Draws are here.

Today was semifinal day in the 55 & 65s and finals day for the 75s. It was a warm…hot nearly…breezy day in Fort Lauderdale.

I played Susan Wright, my doubles partner and won in three hours, 75 26 63. We were both pretty tired after the long match. And the courts were dry and slippery due to the long period of minimal rain in Florida and all that wind. I face Diane Barker again in a Groundhog Day match (we just. played two weeks ago in Palm Beach Gardens), while Susan plays Bunnie Jackson. Diane beat Bunnie 64 62 (they were done just as we finished our first set!).

In doubles, we won convincingly over Sally Summerlin & Marianne Melielo. We face Jackson/Sally Smith in the final who took out Burgess/Drosner in the semis.

The second marathon of the day (and her second in two days) was the 75 singles final won by Gwenda Ward in three hard fought sets over Betty Wachob 76 67 61. Toni Novack beat Brenda Carter 75 63 to place third. Betty didn’t go home empty handed though, she and Brenda beat Bunny Smith/Sue Kimball to win the doubles title; Deborah Rhodes/Elly Leary took third in straight sets, though the second set featured an epic tiebreak(14-12…and remember this was first to 7, win by 2!).

In the 55s, the top seeds in singles and doubles advanced to the final without drama, so Simone Vasconcellos faces Charlotte Hartsock in singles; in doubles Vasconcellos/Daniella Esswein play Sheri Adler/Cheryl Hicks.

Margaret (Peg) Machoian won the tournaments sportsmanship award which is well deserved…Peg is competitive but very fair and welcomes new players to tournaments…great choice!