A Senior Tennis (USA and International) & Travel website by Carolyn Nichols
Applications for 2021 Senior Cup Teams Now Closed
The application for a spot on one of the Senior Cup teams (Men/Women 50/55/60+) are now closed.
Applications will closed Jan 10, 2021
The Cups will take place in June in Umag, Croatia. (Coronavirus permitting).
The application will remain open till January 10, 2021.
Read more about the Cups and view the timeline here.
2021 ITF Seniors (50-55-60) To Be Held in Umag, Croatia June 6-19, 2021
The 2021 ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships will take place in Umag, Croatia from Sunday 6 June – Saturday 19 June 2021.
From the ITF press release which can be found here.
The International Tennis Federation is pleased to announce that the ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships are now scheduled to be held in Umag, Croatia in June 2021.
The ITF Seniors Committee approved the alternative venue to hold the 50-55-60 World Team Championships from Sunday 6 – Friday 11 June and the 50-55-60 World Individual Championships from Saturday 12 – Saturday 19 June 2021. This follows the decision announced last month that the Championships would not be held as originally scheduled in Boca Raton & Palm Beach Gardens, USA due to the ongoing impact and uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ITF will continue to monitor the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and work closely with tournament hosts and the relevant authorities to prepare for this event. The priority in all decision making will remain the health and safety of participants. Nations and players are also advised to wait until the tournament fact sheet is published, expected in January 2021, before making travel and/or accommodation arrangements.
The full schedule of ITF Seniors World Championships in 2021 is now complete with the Young Seniors World Team & Individual Championships also in Umag from 12-25 September and the ITF Super-Seniors World Team & Individual Championships in Mallorca, Spain from 10-23 October 2021.
Matt Byford, ITF Juniors & Seniors manager said “The ITF is delighted that an alternative host for our Seniors World Championships has been secured so quickly and would like to thank the Croatian Seniors Tennis Association, Croatian Tennis Association, Plava Laguna and the City of Umag for their cooperation. The World Team & Individual Championships are a great highlight of the ITF Seniors calendar and it is fantastic for our playing community that they can now look ahead to June 2021 after the unfortunate cancellation of the event this year.”
The USTA Board has approved the Senior International Selection Committee’s extension and revision of the eligibility (minimum play) requirement and timelines as follows:
The application deadline for the 2020 Young-Seniors and 2020 Super-Seniors has been extended thirty days from the original deadline; For Young Seniors May 11th and Super Seniors May 31st.
The USTA Board has approved the relaxation of the eligibility (minimum play) requirements for 2020 (For Young Seniors and Super Seniors ONLY) and for Young Seniors, Seniors and Super Seniors for 2021 as follows:
1: A Category I USTA Championship must be played within 24 months prior to the posting of the Final Applicant List on USTA.com OR
2: A Category 2 or Super Category 2 event must be played within 12 months prior to the posting of the Final Applicant List on USTA.com
What does this mean?
A: Super Seniors can apply here to be considered for a 2020 Super Senior team up till May 31, 2020
Super Seniors must have played a Category I within 24 months of June 9, 2020 or a Category II or Super Category II within 12 months of June 9, 2020.
B: Young Seniors can apply here to be considered for a 2020 Young Senior team up till May 11, 2020
Young Seniors must have played a Category I within 24 months of May 19, 2020 or a Category II or Super Category II within 12 months of May 19, 2020.
The original Guidelines can be found here: USTA International Selection Guidelines. Section 7 is amended as described above.
The new timelines can be found here.
Alice Marble Cup Team Defeats Brazil; USA M60 Advance on Sunday in Portugal; USA Goes 6/0 on Day 1
Lisbon, Portugal
Today was the start of the ITF Seniors World Team Championships. We played Brazil today, starting at 9:30. I played #2 singles and won 60 60; Diane played #1 and won by the same score and Susan Wright/Robin Harris played flawlessly in doubles to complete the win.
