NATCHEZ — For Ivana Thornton and Briana Brown, tennis happens wherever they are.

Thornton, 14, a resident of New Jersey, came down to Natchez for the summer to visit her grandmother. Brown, 13, recently moved to Natchez with her mother after her father, who is in the military, was assigned to Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg. Both girls have been practicing with Duncan Park Tennis Director Henry Harris.

Harris has been an athletics coach in the area for more than 40 years. He said his relationship with the girls’ mothers, both of whom are originally from Natchez, is what led to them coming under his tutelage.

“Their parents played sports (here),” Harris said. “Briana’s mom ran track and did basketball. Ivana’s mom played a little tennis.

“When Ivana’s grandmother called and said she’d be in town playing tennis, I said, ‘Bring her out.’ Briana’s mom brought her out.”

Coming from two different parts of the country, both Thornton and Brown’s stories about first becoming interested in tennis are very different.

“I’ve been playing for about four years,” Brown said. “I rode by watching people in Hawaii from Tripler (Army Medical Center) playing tennis, and I just decided I wanted to play.”

Thornton hasn’t been playing as long as Brown, and her reasons for picking up the sport were more family-based.

“I’ve been playing tennis for two years,” Thornton said. “My mom played tennis for a while, so I just started taking up after her.”

Brown credited Harris with improving her game since he began working with her over the summer.

“(He’s been working with me on) my serve,” Brown said. “I really need to work on my ‘curve’ serve and my forehand.”

Thornton also said Harris did a good job helping improve her technique.

“He just tells me I need to bend my knees more, and if I have a question about how to swing and hit a ball, he’ll go through it with me,” Thornton said.

Getting to know each other while taking tennis lesson naturally led to Brown and Thornton developing a rivalry within their friendship that comes out when they square off on the court.

“We get pretty competitive,” Thornton said.

Harris has also noticed the competitiveness between the girls.

“The competitive part came after they got to be friends,” Harris said. “Nobody wanted to play anybody, nobody wanted to make the other one look bad, so they just hit around, and then they got relaxed and started playing each other.”

Thornton left to go back to New Jersey on Friday. Staying in the South for a couple of months has opened her eyes to just how different the culture is from up North.

“We talk different,” Thornton said, “And people kind of keep to (themselves). We don’t really wave when cars go by (up North). Down here everyone waves. It’s a lot more friendly and comfortable down here.”

Thornton will play tennis for Columbia High School when she returns to New Jersey. Brown, however, has not had the opportunity to play high school tennis yet.

“I’ve done tournaments, but in Hawaii they don’t really have tennis in school,” Brown said.

When playing in tennis tournaments, Brown said she would get nervous wondering what the other person thinks. This forced her to develop a certain mindset to help calm the nerves.

“I always look at them as if they’re my best friend that I’m playing,” Brown said. “I never really think or anything, I just hit and do my best.”