𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒 & 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐜

[ 010 ] ❝ namoi osaka vs. lucía martinez, miami finals ❞

'And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.'
- John Steinbeck

Friday seemed to come and go for Lucía like Barry Allen running across Central City. She had spent Thursday evening in recovery, preparing herself for the Semi Finals, before eating with Charles back in their hotel room, enjoying room service and the first few episodes of Stranger Things. Due to their busy calendars if they were to rewatch all three seasons before season four comes out, then they needed a start a bit earlier than most people might. 

Winning the Semi Finals only hours ago really boosted her confidence for tomorrow, preparing her mentally when she was to face her good friend, Naomi Osaka. She had competed against Naomi before, twice actually. Both girls had won one match against each other, Lucía's having been a vital match that had gotten her through to the Finals during the Australia Open this year, where she then went on to beat Ashleigh Barty, at the time the current No.1 female tennis player in the world. 

It had been a good match, some reviews she had read afterwards were that she had won with flying colours, although she didn't really agree. Sure when looking at the score, she did dominate winning 6-2 7-5, but that was on paper. In reality, facing Jessica had been daunting because she knew how good of a tennis player she was, and while Lu was only a handful of years younger, like all tennis players, both girls wanted to prove that they were one of the best, and the only way to do that is to win. Knowing Charles was once again in the crowd, cheering her on with that beautiful French-looking smile and dimples, made her all the more convinced that loosing wasn't an option. Some people had begun to speculate that she was currently in her prime years and that soon her sudden burst of talent would dwindle away rapidly but she thought it was bullshit. She knew she had a lot more to learn, a lot more to improve on. Her stance wasn't always perfect and her slides were messy from time to time. 

Friday night Charles went out with Pierre and Katerina to a club in Miami. Lucía had of course been invited but with the finals tomorrow she knew the smart decision was to stay in her hotel room for the evening. Charles promised her he wouldn't be out for long and would be back in time for them to watch an episode of Stranger Things but she honestly didn't mind if he stayed out late. He was in Miami and it was his time off, in between race weekends, so she wanted him to have fun. And being cooped up with her all night in their hotel room wasn't the most exciting thing ever. 

Saturday, 2nd of April 2022. 

The Miami Final in women's tennis. 

Lucía felt prepared and ready to face Naomi. She had gone into the semi finals knowing who she would be facing in the finals if she won. And here she now was, on the court, jumping up and down, side to side to give her legs a last minute stretch and wake up call. She felt ready. Ready to win. Ready to prove herself once again and prove to the people who like to hate on her, that she was one of the best and that it wasn't just a short spree of luck. 

Like usual a coin was flipped to see who would serve first. Naomi picked heads while Lu had tails. Heads it was. Naomi wanted to serve first, which Lu had no complaints about, she rather liked not being the first to serve. They stood next to the umpire, both on their sides of the net, for a photo, smiling at the cameraman. 

Namoi served the ball, starting the game but within the next few hits, Lucía scored her first set of points. The crowd clapped as she held her fist up for a second. It was a warm day today in Miami. Every day, since being here, had been warm, but today seemed to be extra hotter. Naomi won the first game. She scored all four sets of points before Lu, but six games won a set and two or three sets won a match, so there was still a long way to go. She won the next game making the score even. But Naomi went and won the third game. The first set was now currently 1-2 to Lucía.