After we won our tie, we wandered over to the men’s 60 match (on court 24 of 24). They had started the day at a deficit, dropping #2 singles (Ross Persons) but Mark Vines won at #1 fairly comfortably (dropping 4 games) and Danny Waldman/Mike Tammen played great doubles to win the match 62 62.
We then went to watch Tracy Houk play #1 singles for the USA women’s 55 team. Vicki Buholz won at #2 singles, but Tracy was in a dogfight…which 4 hours and 50 minutes later she lost so it came down to the doubles, at which time we left. The USA won the doubles, 60 36 63, with Vicki Buholz and Mary Dailey taking the doubles point.
On our way out we saw the USA men’s 55 take on Portugal on the Center Court. It was a very noisy, pro Portugal crowd watching. Stu Saiki won at #2 singles and rookie Cup player Leo Young, playing his first ever Cup match was put in at #1 singles. He dropped the first set 64, then we had to leave. However, the USA team did win the tie 2-1, winning the doubles point.
The Women’s 50s won 3/0 in Estoril, dropping only four games. The USA Men’s 50s won 3/0 over Bolivia. Both teams are off tomorrow.
Susan, Robin and I walked up the Park Eduardo VII to the bridge, which had a fantastic view over Lisbon to the sea, with a maze below the bridge leading to buildings, then to the sea.
We then walked to the El Corte Ingles and went to the grocery store of course. That one is huge. I got fresh squid and cooked it for dinner…along with salmon for the less adventurous.
We have the day off and will practice early tomorrow. Tuesday we take on Spain.
Blog Articles:
Dates, Locations of 2020 World Championships
The ITF Seniors Committee are very pleased to communicate the following dates and venues for the 2020 World Team & Individual Championships.
2020 Young-Seniors World Championships (35/40/45)
Location: Umag, Croatia
Team Event: Sunday 13 September up to Saturday 19 September 2020
Individual Event: Saturday 19 September to Saturday 26 September 2020
2020 Seniors World Championships (50/55/60) April 23 update: postponed to 2021
Location: Boca Raton & Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Team Event (Boca Raton) – Sunday 26 April up to Saturday 2 May 2020
Individual Event (Palm Beach Gardens) – Saturday 2 May to Saturday 9 May 2020
2020 Super-Seniors World Championships (65/70/75/80/85)
Location: Mallorca, Spain
Team Event: Sunday 11 October up to Saturday 17 October 2020
Individual Event: Saturday 17 October to Saturday 24 October 2020
Read more at https://www.itftennis.com/news/302706.aspx#8zoTXWLXAlHrkmWP.99
USA Sweeps Day Three at ITF World Team Championships, Umag
Tuesday September 18, 2018
San Diego, CA, USA
The USA went eight for eight on Day three of the 2018 ITF World Team Championships in Umag, Croatia
The Kitty Godfree Cup team (W65s) were merciless against Sweden, dropping only two games in three matches! they advance now to the semifinals. Wendy McColsky & Tina Karwasky played singles; Vicky McEvoy/Judy Dixon won the doubles. Since medals are awarded for 1st-4th place, they are guaranteed a medal…now the only question is what color?
The Althea Gibson Cup team (W70) won 3/0 against Great Britain but not without a fight; Molly Hahn at #2 singles edged her opponent 64 in the third; Brenda Carter won easily at #1 singles and Liane Bryson/Betty Wachob fought hard to win 75 75. They are now in the semis of the playoff group for gold.
Photos for W70 team courtesy of Brenda Carter.
The Queens Cup (W75) beat Australia 2/1. Cathie Anderson dropped only two games at #2 singles; Charleen Hillebrand fell to Judy Hancy at #1 singles in three tight sets, but Hillebrand/Suella Steel won the doubles with the loss of only three games. They are guaranteed a medal too, since there are three teams in the playoff group for gold.
The Doris Hart Cup beat Germany 3/0 without the loss of a set. Dori DeVries at #2 and Roz King at #1 won the singles and Carol Wood/Burnett Herrick won the doubles point. They are now in the semis and play #2 seed Canada tomorrow. Canada finished second in their group of four, falling 2/1 to Great Britain today.
