'Tippy' in Marbella
By Rebecca 'Tippy' Fox

     With a plethora of different Spanish summer experiences offered to students at Hall, I participated in one that most have never even heard of. For two weeks in July, I traveled to Marbella on the Costa del Sol of Spain with twelve other high school and USTA (United States Tennis Association) ranked tennis players from across America. The group, called “Tennis: Europe,” was coached by a current tennis player from Trinity College in Texas and a former college varsity tennis player from Cornell University.

    Hosted at Marco Tennis Academy, where high school tennis players train year-round, I traveled daily to nearby tennis clubs, challenged locals to both singles and doubles matches (on clay courts).

     I expected to play against other teenage girls, so I was surprised to be competing mostly against boys under 12 years old, who inevitably beat me most of the time. Their quick feet and sprints were unmatched by my sluggish pace. (It’s no wonder Spain is known for its tennis; the nine-year-old Spaniards can successfully compete against seventeen-year-old Americans.) At my host tennis club, I met three teenage boys, all of whom were amazing tennis players themselves. One, Daniel, travels around the world on tour, and will be training in Florida this year. He is a rising star, and will likely make it to the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the not-too-distant future.

     After playing matches for hours in the sweltering sun, I traveled back to our hotel and had a siesta while tanning by the pool. There I met five British boys, who were in Spain for a graduation vacation. My team became friends with them, and when two of our four apartments were broken into and robbed of expensive tennis clothes—and more importantly our passports—we blamed the British for the crime. (This hotel had never had any robberies until the “dumb Americans” arrived.) Luckily, yours truly did not live in one of the robbed apartments, of course, I wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave my passport out and have it stolen.

     In the evenings, my companions and I went out for dinner in Marbella, and went dancing at the discotecas in Puerto Banus until dawn. (Yet we somehow woke up at a reasonable hour to play tennis.) Oddly enough, stores were still open way past midnight, and you better bet your bottom dollar I shopped a lot.