The Father/Daughter Hard Courts were held in four age divisions in conjunction with the Mother/Son Hard Courts at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego over the weekend of June 4-6.
The play began Friday in all divisions. I played in the Father/Daughter 80+ division with my dad Graydon Nichols and in a repeat of last year’s final we beat Dick Phelps and Ann Jacobs (the winners of the previous three nationals in this division) in the final. Dad played great…he even called me off one lob that nearly went over my head and was running it down (at 85).
In the 70+ division, the previous year’s winners, Herm Ahlers/Krista O’Connor, lost their first match in 4 years, to last year’s bronze medalists, Debbie Goldberger-Scott and Bob Goldberger, in the final.
In the 60+ division, Al and Marianne Baker, from Maryland, eased through the draw, never losing a set and beat the second seeds, William and Ellen Berlinghof in the final.
The open division was large and had a lot of exciting and close matches. In the end, Becky and Jerry Morse-Karzen edged Bruce and Sabrina Man Son Hing 75 75 in the final. The Illinois winners had great hands and lobs which blunted the power of the Californians and frustrated them.
The mother/son division proved to be a difficult one to seed, with only one seeded team, Diane Fishburne/Matthew Hane, reaching the semis. The were incredibly tough there, beating Kathy and Taylor Fritz 61 60 before taking on Elizabeth and West Nott unseeded (they upset the top seeds & indoor champions first round) in the final and routing them 61 62. Matthew’s lefty power and spin and Diane’s precision proved too much for their opponents here and at the clay courts.
There was a nice dinner on Friday on the beach at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, which was also the official hotel for the event. The tournament gave out very nice long sleeved shirts to all participants.
