Finals Day, National Women’s Hard Courts, La Jolla: Two Marathons in One Day!

Friday was finals day at the USTA National Hard Courts at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. I didn’t get to see much tennis because I was on court most of the day from about 11:30 till about 8pm. Susan Wright and I played our second marathon in a month, and it was a tough match. I came away with the 26 75 76(4) win in about 3.5 hours (was down 41 in the third but kept on fighting). Susan is as gracious in defeat as in victory, the sign of a champion. About 90 minutes later Robin Harris and I took on Susan and Shannon Carney in the doubles final. Three hours later Susan and Shannon came away with a well deserved 57 63 62 win.

Shannon won the 3/4 playoff over Cindy Johnson in a match tiebreak 14-12. Their tiebreak (they were playing next to us) seemed to go on forever, though I think their match was shorter than ours. Erin Boynton/Abbi Neuthaler won the bronze over Una Davis/Tracey Thompson. Kathy Vick took 5th and Erin Boynton took 7th. (The tournament had a quarterfinal playoff and then a 7/8 playoff for the quarterfinal losers who lost their first match in the playoff, a first.

Jen Dawson was the only double gold winner of the week, edging top seeded Andrea Rice in a grueling 75 75 win. I saw a little of the beginning of the match and it was fantastic tennis. Jen is a rock at the baseline and Andrea played athletic all court tennis. You won’t find two nicer competitors anywhere (Shelly Works, you have competition for this title in these two!). Dawson teamed with Jenny Rens Keller to win the doubles over Rice/Anna Zimmermann 62 62. It was Jenny Keller’s first gold ball.

Conan Lorenzo, Andrea Rice and Jen Dawson with TD Bill Kellogg, photo courtesy of Mary Johnson

Kristen Kepler won the 50 singles bronze over Keller; Deb Higa/Jennifer Lyons took the bronze over Kepler/Neuthaler.

Judy Dixon won the 70 singles with an emphatic 63 60 win over #2 seeded Molly Hahn. I believe it was her first singles gold ball. Liane Bryson/Kathy Bennett won the doubles over Dixon/Vicky McEvoy 64 63. Sue Kimball edged Carol Gay in three sets for the singles bronze but Carol Gay/Sheila Johnson came away with the doubles win against Hahn/Kimball to win the doubles bronze.

Lorna Brooks, unseeded, won the 80 singles 62 64 over top seeded Dorothy Wasser. She did it the hard way too, beating the #3, #2 and #1 seeds en route to the title. Brooks is from Wyoming now but used to live in Exeter, in the Central Valley of California and we used to practice together about 35 years ago… I knew how good she was then and so wasn’t too surprised when she won. She was one of the top 2 juniors in SoCal as a youngster (Sally Huss was the top junior). She played with her hair down, which amazed some of the spectators (it doesn’t move). Lola O’Sullivan/Barbara Oldfield were the surprise doubles winner. For Barbara it was her first USTA ball of any color! They beat Claudia Giacommini/Dorothy Matthiessen 76(4) 63 for the gold.

Burnett Herrick won the 80 singles bronze by default (injury) over Carol Wood; Herrick/Wasser beat Lynn Tietz/Wood for the 80 doubles bronze.

The 90s final is this morning at 9am between Rita Price and Jane Lutz, followed by the de facto doubles final (it’s a three team round robin between the two undefeated teams) scheduled for 1pm.

Photos (more will be added).