Game, Set And Match

“Come on Kavya,” cheered the crowd. “You can do it. Come on.”

The score read 6-3, 4-6, 5-4. This was the decider and Kavya’s turn to serve. Kavya knew she could not afford to lose a point from here.

She tossed the ball up for the serve. Her concentration was intense. The ball flew over the net. It was an ace. She heaved a sigh of relief. Another serve and the linesman called it out. So she had to go for second serve. She tossed the ball up in the air for the serve and this time it was in. Her opponent, Henna, was quick on her return of service and a tense rally followed. Both players were swift, reached for the ball with their rackets and finally, Henna’s drop shot was too good for Kavya to play.

Now the score in the decider was 5-4, 15-15. Kavya picked herself up with her next service which was an ace again.

“30-15,” called the Referee.

The cheer from the crowd as Kavya won the next point was loud after a small rally.

“40-15,” said the Referee.

The commentator’s voice was rising in excitement with each point.

“It is Set Point and Match Point.”

The crowd kept cheering “Kavya, Kavya, Kavya!”

Kavya picked up the ball, looked up at the sky as if in prayer, and then tossed it up and served. Henna’s high return made Kavya jump and reach for the ball. She almost slipped but her smash did the trick. It fell at Henna’s feet.   

“Game, Set and Match to Kavya Sriram,” announced the Referee.

Kavya held her hand up in joy. She had won the match and the championship for the first time in her life. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at the stands and spotted her mother standing and clapping along with the audience. She held up her racket and pointed it towards her mother, who had always been the motivating factor in her life. Just a year back, 20-year-old Kavya had been battling depression, hurt by the break up with her fiancé who apparently had found someone else.

Though she had been playing tennis before, it was her mother who made her concentrate on the game with wholehearted attention and in the previous month, her tennis coach had entered her name in this intercollegiate tournament. Her mother had taken leave of absence from her job for 15 days and accompanied her for the training sessions every day.

Kavya ran towards her mother and hugged her tightly.