Kate Holder Wins ZAT Tournament!
by: Jorge Salinas
The first time I met kate Holder was during a friday night social we had at the Harlingen H.E.B. Tennis Center. We played mixed doubles...well, it was myself and an eight year old boy against her and her female partner. When we started the match, I thought I would just "feed" the ball to Kate so that we could get a fun rally going. Boom! She blasts the ball back to me; and, if that were not enough, she and her partner rush the net!!! I felt pressured! "Hey, this is a little girl!", I thought to myself. "She's not supposed to know how to attack"! But she did know. Even a year ago, she had a sense for the court that I felt she wasn't really given credit for. At least not by anyone who only saw a little girl (Kate is thirteen years old now). Now Kate Holder has won the ZAT tournament in SanAntonio, and I get to congratulate her. I also don't feel so bad about losing that match to her way back then....well, it may still sting a little.
When I started mentioning that I was working on an article for Kate on winning the ZATS tournament, one of my tennis buddys commented, "When did she get that good"? Hmmm...that's a good question. Could it be that Kate just got that good overnight? No. Kate got that good every single day for two and a half years. "I get coached by my dad (Coach Holder) and Coach Stillman", says Kate Holder over the phone.
I asked her how it felt to win the tournament, which was held up in SanAntonio. "It feels great. It took a while, and I actually feel relief finally", says Holder. At thirteen, Kate won the fourteens division. Pretty impressive, especially since she just aged up in June. "I practice every day for two or three hours", she says.
RGVTennis.Com congratulates Kate Holder on her spectacular win and wish her all the best. Stay tuned as we are sure we will be bringing you much more of this young talent in the very near future. Way to go, Kate!
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