NATCHEZ — Mila Robb was already at a disadvantage when she started her tennis career a year ago.

The 14-year-old Trinity Episcopal Day School eighth grader had been battling tendonitis in her wrist since the fourth grade. But she wants to play tennis and is learning to play through her pain, she said.

“It can be difficult, and it hurts sometimes,” Robb said.

Robb began personal lessons with Duncan Park Tennis Director Henry Harris in the summer, and he found a couple of ways to aid her pain, including getting her a new racket.

“It definitely helps,” she said. “It’s a lot lighter.”

Along with easing some of her pain, Harris has also helped Robb become a better player, and she said she is ready to move up from the Trinity B-team to the varsity squad this year.

“At first I wasn’t very good, but I’ve gotten better,” she said. “I think I am (ready to move up).”

Harris said he too has seen improvement in Robb’s ability.

“She is getting good,” he said. “She’s getting a bunch of balls back, and she’s starting to hit the ball where she wants it to go. But whether she’s ready or not, she is going to have to be.”

Trinity lost two seniors, Abbey Ashmore and Allie Boothe, off last year’s team, and Robb is one of the younger players that will have to step into a bigger role, Harris said.

Playing on the B-team helped Robb prepare for this year, even though she struggled at times, she said.

“It helped me learn to handle the pressure and rise to challenges,” she said.

As a young player, Robb said she is still learning her strengths and weaknesses, and she wants to improve all facets of her game.

But Robb will continue to play through the pain this year, because her wrist injury comes and goes during the course of a match, she said.

“I’m kind of getting used to it,” she said.