Sunday March 20, 2022, Houston, TX
Today was another very nice day in Houston and a busy practice days for players competing in next week’s national (USTA L1, ITF S1000).
The organizers had arranged practice courts which could be booked for an hour (though once the hour passed, players could sign up for a second hour and more if so inclined). Susan and I practiced for close to an hour then were able to get a court 30 minutes later for our doubles practice with Anna Zimmermann (newly retired!) and Jami Patterson (nearly a full time Florida resident!!). They are in the 55s and have played together for years…they are tough. We had a quick warm up and a fun set and then the hour was up.
More players were here today, but somehow we always ended up next to a bunch of San Diego players…I guess that makes sense, there are a lot of them..Carol Gay, Ginny Beneke, Roz King, Nancy Abler-Sanchez, Rainy Miller, Sue Sprague, Maria Nunez and more.
We ran into Tammy Simone just after we finished…she and Susan hadn’t seen each other for a long time and after a moment of confusion reconnected…as one person said, they went from strangers to best friends in 30 seconds…that’s tennis.
I ran into Carol Wood and Dori DeVries too…amazing 85s players. Tennis does keep many people young!
Dori DeVries
Kaysie Smashey, defending 35s champion was practicing for the 35s here (she’s one of the teaching pros at the Houston Racquet Club). It was nice to catch up with her…and watch her hit, she destroys the ball!
And that’s about it for today, resting up for a long week especially given the forecast of 20-30 mph winds and 90% chance of rain tomorrow.