EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — Two of El Paso’s top high school tennis players recently joined forces, winning a first-place title at a major tournament.
Montwood High School’s Gema Perales and Coronado High School’s Makenzie Baptist won first place at the Jeff Meyers Memorial Masters Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, a couple of weeks ago, claiming the top spot in the girls doubles 18-and-under division.
The tournament features only high-ranked players from the Southwest region, including El Paso, New Mexico, and Arizona. The #1 player at Montwood High School, Perales, and the #1 player at Coronado High School, Baptist, teamed up to represent El Paso.
“It was a really great achievement for me. I was really proud of myself, and I mean, my parents were proud of me as well. And I felt that was a big stepping stone for my future tennis career and to get higher up in the levels. So I was really happy,” Perales said in an interview with KFOX14/CBS4.
Perales said she and Baptist have built their partnership over years of friendship and competition.
“Mackenzie and I have been friends for about four years now. So we have practiced together, played many tournaments together. And during that match, actually, we were very communicative and very supportive of each other in order to take that victory home,” Perales said.
Perales also described a turning point during the match that helped them rally to the win.
“We were down in the beginning, and none of the parents, ourselves, and our opponents thought that we were able to take the match. So during the match, there was a shift and all of a sudden we started coming back up, and our Mackenzie and I were very excited and riled up to start to win that match,” she said. “So I guess that excitement during our match is when we realized that we still have a chance to take it, which was my best moment. I’m really happy El Paso has athletes out there taking the first place, representing the city with pride.”
Baptist said she felt confident throughout the tournament, crediting their experience playing together and their connection on the court.
“The feeling was great, I was very confident from the start of the tournament because I have an amazing partner and we played before in Tournaments in the past,” Baptist said in an interview with KFOX14/CBS4. “We were cheering each other on. It was a really good environment for us to play in, and we enjoyed it a lot.”
She added, “I’ve known Emma for four years now. It was really good, we were just like bonded really well in the court because we just have chemistry.”
RECOMMENDED: Alvaro Avila becomes first ever Socorro swimmer to qualify for state
Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.