Eryna Ayako Sasaki had only ever hit with a Stage 1 red ball and had to take a special 'crash course' to play a real match (using yellow balls) with 11-year old Christyna Seiko, when her older sister was unable to get a partner for the following month's 12 & Under Prefecture (State) Championships after moving to the new prefecture just before the entry deadline.

Prior to the match, the ACE Tennis girls do our customary "Tebowing"What is Tebowing?
(vb) to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. prayer, which they always do before and after matches, although Christyna Seiko's knee is injured so bad that she cannot bring her knee to the ground and must stand. They start off in an Australian formation but basically playing 2-on-1, Christyna Seiko easily holds serve the opening game to the surprise a growing crowd. After an opening return winner, she is immediately warned about violating JTA rules regarding her court position on return (being on the same side of the court as Eryna Ayako?). The warning leaves the pair concerned about their return strategies, so they avoid all decoy tactics to play straight return games. Christyna Seiko goes on to hit a second return winner in a row.

Barely able to reach the net on serves the first time she ever tried a yellow ball just the day before, an excited Eryna Ayako has only 1 double fault in her first service game (2 in game 7). After saying, "It's OK" to 6-year old Eryna Ayako after losing the third game and "court change," their father is warned by the referee for 'coaching.' During the warning, the girls play a point without changing sides and the opponent's father stops the match to correct the score and instruct his girl to change ends without even a glance from the referee, who ultimately goes to the court to effect the change (notice anything?).

With her injured left knee in severe pain, Christyna Seiko plays ever more conservative. If not for the daily treatment and taping of Dr. Asakawa from Toyo Igaku Kaikan, it is unlikely that she could've even competed through this tournament. While drawing most return games to multiple deuces, she is unable to break through beyond her own service games, as Eryna Ayako struggles with timing on returns. Once she does get her first return in, her injured sister blows the opportunity to break serve.

Although losing by a score of 2-6, they are able to challenge their opponents and push the set to 54-minutes, leading the opponent's parents to begin clapping when little Eryna Ayako is aced a couple times in the final game! What a welcome for a 6-year old girl's first tennis match! That set the stage for an even more dramatic 2nd set...

Key 1st Set Stats:
Christyna Seiko hit 100% of her first serves, winning 80% of those points (2-on-1). She had 6 winners and 4 forced errors against 4 unforced errors. Eryna Ayako made 4 of 11 first serves and had only 3 doubles faults, less than her 11-year old opponents, who had 5 double faults. However, her opponents only had 5 unforced errors, just one more than Christyna Seiko.

After losing a 54-minute first set, and in a 19-hit rally to open the second, an injured, weary and now-conservative Christyna Seiko fails to hold serve for the first time in the opening game of the second set and the crowd disperses as the novelty of the 6-year old Eryna Ayako's debut appears to be coming to a swift end. The sisters fail to convert multiple game points, falling behind 0-4 as their opponents' parents clap increasingly louder whenever tiny Eryna Ayako is unable to return serve. The clapping angers a protective big sister as she single-handedly saves three break points to win a marathon 5th game.

Christyna Seiko was no stranger to comebacks, and was well-known for her competitive fire, having once been two points away from being shutout in the finals against the nation's #1 ranked 10 & Under girl, only to sweep the remaining games in an unbelievable turnaround victory when only nine!
See Tebowing.com

With retirement not an option and ready to see the 6-year old's first match to its end, the pair got even more focused. Eryna Ayako was all too eager to follow her older sister's lead, as she would rather step aside and win than try to play for fun. Normally, she had quickly faded on her serves the previous three weeks, never having practiced for more than 10 minutes total in a day. She also hurt her wrist in her first service game of the second set, leading to three double faults in that game. However, her adrenalin kicks into overdrive as she recovers from the pain and actually gets stronger, even holding serve herself for the first time in a critical 8-minute game!

The tiring opponents show signs of stress as their vocally hostile parents begin to criticize and even coach them on their shots. The tiny 6-year old does not get discouraged or distracted, and even improves her returns, to include a fortunate forced error that just clears the net near the far sideline! The return sets up a match-saving game to draw the set at 5-5. However, the result is even more pressure for the first-time rookie (again, not even in primary school yet), as her ultra-competitive sister forces a tie-break and demands victory!

Key 2nd Set Stats:
Christyna Seiko made 31 of 35 of her first serves (two misses in the tie-break) for 89%, but only won 57% of those points (2-on-1) because of her diminished mobility. She had 9 winners and 8 forced errors against 14 unforced errors. Eryna Ayako made 12 of 32 first serves and had 12 double faults, but only 3 were back-to-back, to include none in the tie-break while saving three match points. The difference was Christyna Seiko grinding out 31 unforced errors from their opponents as she played conservative and they wore down.

The match had reached the court's closing time and clean-up efforts were under way as all other matches had long finished. After warnings where the sisters were expected to know questionable, non-ITF conforming rules, the referee intercedes to help their opponents with the tie-break scoring and changing of ends. However, he calls time to permit their opponent to improperly switch sides on return, which Christyna Seiko protests on the next change, and allows the players to serve out of order (not claiming any wrongdoing, but rather that he continued as a roving referee on a 'self-judged' match, not watching points closely like a chair umpire).

Struggling to put weight on her left leg, Christyna Seiko makes three easy unforced errors, but Eryna Ayako continues to do her part to keep the tie-break close. Then on Christyna Seiko's serve, a mishit moonball floats wide just in front of the older sister and she shouts, "Out! Come on!"

With the set seemingly won, the referee steps in to overrule the set-deciding call and awards the point to her opponents, even though she was in position to play the ball and the opponents did not even think the ball was in. After a long argument where Christyna Seiko was 100% sure of the call and contends she was in position to play the ball, she collects herself to gain another set point, however, reversing a critical point for a mini-break on her serve proves to be the deciding factor in a 14-12 tie-break.

Although there were no illusions about winning the tournament (#1 and #2 seeds too strong), the loss was heartbreaking for Eryna Ayako, because not only did it end her debut tournament, but the call also denied her qualifying for the Regional Championships with her older sister, who qualified in singles. However, the experience was thrilling for her, and the only thing that bothered her were her brand new tennis shoes*, bought just an hour before the match for fear she would be defaulted for not having the correct court surface shoes (see Note 4).

Adversarial confrontations were commonplace for her top-ranked sister, so Eryna Ayako was not discouraged at all from the challenges they endured during the match. Even after a 26-minute tie-break that had extended her first match ever to 3-hours, the 6-year old was ready to play more right then.

In the end, the improbable journey was incredible. How a 6-year old girl who had only practiced 10-minutes a day for three weeks, going from a Stage 3 red ball to a yellow ball for the first time only on the opening day of the tournament, could maintain her concentration and enthusiasm, while even growing stronger during a dramatic 3-hour match was beyond everyone's belief. However, for Eryna Ayako, she wasn't doing anything special, she was just doing the same thing that her older sister was doing. She does not view herself any less than her top-ranked sisters, and simply believes what Ray Lewis said when he won the 2013 NFL Superbowl, "All things are possible with God!"