twins that had just won NCAA’s and were ranked 400 in the world. Going into this tournament, we definitely did not feel very prepared. During the time leading up to this match, we were in between jobs and struggling to find a reliable paying job to afford our pro lifestyle. Therefore, we did not spend much time training and preparing for this tournament. We ended up losing the match 6-1, 6-3 and we were not very happy with how it went. We did not play to our fullest potential and were simply outplayed.

This tournament showed us that pro tennis in the US is a different level and that we needed to really increase our preparation in the future to make this dream of ours come true. However, we were grateful for the opportunity to obtain 1 WTA point and also for the opportunity to see what the top pro players in the US look like. This allowed us to compare and see what exactly we need to work on to get to this level in the future.

With this tournament being at home, we had no expenses and were able to actually make a profit on a tournament for once. If only more tournaments were held in FL! It takes 2 weeks for WTA to process any results. Therefore, we were going to have to wait 2 weeks to see what our very first ranking was going to be!

Total WTA Points Earned: 1

Total Expenses:

• Tournament Entry: 2 x $20

• Total Expenses: $40

• Total Prize Money: $132