Draws are here.

Today, Saturday April 1st was a warm and humid day in Houston with only a light breeze, pretty good for tennis.

Sue Bramlette was the TD for the last time this year…many many thanks to Sue, Bob Bramlette and the Houston Racquet Club and their members for hosting a GREAT tournament. Win or lose, it’s always a wonderful week of tennis, run so well (thanks Darryl for doing a super job at the desk), thank you to the great referee…to the wonderful groundspeople who swept and lined courts before each match. It is a very special tournament. Also, many thanks to the excellent trainer, masseuses and stretchers!

Susan and I played for over three hours…most of that was the last two sets, since Susan blew past me in the first pretty quickly…then nearly took the second…I had a 5-2 lead and barely held on to win the set 76 (3). Susan again took a big lead in the third, hitting line after line and playing aggressively without making errors…she was up 5-1 40-15, I got it back to 5-4 but Susan won the set and match 64. Great battle, but never much fun to lose…but fun to compete! Bunnie Jackson won the bronze over Leslie Murveit and Pat Purcell finished 5th.

Below: Tournament Director Extraordinaire Sue Bramlette, Bunnie Jackson, Susan Wright, Carolyn Nichols

Vicki Buholz had a great tournament in the 55s, beating defending champion Charlotte Hartsock 36 64 76(0)…I was on court though during that match and didn’t see any of it! Manola Colter beat Heather Herman for bronze. Shelly Works beat Gayle Prejean to finish 5th.

In 55 doubles Terri Thyssen and Laurie Capra completed a wonderful tournament, edging Kristen Guszak/Wendy Cogan 76 67 62 to win the title. Anna Zimmermann/Rainy Miller won the bronze over Vick/Robertson.

Julie Thu played a wonderful match to win the 45 singles over #2 Marissa Chapin. Laura Rubin took bronze by default.

In 45 doubles unseeded Shannon DeVall/Tanya O’Neil upset the top seeds and face Marissa Chapin/Tabatha Butler in the final.

The 35s final is between Kaysie Smashey (1), who edged Mylene Martin 76 in the third and unseeded Kristen Bleakley who has yet to drop a set this week.

The doubles final is between Smashey/Thu and Bleakley/Vikki Dudley (5).