The Britannia Cup (M65) swept Great Britain 3/0. Tom Smith made his first singles appearance of the week at #2; Dave Sivertson won at #1 and Paul Wulf/Lenny Wofford won the doubles in three sets, getting better with each set, 36 63 60. They play Netherlands in the quarters in ATP stadium tomorrow. If you want to get up early, the match will be live streamed! (The ITF draws the byes randomly and #2 seeded Austria got on the one bye in the 1-7 playoff group).
The Jack Crawford Cup (M70) had a bye today and plays South Africa tomorrow in the 9-16 playoff group.
The Bitsy Grant Cup (M75) team beat Japan today 3/0, with Fred Drilling at #2 and Jimmy Parker at #1 each dropping only a game; Don Long and Michael Stewart won 64 62. They play Germany in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
The Gardnar Mulloy Cup (M80) dominated Czech Republic 3/0 with Lester Sack at #2 singles, Kaz Saito at #1 (and playing his first cup) winning the singles and Jerald Hayes/Lloyd Goldwater winning the doubles point. The team dropped only four games today. The team is now in the semifinals.
The Men’s 85 are playing a five team round robin. Today they beat Sweden 3/0, dropping only eight games behind the singles play of Saul Snyder and Joe Russel and doubles pairing of Chuck Nelson/George McCabe. They are 3/0 and just need to win one more match for the gold. Tomorrow they have the day off, and they play Australia Thursday or Friday.
Please click on the following links below to view the draws and order of play for the 2018 ITF Super-Seniors World Team Championships.
The USA Women’s 60 Team, the Alice Marble Cup, is the first USA team into the final in Ulm Germany. Today we beat France 3/0 behind strong singles performances by Susan Wright and Diane Barker and a strong doubles performance by Carolyn Nichols and Pat Purcell. Wright played a nearly flawless match against Benedict LeGrand, dropping only four points in the first set and winning the match 60 61. Barker followed with a hard fought win over Betty Michel at #1 singles, winning 63 75. Michel is a great mover, especially on clay (as is Barker) and has a terrific backhand drop shot. Barker though was the more aggressive player and much more willing to come forward to finish points. Nichols/Purcell played steady, aggressive tennis to beat Michel/LeGrand 63 62 to make it a clean sweep.
We face a very strong Australian team in the final, led by Ros Balodis and Lyn Mortimer. They beat Great Britain today, winning both singles in straight sets.
My doubles partner, Robin Harris, arrived today from San Diego…a very long trip, involving three flights. Of course after tennis we then went to a grocery store, this time a new Rewe. Unfortunately they didn’t have the brand of yogurt Susan prefers (Fage, Greek), but they did have good produce and more variety of products than the Aldi or Lidl…but no peanut butter! (They did have fluffy nuts though).
We went into Ulm for dinner with Michael Hughes of the USTA and Jack and Diane. We went to a restaurant near the Ulm Cathedral but this time we parked in a parking garage, which was a much better experience than street parking! Though driving is going a bit better (I have a new copilot…long story). I tried to see the interior of the cathedral but it was closed. The outside though is pretty impressive.
In other USA play, the Men’s 55 had a bye into the semis; the Men’s 50s lost in the third set of the deciding doubles to a very tough Russian team; the Men’s 60s advanced to the semis; the women’s 50s and 55s both won deciding doubles matches. The USA W50s played Spain and rallied from a 0/1 deficit after Spain took the #2 spot over Ros Nideffer. Debbie Spence Nasim won at #1 and Ros/Debbie barely lost a game in winning the doubles point.
Mary Dailey/Vicki Buholz won the deciding point in the women’s 55.
In men’s 50, Eoin Collins beat Andre Chesnokov a former top 20 player after USA lost the #2 singles.
Please click on the following links to view the Draws and Results:
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Fred Perry Cup (M50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maria Esther Bueno Cup (W50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Austria Cup (M55)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maureen Connolly Cup (W55)
2018 ITF Seniors Von Cramm Cup (M60)
2018 ITF Seniors Alice Marble Cup (W60)
Draws for the individual world championships are here.
