By Sophie Vu
It was the last point of the match, Jaslyn Nguyen, up 30-40. Nguyen returns a solid serve from her opponent cross court to her backhand. Her opponent pushes it back to Nguyen’s forehand and she nails it down the line. The opponent barely gets it back and throws it up high in the air. Nguyen sees it coming and rushes to the net, smashing a swinging volley crosscourt.
Nguyen competes in level 5 or 6 tournaments almost every weekend. She is constantly working on her game and learning from past mistakes since she’s started playing tournaments in 2019. One month after passing two rounds of a tournament in early January 2022, Nguyen won her first tournament.
“After winning my first tournament, I was very proud of myself and my confidence in tennis went up,” Nguyen said. “Before playing in the tournament, I never had confidence in myself and was always negative about everything.”
This experience helped Nguyen continuously seek a more positive attitude as she plays along with the team. These events helped her obtain a spot on the team’s starting lineup—including he team’s line two singles. This position is not easy to maintain on the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS), girls’ varsity tennis team.
This year’s team looked forward to meeting an individual who would be able to hold this spot without letting anything get in their way of doing their best. Coach Harshal Patel gladly looked forward to having Nguyen, already knowing how advanced of a player she was.
“I couldn’t wait for team bonding and the team seemed really nice,” Nguyen said.
As a rising freshman, she looked forward to playing matches with the team. With her opponents’ larger skill set, it was undoubtedly an exhilarating experience for her to be on the same court as them. Hard working and determined, Nguyen hopes to help contribute to this year’s team goals.
“I wanna help out the team and help them win CIF this year,” she said.
When she first met the team, to her surprise, they were easy to adjust and to connect with. Nguyen didn’t find herself unable to talk to her teammates and ask them questions because they were so welcoming.
“The energy on the courts when I’m playing my matches gets me hyped up and whenever I’m down, the team’s cheers brings my spirit up.” Nguyen said.
Nguyen enjoys playing alongside her teammates so far and really admires the team spirit and energy that they have. As the matches get tougher, she deeply appreciates her team for supporting and cheering her on every step of the way.
Nguyen played against Mater Dei High School this season, which had a tough singles line-up. She had her ups and downs throughout the matches, but when the team came along to support and cheer her on, she was able to refocus on her goals. Nguyen expresses the differences between the training she does outside of school and when she is with the team.
At her clinic group, other tennis players around her age participate in drills and train together to improve their skills and mindset, alongside a few coaches. She enjoys playing with them because they have similar personal goals.
“When I’m at the clinic group there are a lot of nice people, but when I tend to break down there’s like no one there for me,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s mindset when she is playing with the clinic group is different when she is with those from the FVHS team. At the clinic, She gets support for solely her tennis game and perspective and they help her understand and resolve those obstacles.
“When I play with the team they are always there to help me,” Nguyen said.
But with the team, she appears a lot more confident and free-spirited as they are able to provide the same support, but in a more optimistic way. Despite being a very serious competitive player, she contributes to the work ethic on the team when she steps out on the court. Her presence helps get the team rolling through practice matches and wanting to match her energy to win.
The girls give her unconditional amounts of support because they are all going through the same things. They aren’t critiquing her or trying to tell her why she missed, that’s the Coach’s job. Instead, they give Nguyen heart-touching memories and bonds that will last a lifetime.
In return, she gives her best efforts without having to be on the negative end of the scale after her matches. She shows how much she wants to be out there competing for the team and the girls, including Coach Harshul, won’t expect any less from her.
But there is one person who is always there for Nguyen, none other than her dad. Nguyen looks up to how dedicated her dad was to helping her on this tennis journey. Nguyen takes in all the advice and coaching that he provides to her throughout her journey of being a tennis player.
“He signs me up for tournaments, he coaches me, and he takes his time to do these things for me like driving me,” Nguyen said.
Along with her appreciation, it only motivates Nguyen to keep working hard—to do her best not only for the team and her family, but for herself. Even on days when she doesn’t want to practice, she realizes that professional tennis players, like Serena Williams, practice every day, even longer than she does to be where they are now.
“I like to work really hard during practices,” Nguyen said. “I’m very serious and I want to do well all the time.”
With Nguyen’s addition to the mix, she truly shows her talents and determination each time she comes out. She has an unmatched competitive attitude on the team. It was as if she already belonged on the team for this position and more.
As Nguyen battles this year’s tough schools, she strives to take this year’s league individual title. With the power of a smashing overhead, she plans to fly through this year’s season with a title.
