October 29th, Dateline Ali Bey Manavgat, near Antalya, Turkey
USA Super Senior Cup teams won four of the nine Cups held in Turkey on October 28th. Two American teams placed second, one was third, one fourth and one fifth.
The men’s and women’s 70s, men’s 60s and women’s 65s teams were victorious. The men’s 80s and 75s finished second. The remaining teams were the men’s 65s, third; women’s 75s, fourth, and women’s 60s, fifth.
The men’s 60s played Switzerland today. Hugh Thompson got the USA off to a good start with a straight set win at #2 singles. Mike Beautyman followed at #1 singles and lost a tough 3-setter. Charlie Hoeveler and Dick Johnson played the doubles for the Americans and won the doubles convincingly to clinch the tie and retain the Von Cramm Cup for the USA.
The men’s 70s played the Peter Froehlich-led Australian team. Herm Ahlers continued his fine play at #2 singles, winning in straight sets to start the USA off 1-0. Ahlers was the only player on the team who did not drop a set all week. Froehlich and the wind played havoc with Gordon Davis’ game and the Aussies leveled the tie at 1-1. Bob Duesler/Jim Nelson, American “golden” slam winners this year in 70 doubles formed a wall at the net that the Aussies could not penetrate. They won 63 61, sealing the Crawford Cup win for the Americans.
The women’s 70s played France in the final. Burnette Herrick had a tough match at #2 singles, but finally won the match in three sets to put the USA up 1-0. Dori deVries followed with a nearly flawless performance at #1 singles, winning 60 60 to give the USA an unsurmountable 20 lead. Belmar Gunderson/Mary Boswell made that 3-0 with a close but straight set victory in the doubles.
The women’s 65s played at Belek and won both singles against France, with Suella Steel playing #2 singles and Charleen Hillebrand playing #1. They won the tie 2-1. Susanne Clark/Grace Woo played doubles. They won the Kitty Godfree Cup. Last year the USA finished 5th in this event.
The men’s 80s, the Gardnar Mulloy Cup, was won by the top seeds, Austria, over the USA. Tony Franco got the Americans off to a great start with a quick win over Oskar Jirkovsky at #2 singles. It was Franco’s first win over Jirkovsky. Laci Legenstein put in an impressive performance against Graydon Nichols at #1 singles, winning 60 62. He used his racquet like a magic wand, placing the ball wherever he wished. Franco and Nichols played Jirkovsky/Legenstein in the deciding doubles match. They were blanked in the first set but looked likely to level the match at a set apiece when they were up 5-3 in the 2nd set. The Austrians rallied to force a tiebreaker, which they won 7-3. The 2nd set was highly entertaining, lots of lobs, angles and extended rallies.
The men’s 75s fell to Canada in a repeat of last year’s final. It was an excellent result though for the Americans who were playing without their #1 player, Russell Seymour. Seymour hurt his pectoral muscle on the first day of practice and was unable to serve the rest of the week. Chuck deVoe and George McCabe played the singles the rest of the week.
The men’s 65s fell to Austria in the semis, but won the ¾ playoff to finish third. Austria won the Britannia Cup.
The women’s 75s had a tough week. They lost today to Canada 2-1. It was a very close match. Jane Lutz won at #2 singles over Joyce Jones. Louise Russ then took on Rosie Asch who beat her 63 62 earlier in the week. This time Russ won the first set, but dropped the 2nd. She looked to be on her way to a win, up 53 in the third, but Asch rallied and won the set 76. Asch/Jones then beat Suzanne Ryerson/Russ 75 63 to take third for Canada. Great Britain won the Queens Cup for the first time, beating New Zealand in the final. USA had never lost a Queens Cup up till this year, but the event is becoming more popular each year.
The women’s 60s finished strongly after losing to France, the #1 seed, in the round robin portion of the event. They beat Japan today 3-0 to place fifth. Germany edged France to win the Alice Marble Cup over France 2-1.
Click here for all results on the ITF Seniors Web site.