Tomorrow we have a day off before playing the final on Friday. The individual world championships begin on Saturday.
USA Marble Cup Team (W60) Advances to Semis in Ulm, Germany
The USA Alice Marble Cup team concluded round robin play by beating Argentina 2/1 behind strong singles performances of Susan Wright (winning 61 60 at #2) and Diane Barker (60 60 at #1). Pat Purcell and I unfortunately lost our doubles 62 75 to a very good team, Patricia Candegabe and Beatrix Villavere, the latter of whom is a superb doubles player and Candegabe played and served extremely well too…tough loss but a learning experience.
I went upstairs to the SSV clubhouse to get ice (and it was there!) and took some photos from the terrace. I have lots of other photos but the cell service here is too slow to upload them…perhaps over wifi at the club one day. We’ve been playing on back courts, so there hasn’t been a chance to get connected there.
Tomorrow we play France for a spot in the final, while Australia faces Great Britain in the other semifinal.
All six USA teams (men’s and women 50/55/60) won today, so all start either in quarters tomorrow except our team which is in the semis. Men’s 55 received a bye into the semis so have an off day tomorrow.
Please click on the following links to view the Draws and Results:
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Fred Perry Cup (M50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maria Esther Bueno Cup (W50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Austria Cup (M55)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maureen Connolly Cup (W55)
2018 ITF Seniors Von Cramm Cup (M60)
2018 ITF Seniors Alice Marble Cup (W60)
Draws for the individual world championships are here.
USA Marble Cup Team Beats Norway
The USA Marble Cup team won its first round robin match at the ITF World Team championships today against Norway. Susan Wright won at #2 singles 62 60; Diane Barker followed at #1 singles and won 61 60. Pat Purcell and I finished the tie winning 61 60. We play all matches on the same court; today that was court 8.
We started today with warm up around 7:30 and finished just after noon. There must be a lot of churches around since at 11 and especially at noon the church bells started ringing. It was very nice to hear.
I signed the scorecard (four times!) and we returned the water bottles (the system is that each team has one token, good for 6 liters of water; fail to return any bottle and it costs a euro, about $1.15). We returned all bottles!
By the time we finished playing, the club was packed. We are playing at SSV Ulm and TK Ulm which are separate clubs but literally right next to each other…they use the same check in desk for the tournament even though there are two club houses. The men’s 50 play starting around 12:30 so those teams were arriving and most other 8:30 matches were playing #1 singles or doubles.
I watched a bit of the men’s 55 against Russia. Stu Saiki looked to be in trouble for a while then suddenly won 26 50 retired. Bill Moss picked up a win at #1 singles to clinch the tie. This red clay is a challenge to many of the players.
A couple of Americans came by to watch, Michael Hughes from the USTA and Joann the massage person who is there. Jack Barker watched too. It’s always nice to have some home country support.
We left around 1pm and had the idea of running some errands, going to the grocery store etc…then I remembered it was Sunday and everything (other than the churches, restaurants, and gas stations) is closed. So we went home and did laundry.
Pat was trying to work; I was trying to get my photos edited and do a bit of blogging; Susan was a bit at loose ends because there’s no WiFi here and she has no data and she was stuck with 2 introverts. (Robin, we need you here!). But we passed the time well enough, I cooked dinner and we are going to bed early because we decided to practice very early tomorrow since it may rain in the afternoon. We have the day off tomorrow as do all 6 of the American teams.
Draws are here:
Please click on the following links to view the Draws and Results:
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Fred Perry Cup (M50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maria Esther Bueno Cup (W50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Austria Cup (M55)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maureen Connolly Cup (W55)
2018 ITF Seniors Von Cramm Cup (M60)
2018 ITF Seniors Alice Marble Cup (W60)
Draws for the individual world championships are here.
