Saturday was a San Francisco summer day…ie bring your fleece and mittens…60s, and windy with the fog on the horizon, but sunny in Mill Valley after morning fog. This tournament started in summer and ended in spring (70s, light breeze).
The tennis was good on the final days.
Carolyn Wei and Mai Ichikawa went 3 sets in their final 35 round robin match. Carolyn led 52 in the first before Mai rallied to win the set 76, then Carolyn won the final sets decisively. Valerie McKinney beat Mai the first day in 3 sets and then lost to Carolyn on the 2nd day. So the draw was mall (4 people), but strong.
In the 40s, Erika Smith lost to Catherine Vowles in 3 sets on Friday and Vowles beat Chrissie Costamagna in 3 sets in the final, offsetting her errors with some nice winners and showing good movement and stamina.
In the 45s, Kim Lackey played Tracy Houk in the semis. Tracy said she hadn’t played a lot since injuring her abdominal muscle at the indoors, but her will to win was still in place. She won the first set 61, but Kim improved her attack in the 2nd set and earned 2 set points, leading 65 40-15. Tracy was ready for a third set, but managed to level the set and then won the tiebreaker 7-1. Kim was ready for it to be over at 6-1, going to the net to shake hands…Tracy declined, explained the score, then Kim hit what she thought was an errant backhand, made a comment about the match NOW being over…but the wind blew it in (it was quite windy), Tracy erred they replayed the point,…and then Kim hit a ball out…game, set match Houk. Carrie Zarranondia is back playing a lot and was aggressive in her 62 75 win over Mary Johnson, the 2nd seed. Carrie and Tracy have been playing each other for about 35 years…and had a good match, but Tracy was too steady for Carrie, winning 64 62.
Helle Virgah also made a rare tournament appearance, teaming with Zarraonandia in the 45 doubles, against Tracy Houk/Judy Newman Rakela. Tracy and Judy edged Helle and Carrie 76 06 75 in a very long and entertaining match. They were to face Kari Hamlin/Sue Leo, who beat Mary Johnson/Kim Lackey in the semis 75 75…Leo’s touch and anticipation were excellent in that match. Houk/Rakela continued their fine play in the final, beating Leo/Hamlin 60 in the third to win the 45 doubles.
In the 50s, I beat Chris Ramsower-Pearlstein in the semis…we had great points, but it was very windy…I won. Robin Harris played Leslie Airola-Murveit at 8am and beat her 62 61 but they had great points and the last game was very long. Murveit is back on track after a back injury sidelined her for much of the winter and spring. I beat Robin 63 63 in the final, tough match as always.
In the 50 doubles, Wilma Lee/Debbie Brink Croft started well and took the first set against Ramsower-Pearlstein/Harris 64. Robin and Chris forged a 3-0 lead in the 2nd set. Debbie then held off a break point, and Wilma and Debbie then leveled the set at 3-3 and went up 40-15 in the next game, Chris serving. That was the turning point…Chris held and Chris and Robin lost only 1 more game in winning the match 46 63 61.
Tina Karwasky won the 55 singles 60 62 over Lee…who said she learned a lot in the mach.
Charleen Hillebrand won the 60 singles over Sheila Johnson (who had a tussle with Nancy Garcia, edging her 76 76 in the semis).
In the men’s 40s, on Saturday Jeff Greenwald was playing Curtis Dunn, and while serving tore a tendon on the inside of his ankle, so he was unable to finish that match…he was on crutches and in a lot of pain. Greenwald was in the 35 singles as well and obviously had to default that event…and Hunter Galloway defaulted also in the 35 and 40 singles divisions, due to a wrist injury.
Robert Stang beat Robert Levin to win the 35 singles.
In the 45s, Steve Dawson and Polo Cowan reached the final and had a marathon match. Polo survived, 76 16 63. He’s the pro at Mill Valley (and Ada Cowans’s son)…and had a huge crowd supporting him. He then had the 40s final immediately afterwards and faced a tough, consistent foe in Curtis Dunn. Dunn won 62 62.
Wendell Pierce beat Geoff Martinez in straight sets to win the 50 singles.
Cory/Kepler won the 40 doubles.
Robinson/White lost in the final of the 60 doubles, upset by Talmadge/Zebot (who also took out Yukawa/Shepard in the semis.)
In mixed, Chan/Croft played Brent Abel/Ichikawa in the semis and rallied from 05 dowin the third to win the match. They faced Kepler/Erika Smith in the final.
Here’s the link to the results. All results are now posted.