The women’s 75s semis set the tone for the day: matches would go long and behind schedule for the day.

Both women’s 75 semis pitted doubles partners against one another; Lyn Little, the 3rd seed took top seeded Dori deVries to a third set tiebreak before deVries prevailed. Unseeded Dorothy Matthiessen took #2 seed Burnett Herrick to the brink of a tiebreak before Herrick prevailed 75 in the third. Both matches lasted about three hours. deVries and Little, the top seeds in doubles, advanced to the final with a straight forward win over Carol Wood/Ria Graham. Normal Veal/Claudia Giacomini took out Herrick/Matthiessen in straight sets and are a threat for the title.

Martha Downing and Brenda Carter took out Carolann Castell and Carol Gay respectively to advance to the 65s singles final. They played a barnburner of a final at the Clay (Downing won in three sets), so the final may be a good one tomorrow. Downing is undefeated this year in this age division.

In doubles, Downing/Carter play first time finalists Gay Finch/Hilda Fischer

Jane Lutz beat her doubles partner Rita Price in the singles final. While Jane was all business on the court, Rita was laughing after Jane would make a good  point and smiling as she served, in other words really enjoying the day.

In the 35s, there was a very good first round match between Danielle Ouwendijk and Amanda Parsons Siegel. The score was 60 62 but the points were excellent, Danielle moves very well, but Amanda had more firepower and a beautiful one handed backhand. She and Dina MacBride won the Open Hard Court doubles gold ball in June and Amanda is just coming back to singles play. She faces top seeded Fanny Gamble tomorrow. Another tough first round was Marlo Carruth, the 40 Indoor finalist this year and Mary Beth Williams, the 35 Grass Finalist. Carruth won 63 64.

In the 45s, it looked like all the seeds except Shelly Works had an easy path to the semis, but in reality, Manola Colter took TWO HOURS to beat Florida’s Erin Nevin 60 60. It was a tough match. Shelly had a tough one too, against Julie Silveria, winning 76 75. Cass plays Colter and Works plays Anna Zimmermann tomorrow.

Anne Lowry took out the #8 seed in the 55s, Donna Drosner in three sets, the only upset in singles or doubles thus far in that division.

Here’s a link to the draws: http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=138598#&&s=7Draws11