USA Alice Marble Cup Team Seeded #1 At World Team Championships
The USA Women’s 60 team (Diane Barker, Susan Wright, Carolyn Nichols, Captain, and Pat Purcell) are seeded #1 in the ITF World Team Championships in Ulm, Germany. Australia is #2, Great Britain #3 and France #4. USA is in a group with Norway and Argentina (the 8th seed). A strong Australian team led by Ros Balodis and Lyn Mortimer will challenge the dominance of the USA in this age division. USA play Norway tomorrow, Sunday at 8;30 am.
The USA Women’s 55 team (Shelly Works, Captain, Vicki Buholz, Tracy Houk and Mary Dailey) is seeded #3 behind #1 Germany and #2 Australia. GBR, Netherlands, France and Italy complete the seeds. USA is in a group of three, with Sweden and Turkey.
The USA Women’s 50 team (Debbie Spence Nasim, Ros Nideffer, Captain, Jenny Klitch and Andrea Rice) are the #2 seeds behind #1 Germany. . France, Italy, Gr. Britain and Spain complete the seeds. USA is in a group with Australia and Austria.
The men’s 60 team (Mark Vines, Max Bucyxx, Ross Persons, Captain and Wes Cash) are seeded 2 and the men’s 50 (Eoin Collins, Captain) are seeded 5; the men’s 55 (Mike Tammen, Captain) are seeded 1 I think. I don’t have WiFi here and will add more details and photos sometime tomorrow.
Draws are here:
Please click on the following links to view the Draws and Results:
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Fred Perry Cup (M50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maria Esther Bueno Cup (W50)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Austria Cup (M55)
2018 ITF Seniors Teams Maureen Connolly Cup (W55)
2018 ITF Seniors Von Cramm Cup (M60)
2018 ITF Seniors Alice Marble Cup (W60)
USA Wins Men’s 55, Women’s 60s in Miami
The USA women’s 60 team cruised past Great Britain to win the Alice Marble Cup. Diane Barker lost 2 games, Susan Wright 8, in 4 matches over 6 days. Germany finished third. Congratulations to Barker, Wright, Pat Purcell and Leslie Murveit.
The men’s 55 team, Austria Cup, tied at a match apiece after singles, won the deciding doubles behind stellar play from Ken White (note correction) and Mike Tammen this morning to upset top seeded France, then beat #2 seeded Italy 3/0 to win the Cup. Bill Moss and Tammen won today in singles. Bill White completed the team. France won the bronze.
The men’s Von Cramm Cup team, M60, won bronze today over Spain quite easily. Ross Persons and Max Buyckx played singles today. Wes Cash and Sal Castillo completed the team. Australia won and France was second.
The USA Maria Bueno Cup team lost two very tight singles matches (Jenny Klitch, Roz Nideffer) to fall to Germany. Doubles wasn’t played. Shelly Works and Natalie Herreman-Bagby completed the team. Spain won the bronze.
In the Connolly Cup, W55, Australia won 🥇, Germany was 🥈and Great Britain was third. USA finished 5th.
In the Perry Cup, M50, #1 Italy beat #2 France. #6 Germany beat #3 Sweden. Germany quietly had very good results. USA men’s 50 ended up 8th.
Thanks to Leslie Airola and Denise Saiki for the women’s 60 and men’s 55 photos respectively.
Photos will be added to this post as I receive them.
Results and links to earlier Seniors Cup articles can be found here.
Semi finals started off with a light rain, which had us begin our 9:30am match, at 10:30, #2 player Fran Chandler, going up against Sue Webb of Great Britan. Fran started off strong, moving the Brit around, and not allowing her to get any momentum, winning the first set, 6-1. But, as the second set came around, so did Sue. She began to find her groove, and with a beautiful one hand slice backhand, began to shift the match into her groove. both ladies battled hard with drop shots, volley winners, and long rallies. Fran had 2 match points, but Sue fought hard, with a volley winner for one save, and a drop shot for the next. She then pulled off the set in a tie breaker to even the match at a set each. Unfortunately, the momentum stayed with Sue, and she won the final set, 6-0. Up next, was the #1 singles match, with Ros coming in a bit off, and the #1 brit started off strong, winning the first set 6-4. That didn’t sit well with Ros, and she manage to get her game going with a 6-3,6-2 finish to tie the score at 1-1. The deciding match, doubles, would determine which team would make it to the finals. Ros and Gretchen would make the team up and finish with a commanding win of 6-1,6-1, which sent us to the finals against France, who won earlier against Italy.
