Summaries

Synopsis

Ally "Smash" Mash (Lindsey Shaw) is a 16-year-old San Diego high school student who is also the number one American junior tennis player. Ally finishes an interview with the press where she is joined by an arrogant Russian rival named Katina Upranova (Susie Abromeit). Ally then wins her third round match in the Lacosta Junior Invitational. After taking photos with a pair of tennis shoes designed especially for her, Ally walks off the court with her father Dave Mash (Keith Coulouris) who is also her demanding coach. They are quickly joined by Rebecca Fisher (Lindsey Black), Ally's best friend. Ally introduces Rebecca to some of the other tennis players nearby including the best mixed doubles team of Milla (Layla Zbiden) and Mylon Christman (Kyron Griffith) and "Red Bull" (Josh Blaylock), a super hyper tennis player addicted to caffeine.

Rebecca notices an attractive male tennis player that Ally does not know. Rebecca walks out onto the court to get a shield with the shirtless Farrell Gambles (Chandler Massey) from Kansas City. Less impressed than Rebecca, Ally only comments on Ferrell slow footwork on the court nicknaming him "Turtle". Rebecca waits impatiently while Ally and her dad finish up s practice session. Rebecca then leads Ally to the swimming pool, where Farrell is cooling off.

The next day, Rebecca and Ally watch Farrell lose his third round match in the tournament. Then Katina and her friends stroll by and try to psyche out Ally before their likely match up. In her semi-final match, Ally's serve is interrupted by a siren. The referee announces that the interruption is simply another ball boy being injured by a Katina Upranova serve. Autograph seekers abandon Ally after her match to catch Upranova before she leaves the court.

Ally is matched against Katina in the tournament finals. Katina begins the match with a pair of service aces and dominates the first set 6-1. Ally notices Farrell in the crowd who gives her encouragement. Ally begins to rally in the second set. The score is 3-3 when Ally badly rolls her ankle. Ally's dad rushes onto the court. Not wishing to risk Ally's number one ranking by having Ally play on a bad ankle, he calls for a default. Katina defines default as loser as Ally limps off the court.

Back at home, Dave has recruited a team to help Ally recover from a sprained ankle including Paul (Asmar Fontenot) a strength and conditioning coach, Vivica (Vivica Schwartz) a yoga teacher, Amy (Sarah Lilly) a masseuse, Debbie (Fabienne Guerin)a music therapist, and Dr. Jim (Josh Cooke) her sports psychologist.Ally reads a negative headline in a newspaper left near the tennis courts. Red Bull stops by to say hello and then refuses to leave when Farrell comes by and wants to ask Ally something personal. Impressed with the helpful advice Ally gave him about his footwork, Farrell asks Ally to train with him. Ally declines saying she is too busy.

Later, Ally fights with her music therapist who is intent about piping music to the injured cells in her ankle about the selection of music. Ally seeks help from her mother Margo (Alexandra Paul) who is practicing yoga. Her mother asks Rebecca to provide a distraction for Ally. Ally skips out on her father's rehabilitation program. She and Rebecca head to the mall. Ally's focus in life seldom has been outside her tennis career pursuits. At the mall, Ally and Rebecca cross paths with Lindsay Benfield (Sasha Formoso) and friends who recognize Ally Smash from the cover of "Hot T" magazine. Rebecca tries to ingratiate herself with the high school's most popular girls but is given little consideration. Ally compares viewing Rebecca's world like going to the zoo.

Ally tells Rebecca she is looking for something to do. Rebecca works at the hot dog stand at the mall and employs Ally as a costumed mascot for the business. Farrell and friends Nate (Mark Elias) and Stuart (Steven Christopher Parker) find Ally at the mall and tease her with a flurry of hot dog puns. Dave stops at the stand looking for his daughter, but Rebecca denies knowing her whereabouts. Ally gets in a territorial disagreement with the pizza stand mascot and a fight ensues. Farrell, Nate, and Stuart mange to distract Dave so his daughter is not discovered working at her new job. In response, Ally agrees to start training with Farrell the next morning.

