The scoreline was Shelly Works 12, Shelly Stillman-Scott 2 (60 62)…but the scoreline doesn’t say that the match lasted two hours and was quite a battle. Works was just too consistent for the local favorite and won the lengthy rallies. Then it was on to Shelly vs Shelly part 2, doubles. This scoreline accurately reflected the closeness of the battle. Shelly Works and Pam Dodman were up a set and 41 against SSS and Anne Kerwin-Payne…when the hyphenated team rallied to force a third set. Works/Dodman were too consistent in the end and won the long battle 62 in the third. They play Pam Cooke/Debbie Croft who outsmarted Mary Dailey/Amy Alcini in three sets. Dailey/Alcini were up a set and 2-0 when Cooke/Croft caught on fire…they reeled off 12 of the next 15 games, winning 46 63 62. Alcini won the 3/4 playoff, beating Mai Ichikawa 62 62.

In the back draw of the 35s there was a huge battle between Chassion/Tracy and Carolyn Wei/Mai Ichikawa…Wei/Ichikawa led 53 in the third and had a match point but lost in a tiebreaker. C/T play Hartley/Hulsen for 5th tomorrow.

In the 45 singles final, Fran Chandler dropped the first 2 games of each set, but rallied to win the first set 76. The key seemed to be the 3-3 game which went on forever, Wright having been up 40-0 serving before Chandler rallied to deuce the game. There were mulitple deuces and ads, and Chandler finally broke. That didn’t end the set but set the tone of long, grueling rallies. Chandler ended the first set with a lob winner and though she dropped the first 2 games of the 2nd set, she kept up her grinding consistency, winning the final 6 games. She’s now won the clay, indoors and hard courts without dropping a set. Mariana Hollman won the 3/4 playoff over Tracey Thompson 63 61.

Injuries plagued the back draw today, with Erika Smith (glute strain) and Myke Loomis (hamstring strain) not able to finish their singles matches or play their doubles matches. Wright made up for her singles loss with a terrific doubles performance, combining with Hollman to beat Cooke/Croft 63 60.

Martha Downing played flawlessly all week, beating Chieko Holt for the 2nd time this year, and decisively 63 63, not an easy task. She said she countered well and played consistently to win. She and Cindy Leprevost were merciless in the doubles, winning 60 61 over last year’s winners Mary Harris/Leslie Vallejo 60 61. They didn’t let Harris/Vallejo have a lot of pace and brought them on low shots, making them hit up, and both Downing and Leprevost have terrific overheads. The 3/4 playoff in singles was won by Ruth Daub who found Priscilla Sisson’s game to her liking, beating her 60 61. She added a bronze in doubles with Barbara Sasser, this year’s grass court finalists, who edged Jan Kirkland-Cochran/Carla Brown 76 in the third.

Suella Steel defended her singles championship, beating Cathie Anderson 63 64. Anderson moved well, ending up on the stairs after one retrieval, but Steel was more aggressive and moved Anderson around too much in the end. However, Anderson and Sinclair Bill took the doubles with a tough three set win over Steel/Mary Delay. Bill took the bronze 63 60 over Nanda Fischer.