Semi finals started off with a light rain, which had us begin our 9:30am match, at 10:30, #2 player Fran Chandler, going up against Sue Webb of Great Britan. Fran started off strong, moving the Brit around, and not allowing her to get any momentum, winning the first set, 6-1. But, as the second set came around, so did Sue. She began to find her groove, and with a beautiful one hand slice backhand, began to shift the match into her groove. both ladies battled hard with drop shots, volley winners, and long rallies. Fran had 2 match points, but Sue fought hard, with a volley winner for one save, and a drop shot for the next. She then pulled off the set in a tie breaker to even the match at a set each. Unfortunately, the momentum stayed with Sue, and she won the final set, 6-0. Up next, was the #1 singles match, with Ros coming in a bit off, and the #1 brit started off strong, winning the first set 6-4. That didn’t sit well with Ros, and she manage to get her game going with a 6-3,6-2 finish to tie the score at 1-1. The deciding match, doubles, would determine which team would make it to the finals. Ros and Gretchen would make the team up and finish with a commanding win of 6-1,6-1, which sent us to the finals against France, who won earlier against Italy.
Finals : It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for the Finals. Sunny and warm, very little breeze. We were up against the French team that beat us last year, in Florida. We wanted revenge on their home court, this year. #2 singles started up with Fran playing their number two player, who Fran lost to last year. Unfortunately, we lost that match. next, Ros came on to play #1 singles against the player I lost to last year. it was going to be different this time around, with Ros on the team, 😉
There was no stopping Ros, as she played an incredible match, losing just one game, with a 6-0,6-1 win to tie the match at 1-1. Again, it would be determined by the doubles. And, I had the Dynamic Duo, Ros and Gretchen to play. They came on real strong, with big serves and volley winners, to win the first set 6-1. But the french wouldn’t back down. They put some of their own plays into action, and stayed ahead for most of the second set, 2-0,3-1 and 5-3. But, the americans found a way to dig deep, and close out the match 7-5, to get us our Championship win.
I couldn’t be more proud of this team. What a great effort everyone put in when needed. Thank you all for this wonderful opportunity.