Over the next few days, Ally puts Farrell through a series of physical challenges and offering famous inspirational quotes. In the process, Farrell learns that Ally has never had a normal life including never eating ice cream. Farrell and Ally are about to play one game of tennis, when Dave Mash finds them on the court. Ally's father is obsessive about Ally's ranking, training and rehabilitation. Ally tells her father that her strength and conditioning coach approved her working with Farrell to maintain her fitness. Before he leaves, Dave advised Farrell that there will be consequences if Farrell messes up Ally's tennis game. Farrell says that Ally's father's nature is the result of a life deprived of ice cream.

As Ally indulges in a cup of ice cream with Farrell, Nate flirts with Rebecca at the hot dog stand. The popular girls invite Ally to their beach party but want to exclude Ally's friends. Farrell rejects Ally's invitation for her because of the timing of his qualifying tournament in the La Jolla Cup championship.

Ally is watching Farrell run the stairs at the stadium. Ally learns that Farrell has a different view on tennis. Farrell's parents put no pressure on Farrell. Farrell sees tennis as a way to get to pay for college and build a life for himself. Ally tells Farrell that "tennis is her life." She is willing to forego friends, parties, all the other stuff that goes along with being a high school student.

Ally is among the few fans at Farrell's first round match. She signs an autograph over Katina Upranova's face on a magazine cover. Ally skips out of a massage session when Amy describes how she will employ her feet in giving Ally a deep tissue treatment. Farrell wins his third round match. Ally has a session with her sports psychologist, Dr. Jim. Dr. Jim tries to get Ally to personify what her ankle might be saying to her as it is near the time it will be released from her boot. Ally gains assurance that she has a doctor patient confidentiality agreement with Dr. Jim so her dad will not find out what happens at their sessions. Then she promptly ends the session to see Farrell win in the fourth round of his tournament.

Dave discovers his daughter is not at the yoga session scheduled with his wife and Vivica. Ally is at Farrell's quarterfinal match where Farrell's coach (Billy St. John) heaps advice on him before the match. Ally notices Farrell's shoes is untied. Farrell is pumped after his winning performance and gives credit to Ally for his improvement. Then as he is about to ask Ally out on a date, Red Bull hurries in and warns Ally that her dad is furious that Ally has missed her rehabilitation sessions to hang out with Farrell. Ally accepts the date with Farrell anyway.

Farrell takes Ally to a gymnasium where she thinks they are going to play basketball. When Farrell turns on the lights, Ally discovers that the gym is decorated for the prom Ally did not attend. Farrell's friend Stuart presents Ally with his mother's wedding dress to wear as a gown and Farrell reveals a tuxedo t-shirt which he covers with a sports coat. Nate appears with a camera to take a photo to commemorate the evening. Ally asks what people do at prom. Farrell explains that they make fun of how people are dressed, complain about the cost of the tux and limo ride, hang out with their friends and dance. As they dance, Ally tells Farrell that he is unpredictable. Farrell says that is the strength of his tennis game, as he may not be as talented as others but can outthink them. Ally believes that the strength of her game is doing the predictable better than others. Ally admits that her life needs to become more than just tennis, because she feels she is not as good as people think. Ally declares herself just to be an average player. Farrell tells her that Ally is anything but average and is about to kiss her when a men's basketball league members hit the lights and claim the gym space.

When Ally arrives home, she has a confrontation with her father who chastises her for not training and spending time with a subpar athlete. Ally defends Farrell and blames her father for not allowing her to rise up after she fell at her last match. Dave explains that he wanted his daughter to maintain her ranking, but Ally realizes that her father did not believe she could win. Ally believes that how one competes is the most important thing, but Dave is only concerned with chalking up victories.

Ally is courtside when Farrell plays Dennis Gwynn in the semi-final match at La Jolla. Farrell is garnering more female fans but he finds Ally and calls her his good luck charm. Farrell wins 6-4, 6-3. After the match, Farrell is photographed with the other finalists including Katina. To wish Farrell luck, Katina kisses Farrell in front of the cameras. Ally witnesses the kiss and leaves.

