When I was 8 years old, I started playing tennis. I took lessons at the city courts once or twice a week during the school year and enjoyed going to a couple week-long camps during the summer. I remember tennis being a pretty integral part of my life, and I played on my high school varsity team for four years.

One of the reasons why I enjoy tennis so much is the fact it’s an individual sport. Team sports are fun and I have had good experiences with them, but I place higher value on individual sports.

In singles tennis matches, there are two people: you and your opponent. Only the two of you can affect the outcome of the match. There are no other teammates alongside you. Sure, they can cheer you on from the other side of the fence, but they can’t help you score points or hit winning shots.

This is not to say I always prefer individual sports over team sports; I would actually much rather watch a team sport. Football and baseball will always be more fun to watch than golf! Even so, I have to say that the individuality of tennis is what made me stick with it all this time.

Without a doubt, there were times I complained about having to play tennis and acted like it was the worst thing in the world. There were times I wished I had played softball instead. However, if I sat down and gave it a lot of thought, I realized how much value I placed on the direct cause and effect relationship of tennis. If I played well, I won. If I play poorly, I lost. It just made sense to me.

I’ll try to explain my thought process with team sports. Imagine playing softball or baseball. You can do your absolute best in a game, whether it’s hitting a couple home runs or making great defensive plays, and yet your team can still lose. Even though you gave it your all, there isn’t much to show for it. You might say: “I played a really great game Saturday, but my team still lost!” Maybe you feel a lot of self-satisfaction from your own performance, but are left wondering how it would feel if your team won on top of that.

That’s what put tennis over the top for me. I knew my wins were based solely on my own effort. In the same sense, I knew I was the only one to blame for my losses. This added to my growing sense of responsibility. I was responsible for my wins and losses. I couldn’t blame a loss on a teammate’s strikeout or dropped ball. I couldn’t play terribly and have a teammate kick the winning goal or shoot the winning basket.

I still definitely enjoy watching team sports and recognize that they have benefits you can’t gain from playing individual sports. Even with that in mind, I’m still happy with my decision to play tennis and plan to play in the future!