Ouch, 3.5-

In Fall of 2021, I found out all about the Atlanta institution that is ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association).

That September, I started playing with Amanda’s C3 level team out of Chastain Park Tennis Center in Atlanta. In my first ALTA match, I played Line 5 doubles with Holley A., and we took a win: 6-1, 6-1. I was floored. All that crying and questioning from my T2 singles season felt so silly in that moment.

Two weeks later, I played my second match with Liz M. After a tough first set, we again took a win in three sets: 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. After losing my third match of the season (3-6, 3-6), my first ALTA season came to a close. We didn’t have a coach, and I could tell just from the beginning of the season to the end that while I was improving, the other girls were improving at a much faster rate than I was. Looking back I think they were taking lessons outside of our weekly team practice, which made perfect sense.

Either way, I was eager to sign up for more tennis after such positive results. While waiting for the next ALTA season, I signed up for both Winter and then Spring T2 doubles seasons with my good friend Kate. Kate is a much better player than I, and her 3.5 level to my 2.5 level meant I was playing up at 3.5- (eek!). We got pretty beat up those two seasons, but we did manage one win, the last match of our second season, with a 6-2, 6-3 score. I went into that match saying, “I feel good today, Kate. I think we got it,” and we did. Mindset shift. Those two seasons, playing up was hard and often frustrating, but I learned a lot. I was incredibly grateful to have a friend in my corner through that experience.

Grant & me after our first match, at Capital City Country Club.

A glutton for punishment, I then signed up for a Mixed-Doubles T2 season with my friend Grant in mid-March. If I thought playing against women at 3.5- was tough, I was in for a real shock playing against men at 3.5-. All 5 of that T2 season’s matches were pretty rough, with me often not even being able to get a hand on the serves from the men we were playing against.

While we got pretty beat up that season, Grant and I still had fun hanging out and recapping the matches with Jen after playing over Mexican food and margaritas.

I knew I needed to work on my serve if I wanted to start winning, and I think this season’s experiences contributed a lot to having a big serve now, in 2025. It was a great learning season for me.

Needless to say, I was once again very grateful to have a friend in my corner for this season of learning.

Now, a couple of months into 2022 with only one 3.5- win under my belt after 3 seasons and 14 matches played, I was feeling ready for the 2022 Spring ALTA season, where I’d finally be playing back down at a more… skill-appropriate level of matchplay.