Finals : It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for the Finals. Sunny and warm, very little breeze. We were up against the French team that beat us last year, in Florida. We wanted revenge on their home court, this year. #2 singles started up with Fran playing their number two player, who Fran lost to last year. Unfortunately, we lost that match. next, Ros came on to play #1 singles against the player I lost to last year. it was going to be different this time around, with Ros on the team, 😉
There was no stopping Ros, as she played an incredible match, losing just one game, with a 6-0,6-1 win to tie the match at 1-1. Again, it would be determined by the doubles. And, I had the Dynamic Duo, Ros and Gretchen to play. They came on real strong, with big serves and volley winners, to win the first set 6-1. But the french wouldn’t back down. They put some of their own plays into action, and stayed ahead for most of the second set, 2-0,3-1 and 5-3. But, the americans found a way to dig deep, and close out the match 7-5, to get us our Championship win.
I couldn’t be more proud of this team. What a great effort everyone put in when needed. Thank you all for this wonderful opportunity.
The USA did well in the ITF Seniors World Team Championships, winning three of the four cups in which they were the top seed and finishing second in the Von Cramm Cup in which they were seeded #2.
The Alice Marble Cup, women’s 60 was the first to finish, behind singles wins by Carolyn Nichols and Tina Karwasky. About an hour later, the Maria Bueno Cup team, women’s 50, finished, winning 2/1 behind strong performances by Ros Nideffer, who won the #1 singles and the doubles point with Gretchen Rush for the second straight day. She demolished her singles opponent today!
The Austria Cup, men’s 55, came down the the doubles and finished late with the USA beating Spain 2/1.
The Von Cramm Cup team, men’s 60, lost to Australia.
The USA Men’s 60 team completed a dramatic come back win in the Von Cramm Cup to advance to the final tomorrow against Australia. Chris Bennett dropped the first singles match in straight sets. Bill Ashley at #1 then won in three sets, dropping the middle set before winning the final set 62, aided somewhat by his opponent having a pulled groin. Tom Smith and Paul Wulf won the decider 60 in the third.
.
Friday was an off day and for once I didn’t rise early to practice at 7am! I did run into Kathy Vick though and she hit indoors at 7am because it was raining in the morning. However, it cleared up by the afternoon and ended up being an lovely day.
We, Tina, Sherri, Wendy and I took a shuttle to the club for an 11am indoor clay practice and ended up playing for a couple of hours. The clay indoors is harder and faster but not vastly different from the outdoor variety here.
After practice we went to cheer on the USA Bueno Cup team, the 50s. When we went indoors, Fran Chandler had just won the first set against Sue Webb of Gr. Britain, so when we emerged from the indoor cocoon, we expected to see Ros Nideffer wrapping up the win. However…Sue came back from two match points down to beat Fran for the first time 16 76 60. Sue lives in Tennessee, same as Fran and they are good friends and have played on many teams, Senior Cup and Intersectionals, together in the USA.
As we finished practice, Ros was warming up to keep the US hopes for a title alive. The conditions were heavy and Ros took a while to adjust, playing a bit impatiently at first, but finished strongly and never looked in doubt of pulling out the win. Nonetheless, her team rooted for her vociferously. She won 46 63 61, winning nine of the last ten games to level the tie. Tracy Houk, the captain, went and changed the deciding doubles lineup from Tracy and Gretchen Rush to Gretchen and Ros and when I left they were up 61 3/0 behind impressive everything…serves, volleys, and especially overheads. Ros has won two French Open doubles titles and Gretchen is also superb in doubles and it showed.
USA advanced in the men’s 55, Austria Cup, to the final behind straight set wins by Mike Fedderly and Val Wilder.
