Game, set and match; I won.
After three days of matches. I was in the finals. After just three years of playing tennis, I was at the top of my game playing some of the best tennis I’ve ever played.
As I ate a quick lunch, I felt this would be the first tournament I would be champion of. The tournament director called my name. When I got there, I thought he must have called the wrong person because the only other person there was a short, scrawny kid who looked at least four years younger than me. I double checked if this was really my opponent with the director and he said it was correct. I couldn’t believe my eyes. As we walked onto the court, I thought, this is going to be an easy win! My confidence increased as we warmed up. I clearly had better ground strokes, better volleys, and better serves. This was going to be an easy match.
Game, set, match; I lost.
After the loss, I didn’t touch my racquet for a week. I kept asking myself how I lost the match. I realized it a week later that I was too overconfident. I missed shot after shot thinking I could make every ball go in. The more I missed the more frustrated I got and the harder I hit the ball. The harder I hit the ball the further the ball went out. The downward spiral was what led me to play the worst match of my life.
Realizing my mistakes, I told myself I’d never underestimate an opponent again. When I play an opponent, I would just play tennis. Over the summer I practiced almost 3 hours everyday. I also played in some local tournaments. I never underestimated my opponents in any of the matches and did well.
In then spring, I again signed up for the same tournament. At the tournament desk, I saw the same kid that beat me here last year. The tournament director handed me the balls and told the both of us to go to court 4. I knew I had improved a lot during this year. However, I refused to believe that I was going to win this match for sure. I thought to myself this guy beat you last time so don’t underestimate him and just play.
Game set and match - I won.
Even though I lost the same match a year ago, I don’t feel disappointed anymore. I gained something even more valuable than a trophy that day. I learned never to presume things about people. Today when I play against other teams for the school varsity tennis team, I always remind myself not to get overconfident.
This I realized is true in life too. When you judge a person without getting to know them first you miss out on a chance to truly understand someone else. You become ignorant and will overlook the characterizes that makes each of us unique.