Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Friday, Day 4 at the National Clay Courts at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Center was semifinal day and for Susan Wright and I it meant playing from around 11:30 to just shy of 7pm (with a break between singles and doubles of about 90 minutes). Susan and I played a see-saw marathon match for about 3 1/2 hours…two matches came and went on the court next to us and the third match was started before we finished! I ended up winning on a hot, breezy day, 64 36 63, We beat #4 seeded Kris McDonald/Kathy Zanon 63 64 (though it was over two hours…Susan said it was the longest straight set doubles she’d ever played). Susan played great and definitely made more winners than anyone else on the court. We play Pat Purcell/Ligia Bottinelli in the final…they took out the #2 seeds, Betsy Savitt/Ann Jacobs 61 62. In singles I play Diane Barker who beat Kathy Vick 60 62.
In the 50s, Julie Cass beat Andrea Rice 61 75 and faces Jenny Klitch, who took out Vesna McKenna 61 61. Klitch/Rice beat Jami Patterson/Anna Zimmermann in straight sets and face Cass/McKenna in the final. They were leading Alissa Finerman/Natalie Herreman 32 when Finerman/Herreman had to retire with illness.
In the 70s Toni Novack stopped Gwenda Ward’s run (though no doubt Ward did a lot of running in the match…after drop shots). Novack won 63 61 and faces #2 seeded Judy Dixon a 60 62 winner over Brenda Winstead. In doubles Betty Wachob/Donna Fales beat Ann Loose/Ward in three sets and play Dixon/Vicky McEvoy in the final…they edged Molly Hahn/Sue Kimball 75 64 in the semis.
The 80s singles is between Inge Weber (who beat her doubles partner Dorothy Wasser) and Dori DeVries, who beat Lola O’Sullivan in a tough 2-setter 64 75. Wasser/Weber won the doubles round robin.
In the 40s, Lizl Kotz plays a player from Japan, Mika Todo. There were only three teams in doubles; the de facto final is tomorrow.
There are also lots of consolation matches, both for players who lost before the quarters and for players who lost in the quarters.