Natalie Sinai, Freedom’s number one singles tennis player, won a bronze medal after competing in the District 11 Class AAA Girls Singles Tennis Tournament last week at Parkland High School.

“It feels really good. In the beginning of the season, I had a slow start. It was hard to get used to, playing high school tennis and being a freshman. I was so tense, I would come off the court shaking,” said Sinai.

Freedom girls’ tennis coach Mark Sigmon believes that patience had a lot to do with Sinai being able to bounce back from a 1-4 start.

“She was overhitting early, but now she’s a lot more patient. She’s willing to hit 10 or 12 times if she has to,” Sigmon said. “She’s just playing better, and she mostly did it on her own.”

Sinai won district bronze by defeating Jolanta Dzimira of Pocono Mountain West 6-0, 6-0, Katie Cole of Southern Lehigh 6-3, 6-3, and Sydney DeNardo of Nazareth 6-2, 6-2.

Defeating Cole was a bonus for Sinai because Cole was the fourth seed.

“I felt really good about that. I was just really pumped up to win. I had insane slices, and I was just attacking and attacking,” said Sinai.

Sinai’s victory over DeNardo occurred in the quarterfinal round.

“I tried to keep it consistent. I tried to get as much top spin as I could, but I wish I had attacked a little more,” Sinai said.

Sinai then faced Southern Lehigh’s Nina DeLuna, the number one seed, in the semifinal.

“I really didn’t have expectations except to do what I could and get as many back as I could,” said Sinai.

DeLuna won 6-1, 6-0 and will have played in the final against Elessa Jacobs of Easton this week.

Freedom’s other singles players also competed in the district singles tournament.

Kaitlyn Swint lost in the first round to Lauren Steinert from Bangor 5-7, 4-6, and Becky Placko also lost in the first round to Naomi Li from Southern Lehigh 2-6, 3-6.