In response, Ally takes off the boot, sheds her crutches and returns to training. She also takes time to buy some fashionable clothes at the mall. Ally is not returning Farrell's text messages and is nowhere to be seen at Farrell's final match. Farrell performs badly in from of the S.C.U. coach. Ally attends the beach party with the popular girls. Rebecca follows her to the party. Rebecca calls out Ally for being a bad friend by going to a party that she was intentionally not invited to and abandoning her loyalty.

Back at home, Ally is relaxing when her mother enters. She asks Ally why she plays tennis and reminds her that it is a choice. She reminds Ally that all we are is the sum of our choices. Ally realizes she made some bad choices, but her mother says they are not irreversible. Ally chooses ice cream hidden in the freezer. Ally says that ice cream is everything that is bad for her, yet exactly what she needs.

Ally goes to Farrell's place. She apologizes for not being there for Farrell at his final match at La Jolla and says that she has forgiven him for kissing Katina. Farrell explains that Katina is like a toxic mutant who kissed him explaining he would never willing kiss Katina. Ally asks Farrell why he plays tennis. Farrell responds that it is a good game, fun, and a way he could attend college. Ally says she has a new reason why she plays tennis and shows him their entry as a mixed doubles team in the junior championship. Farrell declines initially because of Ally's father's intimidation, but Ally says this is her choice and they decide to train together. Before that, however, Ally returns to the mall and receives forgiveness from Rebecca for the way Ally disrespected her.

On registration day at the American Junior Championships, Ally enters both the singles and mixed doubles tournament with Farrell Gambles. Katina taunts Ally about her doubles entry until Farrell defend Ally by telling her that Ally is in both tournaments and is twice the player Katina is. Ally's father attempts to forbid Ally from endangering her chances to go pro by playing doubles, but Ally says it is her choice, not her fathers.

As the tournament begins Ally advances through the bracket in both singles and doubles while participating in non-tennis activities like basketball, swimming and mini golf and indulging in ice cream with Farrell in between matches. On one occasion, Ally has to play back-to-back matches. Ally and Farrell reach the mixed doubles championship against the Christmans. Farrell's friends speculate whether Farrell and Ally's relationship is romantic. Dave Nash finds his seat as the match begins. At match point, Ally again falls but Farrell backs her up and hits the match winning shot. The final score is 6-3, 6-4. Farrell rushes over to Ally. Ally says she just slipped and is okay. Ally and Farrell share celebratory hugs.

Later that night, Farrell visits Ally's hotel room and congratulates Ally (and himself) on their victory. He asks Ally to go to the amusement park, but Ally declines. Inside her room, Ally returns her injured foot to a bucket of ice, not wanting Farrell or anyone else to know she has been reinjured.

The next day, Nate gives Rebecca a science fiction movie collectable as a token of his affection. Ally's father finds Ally in the locker room with her foot in ice. Dave throws his prized Open trophy in the trash, telling Ally that he realizes the best day of his life was not his victory but when Ally was born. He tells Ally that whether she goes pro or goes to college with Farrell that he will support her.

Prior to the junior singles championship match, Ally tells Katina that during their previous match, Katina was the better player but, even despite her sore ankle, there is no way Katina will win on that day. Ally then gives protective gear to the ball girl to the cheers of the crowd. Ally's friends reveal t-shirts that spell A-L-L-Y on the reverse. Ally falls behind in the first set 3-2. Both players make point winning shots, but Ally loses the first set, 6-4.

The second set is quite even and reaches the tie breaker at 6-6. Ally falls behind early in the tie breaker but fights back and finally wins the second set, 7-6. The third sets starts out 4-4. Ally holds service and leads 5-4 and then wins the first three points with Katina serving. Katina increases the velocity of her services and scores two aces. Ally finally returns one and, after a long rally, wins the point and the match, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Ally thanks the officials, avoids the press interviews and runs to Farrell and surprises him with a kiss. She claims to Farrell that she can be unpredictable too. Nate also shares a kiss with Rebecca. Ally's mother takes Dave for ice cream leaving Ally to enjoy her championship moment with Farrell.