Doubles Silver Medalists, Singles Bronze Medalist, Adios Mallorca, Hasta la Vista!

Draws are here.

Sunday morning was the last day in Mallorca for 2023 for me. Saturday most of the finals were held in the ITF Masters World Championships. Some finals were played Friday.

Bunnie Jackson and I played the W65 doubles final against Pat Medrado and Susan Wright and lost 64 64 in a match that was closer than the score would indicate. Susan and Bunnie both played remarkably well, and it was a lot of fun…next time…

In the 65 singles final though, Ros Balodis put an end to her losing streak against Medrado (and an end to Medrado’s winning streak), beating her 61 61 in a remarkable match…Ros was just fantastic, from her footwork to her ability to read the game (the ball must seem to be coming in slow motion to her) and execute her shots precisely. Nothing is hit very hard but nothing is hit without a purpose. It’s as if she’s playing chess while the rest of us are playing checkers.

Glenn Busby of Australia mowed down Norbert Henn though the second set was really close, won 75 by Busby. No one was harmed in the playing of that match.

After all the finals were played, other than the 70 mixed (the list of medalists can be found here) there was a nice medal ceremony held on Court 1 for all medalists including consolation winners, and the national anthems were played for all champions. The 70 mixed finished just in time for the winners and finalists to receive their medals.

Despite the weather woes and the horrible wind on Friday (and to a lesser extent on Thursday), the ITF World Championships were a big success with more teams participating than ever, perfect weather during the team championships, and a great team of organizers from Helge Albrecht and the ITF and Hayley (who garnered big cheers for her hard work and calm, friendly demeanor). Thanks also to Volkl Tennis for my great racquets, bag and strings.

After the medal ceremony we started packing since we had a very early start yesterday, leaving at 4am, but we had time for a last celebratory dinner with the Kitty Godfree Cup team members, spouses and Jenny Cerff and a new friend from Grenada. It was a nice end to a wonderful month in Mallorca for me.