San Diego, California (aka America’s Finest City)
The USTA National Father/Daughter and Mother/Son Hard Courts began today at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. There are four father/daughter divisions: open, senior (father has to be 60), super senior (father must be 70) and 80+ (father has to be 80). There’s only one mother/son division, open.
My dad is 89, so we are playing in the 80+ division and it’s a tough one, with Susan Wright and her dad Enver Mehmedbasich playing along with Jodi Neuman-Rea and Don Neuman among the eight teams. This is much different from other nationals; more casual atmosphere and a unique type of play.
Today we played WT Mathes and Myra O’Dell from Tennessee. WT is the oldest father in this division: he just turned 94, but he’s very spry and was jogging to pick up balls. Dad wasn’t jogging to pick up balls but when the ball hit his racquet it was directed in general to a spot on the court no one was covering. We won 60 60. Tomorrow we play Jodi and Don Neuman and they are a very good team; we played them in the final last year. They beat Roberta Goodwin and her dad Maynard Lewis 63 61; Mr. Lewis has really good hands. Susan and her dad played Jay Turner and Kathy Emmerson, who are a good team and beat them 60 60, though there were a lot of long, hard fought games. They play Kelly Pacheco/Gene Fisher tomorrow. Susan covered a LOT of court; at times Enver was pretty much off the court while Susan played singles, but when Enver got a ball in his strike zone, especially at net, he finished the point off.
Erika Smith played this event for the first time with her dad Harold Smith and was happy to be here and healthy (and happy her dad was as well). Bill Kellogg and Tiffany Kellogg, seeded third, won today as did John and Hannah Holliday; if those teams both win at 9am tomorrow the afternoon match would be an all La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club match.
Dina McBride is playing mother/son as are Lisa Namu and Ann Stanley; all are seeded.
There was a player dinner, a casual barbecue, at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club tonight. It was very nice and relaxed. After dinner we adjourned to the beach to take some photos. There was a prom party going on…a lot of glamorous young men and women anyway, dressed in long gowns (women) and tuxes or suits (men), mixed in with guests and members having barbecues on the beach and wearing bathing suits.
To see the draws, click here: http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=141759
