Doubles Trouble by Jake Maddox

Author:Jake Maddox [Maddox, Jake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jake Maddox;Doubles Trouble;tennis;juvenile fiction;sports fiction;boys fiction;middle grade sports;Blake Hoena;doubles tennis
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2017-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

As he pedaled along, Deion thought about different tennis strategies, situations, and shots. He was lost in thought for a good ten minutes before he even realized it. All this tennis action had become more than just a hobby.

When Deion arrived at the rec center, he saw Cole. He was alone and stretching out.

Deion looked around. “Your parents here?”

“Nah,” Cole replied. “My dad’s stationed overseas, so I don’t see him much. And my mom, she works a lot.”

Cole frowned after his comment. Deion could tell that he might have brought up a sore subject. He knew a thing or two about unsettled parental situations.

“Well,” said Deion, trying to lighten the mood, “I guess it’s a good thing I’m here to cheer you on.”

Cole smiled at that. Then Deion ran off to see if Mr. Sumner needed any help.

The matches started off in successful fashion for their team. Cole easily won his, 6-2, 6-3. Ryan also won his match, but in three sets. One of the other 14U singles players won, and the other lost. The results were the same for the 12U kids: three wins and one loss. Their squad was doing well.

No matter how things were going, Mr. Sumner was always coaxing his players on. He was supportive and inspired everyone to play their very best.

After the singles matches, there was a break so the doubles players could warm up. That’s when Deion saw his mom and Terry walking over to the courts. They waved, and he nodded.

Before their first match, Deion asked Cole, “Are you game for this?”

“Always,” Cole said, bumping Deion’s fist.

The other team served first, Cole was set to receive.

Whack!

Cole returned it back to the server.

Whack!

The server blasted the ball down the sideline, to Deion’s backhand. He was caught off guard at how quickly the ball came back to him and could not get his racket on it. He turned to see Cole scrambling for the ball. It landed in and bounced past his teammate.

“Fifteen–love!”

It was Deion’s turn to receive the serve. He stepped back behind the baseline. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. He felt loose. He felt ready.

Whack!

The ball was a yellow streak. But this kid did not have the killer serve that Ryan had. Deion got his racket around on the ball.

Whack!

He hit it directly at the opponent who was playing the net.

Smack!

The kid hit a perfect cross-court shot, which went right between Cole and Deion.

“Thirty–love”

The rest of the game went pretty much the same way. Deion missed a couple shots, and they lost. The score was 0-1.

Cole served next, and he was on. Deion barely had to touch the ball. And just like that, the score was tied 1-1.

Their opponents held serve. It was 1-2.

When it was Deion’s turn to serve, he looked around. There were a couple dozen people in bleachers watching his match. He was not used to having spectators. Deion began to think how they would see every mistake he made. This made him feel extra nervous as he stepped up to the baseline to serve.

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