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After two challenging weeks in Philadelphia and NY….heat, humidity, rain, sun, heat…indoors, red clay, green clay and actual grass….winners emerged, (though of course everyone who can play this great game and compete at that level is a winner…).
Philadelphia, Germantown: 35-85 Women’s Grass
35 singles: Patricia Zerdan completed her third leg of a singles Gold Slam in this age division, having yet to drop a set in three tournaments, the clay, indoors and grass. The hard courts are in September. She beat surprise finalist Leslie Rose 63 62. Carolina Blouin upset #2 seededTrish Riddell in the quarters and Rose took out #3 seed Michelle King and Blouin to reach the final. Blouin beat Mary Beth Williams to place third.
35 Doubles: Riddell/Mary Dailey (1) beat King/Williams (2) to win the doubles.
45 Singles: Susan Wright, seeded 2, playing down from the 50s, won the singles over unseeded Tracy Tooke. Tooke beat #4 Kim Lackey on red clay (it rained the first few days, then play went indoors and on clay…) 76 76, then took out unseeded Elizabeth Paulin in the semis (Paulin upset #1 seeded Mariana Hollman in the quarters) before falling to Wright in the final. Susie Brown beat Paulin to win the bronze.
45 Doubles: Hollman/Wright (2) upset Dailey/Erika Smith (1) to win the doubles. Pensanti/Powers (4) beat Brown/Hutson; Brown/Hutson took out Grove/Webber early on.
55 Singles: #1 seeded Tina Karwasky had to default out of the tournament due to a family emergency; Kandy Chain (4) reached the final with wins over Chieko Holt (36 32 ret inj) and Leslie Murveit (62 62) before falling in three sets to #2 seed Sherri Bronson. Sherri beat#3 seeded Leslie Pixley in 3 sets in the semis. It was Sherri’s first gold ball on grass. Murveit placed third with three-set win over Pixley.
55 Doubles: Cindy LePrevost/Lil Peltz=Petow won the doubles in a nail biting final over #2 seeded Bronson/Murveit. Cindy/Lil were up 51 in the third before the #3 seeds rallied to win 76 (4). Cindy/Lil needed the court time…they won 62 60 in the quarters, received a default from Chain/Karwasky and then were in the final.
65 Singles: Heide Orth was the only constant in the 65s, beating unseeded Susanne Clark in the final. #2 seeded Suella Steel retired early to Peggy Andry in a match played on clay; Heather/Fiscallini beat Andry 75 in the third and Clark took out Fiscallini in 2 tight sets to reach the final. Heide’s toughest test though was in the semis against grass court expert Judy Louie; that match went three sets. Judy took the bronze over Fiscallini.
65 Doubles: Heide made it a double gold day, combining with Steel to beat Louie/Lee Delfausse in the semis 64 62 and then Pang Russ 60 63 in the final. Louie/Delfausse edged Fujii/Sung in three sets, rallying from a 61 beating in the first set to win 63 in the third.
75 Singles: In contrast to the younger divisions, the top 4 seeds in the 75s finished in order of seeding, 1, 2, 3, 4: Matthiessen beat #2 Burnett Herrick 61 36 61 and #3 seeded Mary Boswell beat #4 seeded Margaret Canby for the bronze.
75 Doubles: The doubles was a RR, and the top 3 finishers were: Matthiessen/Herrick; Boswell/Canby and Francis Kingsley. Dorothy is 3/4 of the way to a Gold Slam in singles and doubles.
85 Singles: This was a RR and the top 3 finishers were Cathie Hall, Elaine Mason and Edith Gardner.
85 Doubles: Hall/Mason beat Gardner/Ebert to win their third title of the year in 85 doubles…
Click here for photos. (hopefully coming soon).