Click here to see the draws and results.
The first Level 2/ITF S700 and Level 1 Mixed since early last March began Thursday in Palm Desert (just east of Palm Springs) in the California Desert. Summer landed as well…it was over 100 today (about 38 Celsius) with bright sunny skies.
The tournament began with the 35s, 40s and 45s, moving on to the 50s yesterday and the 55s today.
The main venue is at Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Desert but there are several other venues in the area being used.
I practiced in the morning (I don’t play till Wednesday) before visiting my parents and cooking Easter lunch (happy Easter everyone!). It was nice at 8:30, but noticeably warmer, in the 90s by 10. It’s a dry heat but once it hits 100, it’s hot, especially on hard courts where the concrete absorbs and reflects the heat upwards.
I went over to check in for the tournament and ran into most of my recent practice partners, who had mostly had a successful day on court.
Despite issues with the USTA website, the seeders did a great job seeding this event, with very few upsets. Below is a quick overview of the action to date.
In the mixed 50, which is a Level 1, Bozeman/Mills took out #5 seeded Carruth/Heroux in 3 sets to reach the quarter; the other 7 seeds advanced in straight sets.
In 35 mixed O’Neil/Robertson took out the #1 and #2 seeds, both in close matches to win the tournament.
Men’s Singles
The top two seeds, Trent Aaron/Hiromi Sasano (2)will take on Henry/Pang (1) in the 40 mixed final.
Stephen Robertson (1) beat SanadRasheed (2) to win the 35 singles
In the 40 singles, Rob Condiotty edged #4 Marin Parker’s to reach the semis along with JR Chidley, Shibu Lal and Jesse Schouten.
In the 45s, Nicolas Chasseray beat #2 Ryan Pang to reach the semis along with William Casas (3), Leon Bax (4) and Jesse Walter (1)
In the 50s, Oren Motevassel (1) withdrew before the start of play with an injury, as did #4 seeded Julien Heine. Kevin Smith upset #5 Pontus Swenson and Steve Heroux took out #5 Esteban Altuna, leaving only 4 seeds in the final 8.
In contrast to the 50s, the final 8 in the men’s 55s are the 8 seeds, led by Dan Goldie (2) and Peter Smith (1) .
The huge men’s 60 draw (128) is out to the round of 32 without any upsets; Bill Moss and Mike Fedderly are the top 2 seeds.
Women’s Singles
In women’s singles, there was no 35s division (a few players entered but withdrew).
Christen Bartelt (1)played down but won the 40s convincingly, beating #2 seeded Christine Lee in the final.
In the 45s, the top half was all upsets, with Pernilla Putnick beating top seeded Farrah Northcott 4,5 and then Yoko Tanko (0,6); Tanko beat the #4 seed, Kimberly Allen. Putnick takes on #2 seeded Tanya O’Neil in the final; she beat the #3 seed Michele Mouttapa-Matek in the other semi.
The 50s final is between Marlo Carruth (1) and unseeded Michele Rudi. The two took far different paths to the final; Carruth winning her semi 61 ret (inj) while Rudi edged #2 seeded Mariko Atoji 76 in the third.
The two seeded players in the 55s, Judy Newman (1) and Jenny Keller (2) are in the semis without hitting a ball (bye for Newman, default for Keller).
Men’s Doubles
Cohen/Sablan won the 35 RR doubles.
Condiotty/Richards beat the top 2 seeds to win the 40 doubles.
Mike Brown/Rodolfo Rodriguez won the 45 doubles, taking out Bax/Chasseray (2) in the semis and unseededJeff Schlotterback/Jesse Walter in the final.
The Men’s 50 are only out to the quarters with no upsets.
Women’s Doubles
Julianna Gates/Lauren Lancaster (2)won the 35 doubles upsetting Tarrin Dougherty/Caroline Vis 76 67 64 in the final.
Pernilla Putnick/Chotika Wannachinda won the round ronin 40 doubles over Angela Henry/Amy Rogers (76 in the third)
Shannon DeVall and Tanya O’Neil won the 45 round robin doubles with Susie Duffy/Brahma Pastorini finishing 2nd.
Krista Oconnor /Lisa Traylor beat top seeded Trina Eggers/Wendy Elliott in 3 sets and face Julie Silverado/Mary Beth Williams in the final; they beat the #2 seeds Nancy Daly/Rochelle Whelan in straight sets.
All four seeds in W55 are in the semis.