Sophomore Sydni Ratliff heads to National Level Three Competiton. (Andrew Barren’22/Media)

How long have you played tennis?

Since I was three.

How do you balance being a nationally ranked tennis player and the travel that comes with it with your schoolwork?

Well, I would call myself very self-disciplined. I go to practices from four to six after school, and then I come straight home and do my homework. And when I’m out of town for a lot of my tournaments, I’m constantly keeping up with my work and emailing my teachers because they are so supportive.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Easter Bowl?

The Easter Bowl is a national junior tournament held every year in Palm Springs, California, at the Indian Wells Tennis Centre. It’s composed of the top sixty four girls in the country all competing for a championship.

Do you usually play more doubles or more singles?

Usually I play more singles, but it depends on if there is doubles at the tournament, so this year I played doubles.

Can you tell us a little bit about you and your doubles partners’ path to the championship?

We were the number one seeds since we’d already played multiple times together before, and we automatically got a bye in the first round, so we didn’t have to play anyone and got to watch our opponents. Once we got to the finals, we were playing people we didn’t know, so that was really tough. We got to play at the site the pros play at though, so it was really cool and a good experience.

When is your next big tournament?

I’m going to National Level Three (May 4 – 6) in Peachtree City, Georgia, which is my next really big one.