USA is tied at 1/1 in the Men’s 60s, Von Cramm Cup. Bill Ashley,playing at #1 singles just finished a grueling three set win 75 67 62 around 6pm, so Tom Smith and Paul Wulf will play the deciding doubles.
USA had the day off in the Men’s 50s and Women’s 55 & 60s.
In summary: USA to play for Cup on Saturday in Women’s 50s (Bueno Cup) and 60s (Alice Marble) and Men’s 55 (Austria) ; USA to play for bronze in Women’s 55 (Connolly) ; USA to play for Cup or bronze in Men’s 60 (Von Cramm).
I biked back to the hotel along the beach today, here’s the Pornichet beach.
Last night there was the Gala Dinner at the ITF Seniors World Team Championships. All the players were invited and so we had a chance to see the men’s teams, which we hadn’t seen since the opening ceremonies.
I had stayed late to watch our two potential opponents play the third set of the doubles, Great Britain and France and it went to 7-5 in the third…no problem I thought…wrong, I’d sent my bag…with my bike key (!) with Sherri, the captain…and so had to get a ride back with Ann Clark who was watching the 60s play. (Thanks Ann!).
I rushed to make the 7pm bus, which left about 7:20. We got to the busy reception area for the dinner and had time to take a few photos, and then photos of all the US teams before dinner was served. Dinner wasn’t started till after 9pm! There were speeches, music and dancing after the first course, then the main course was served. The buses were supposed to go back starting at 10:30, but they left closer to 10:45 (and dessert hadn’t yet been served!).
Today we have a day off and an indoor court, which is lucky since it’s raining a bit. Tomorrow we play Great Britain for the Alice Marble Cup, which the Brits won last year.
Today the Marble and Connolly Cups have an off day, before the knockout rounds begin. As usual it’s extremely windy so it’s nice to have a few hours out of the wind. Even at 7am there was a very strong wind and with temperatures in the 50s, it was cold, though it will be in the 70s this afternoon. Tina and I practiced at 7am because there are no courts available between 8 or so when the teams begin practice till about 4, when the courts start to open up.
There are more matches than courts so we’ve been starting some matches at 9:30 and playing as usual #2 singles, then #1 singles, then after a break doubles. Normally there’s no more than a 30 minute break and play is resumed on the same court but here the match is moved to a different court at a later time for doubles, since there are three teams which don’t start till about 11:30, after the first matches are finished with singles.
There’s a super farmer’s market here on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Susan Wright was out trying to find cabbage (choux) and spinach (epinards) for her favorite salad. I found a great watermelon and am going back for a second look! It’s also a good place to practice some French, since no one at the market speaks much English.
When I went back I took some photos…lots of seafood, and even escargot, lots of sausages, cheese, and beautiful produce…gorgeous tomatoes and delicious strawberries.
I rented a bike for the two weeks and have been biking to the club and back every day, about 15 minutes each way, a nice way to warm up and cool down. Only the Dutch players have also rented bikes though. I’ve also biked to the big market, Carrefours where there’s more variety than the small Spar market in the square here.
Last night we had a picnic in the hotel lobby, the 50s, 55 and 60s team, or the majority of them. I also managed to successfully navigate the laundromat, which is right down the street. With so much wind all our warm ups and other clothing are caked with red clay by the end of the day! Even my ears were full of the “terre battu”.
Today I ran into Bill Woo who now lives in China, but who lived in San Diego for 10 years. He went to the Young Seniors in Turkey and enjoyed it so much he came back to watch the seniors. He’s a self-described tennis fanatic and a very nice guy…it’s nice to have fans in France!
Tomorrow we play either Switzerland or Germany. I think they will split the singles and it will come down to the doubles. Great Britain will play Netherlands or France, a match that also may come down to the doubles. (Update: Switzerland beat Germany 2/1; it did go to the doubles. When I left Netherlands and France had just split the deciding doubles as well. Update; France completed the upset 2/1, winning the third set of the doubles 64.
In the Connolly Cup, USA plays Australia. That’s going to be a tough tie…if we finish early enough I’ll try and catch the end of it, but we don’t usually finish very early.
