Today, Saturday, Susan Wright and I played for the gold balls in Seattle against Andrea Barnes and Leslie Murveit and won 63 63 in a very fun match with lots of good points. Earlier in the day Leslie made sure neither she nor Andrea would be worn out for their doubles final by playing a very good and not overly long match against Andrea and winning it and the bronze ball.

The match of the day however was the battle between Susan, seeded #2 and Diane Barker, seeded #1. Diane had won all but one previous encounter, but it had been 10 years since the two had played on an indoor court, which is Susan’s favorite surface. Susan played a flawless first set, and Diane misfired on more backhands than usual..Susan won the set 62. Diane was more consistent and forced Susan into hitting short more in the second set and took it 62, and looked ready to run away with the match in the third when she led 3-1 and Susan momentarily looked resigned to a loss. But Susan’s backhand regained its depth and she reeled off the next 4 games before finally finishing off the set and the match 64. The third set was very high quality from both players and the first two weren’t too shabby.

France O’Sullivan/Mary Morgan took the third in the doubles with a three set win.

Susan went for a third gold ball in mixed but had to settle for a silver. Jennifer Shorr/Kurt Chan were just too powerful for Susan and Ross, serving big, volleying well and returning well to  regain their mixed title first won last year. Shannon Gordon-Carney/Rollin Rhone beat Jack and Diane Barker to take bronze. Rollin was happy earlier today to receive a care package from Adidas. Rollin had his bag and racquets stolen earlier in the week downtown and bought shoes from Big 5 for the tournament…they were nearly bald by today.

On the men’s side, Mark Vines was close to going down 3-0 and 4-1 against Ross Persons, but changed up his patterns enough to eke out the first set 76 and then cruised to a 61 second set win. He faces Tony Crabel in the final.

Wes Cash/Vines won the men’s doubles with a victory over Doug Ditmer/Fred Robinson.

The men’s singles final is tomorrow. The winner takes home $2000 courtesy of Crabel Capital which sponsors the men’s 60 division at all four 60s nationals. Vines plays Crabel in the final.

Draws are here: http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=186516

Photos are here: https://goo.gl/photos/xN8UASoymWb3FtVn6