In the Bueno Cup, USA is playing its last round robin match today, and if they win, they have a bye tomorrow. Update: USA Bueno Cup team beat Germany 3/0. USA has a bye tomorrow.
The Men’s 55 have advanced to the quarter finals tomorrow and have a day off today; the men’s 50 and 60 play their last round robin matches today. They are playing at venues far away from here, especially the 50s and 60s, so I don’t have photos. However we do all get together tomorrow at the Gala Dinner so I’ll try and get at least some team photos then and upload them over the weekend.
Sherri, Tina, Wendy and I practiced on indoor clay today for a couple of hours. It was so nice to get out of the wind! We watched some of France/Netherlands and then I got going on my bike as the weather looked wet, and it was misting all the way home. France ended up winning 64 in the third, so they play Great Britain tomorrow. I think that tie will go down to the doubles.
Other USA results from Wednesday, late update:
USA Von Cramm Cup team beat South Africa 3/0 to advance to the knockout part of the Cup. Chris Bennett at #2 and Bill Ashley at #1 both won, Ashley in three sets; Tom Smith and Paul Wulf took the doubles point. They are in the playoff group 1-6 and as second seeds have a bye tomorrow.
USA Austria Cup, Men’s 55, Connolly Cup, Women’s 55, and Alice Marble Cup, Women’s 60 advanced to the knockout rounds yesterday.
USA’s Fred Perry Cup team, men’s 50, seeded 5th, took out Estonia yesterday 3/0 and Chile today also 3/0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the knockout draw. Kelly Ward, #2, Mitch Perkins, #1 and Doug Elly/Ken White had no problems today, dropping no more than three games a match. They are now in playoff group 1-7. They play #4 seeded Austria tomorrow.
USA Bueno Cup beat Germany 3/0.
USA Marble Cup team played Australia on a blustery day in La Baule. Sand was flying everywhere..it was ugly, gusts up to 30 mph. The USA won 3/0 behind singles play by Carolyn Nichols at #2, Tina Karwasy at #1 and Wendy McColskey/Sherri Bronson in doubles.
The USA Bueno (50) won 3/0 vs Switzerland (see Tracy Houk’s blog)
The men’s 50/60 teams won; the 50s won easily but the 60s struggled as they lost the #2 singles point, then Bill Ashley, making his Cup debut at #1 singles struggled early and then won while Tom Smith/Paul Wulf won the doubles.
The women’s 55 beat Sweden 3/0.
More tomorrow…we have the day off and I’ll have time to add photos.
There were three USA teams in action today, the Maureen Connolly, Alice Marble and Austria Cups and all won today. The Connolly Cup beat Canada 3/0 with the only “upset” being that Canada’s #1, Erin Boynton used her big serve to power her to a first set win over Diane Barker at #1 singles…but Barker was stingy with games the next two sets winning them 2, 1. Wright won at #2 and Kathy Vick/Ann Pellow (Pellow making her Cup debut) won the doubles point. For more on the Connolly cup click here: http://www.itftennis.com/news/206667.aspx
It was WINDY today! There was more clay on the players and their belongings at the end of the day than on the courts I think…the courts now resemble red hard courts and play much like them, only higher bouncing. At one point Vick said they couldn’t see their opponents it was so dusty! And it’s supposed to be worse tomorrow.
In the Marble Cup, Wendy McColskey had a smooth and uneventful Cup debut, winning at #2 61 62 behind powerful forehands and effective dropshots. Tina Karwasky was ruthless at #1, winning 60 60 in about half an hour. Sherri Bronson and I won the doubles point 61 63.
The men’s 50/60s teams, Fred Perry and Von Cramm, had byes as did the women’s 50s, the Bueno Cup.
I am not sure if the Austria Cup, Men’s 55 played today but if they did, they won. Internet here has slowed to not working! Photos below from Marble Cup today.
Update 6/10/15: USA beat Moldovia 3/0 in the Austria Cup, play Belgium next.
