A Senior Tennis (USA and International) & Travel website by Carolyn Nichols
Applications for 2021 Senior Cup Teams Now Closed
The application for a spot on one of the Senior Cup teams (Men/Women 50/55/60+) are now closed.
Applications will closed Jan 10, 2021
The Cups will take place in June in Umag, Croatia. (Coronavirus permitting).
The application will remain open till January 10, 2021.
Read more about the Cups and view the timeline here.
2021 Young Seniors (35/40/45) Cup Team Information
Are you eligible to participate? Read the guidelines here. Of particular importance are the following changes which supersede the eligibility requirement and timelines as follows:
2021 Young-Seniors World Championships (35/40/45)
Are you eligible to participate? Read the guidelines here. Of particular importance are the following changes which supersede the eligibility requirement and timelines as follows:
The 2021 USTA Seniors International Team Timeline is below:
2021 Seniors World Championships (50/55/60)
2021 ITF Seniors (50-55-60) To Be Held in Umag, Croatia June 6-19, 2021
The 2021 ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships will take place in Umag, Croatia from Sunday 6 June – Saturday 19 June 2021.
From the ITF press release which can be found here.
The International Tennis Federation is pleased to announce that the ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships are now scheduled to be held in Umag, Croatia in June 2021.
The ITF Seniors Committee approved the alternative venue to hold the 50-55-60 World Team Championships from Sunday 6 – Friday 11 June and the 50-55-60 World Individual Championships from Saturday 12 – Saturday 19 June 2021. This follows the decision announced last month that the Championships would not be held as originally scheduled in Boca Raton & Palm Beach Gardens, USA due to the ongoing impact and uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ITF will continue to monitor the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and work closely with tournament hosts and the relevant authorities to prepare for this event. The priority in all decision making will remain the health and safety of participants. Nations and players are also advised to wait until the tournament fact sheet is published, expected in January 2021, before making travel and/or accommodation arrangements.
The full schedule of ITF Seniors World Championships in 2021 is now complete with the Young Seniors World Team & Individual Championships also in Umag from 12-25 September and the ITF Super-Seniors World Team & Individual Championships in Mallorca, Spain from 10-23 October 2021.
Matt Byford, ITF Juniors & Seniors manager said “The ITF is delighted that an alternative host for our Seniors World Championships has been secured so quickly and would like to thank the Croatian Seniors Tennis Association, Croatian Tennis Association, Plava Laguna and the City of Umag for their cooperation. The World Team & Individual Championships are a great highlight of the ITF Seniors calendar and it is fantastic for our playing community that they can now look ahead to June 2021 after the unfortunate cancellation of the event this year.”
From the ITF website today:
2021 ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships (updated 26 October)
Due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ITF Seniors (50-55-60) World Team & Individual Championships will not be held as scheduled in Boca Raton & Palm Beach Gardens, USA in April-May 2021. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.
The dates of the Young Seniors and Super Seniors World Championships are as follows:
2021 World Team and Individual Championships
2021 ITF Young Seniors (35-40-45) World Team & Individual Championships
The 2021 ITF Young Seniors (35-40-45 years) World Team & Individual Championships will take place in Umag, Croatia from Sunday 12 September – Saturday 25 September 2021.
2021 ITF Super-Seniors (65-70-75-80-85) World Team & Individual Championships
The 2021 ITF Super-Seniors (65-70-75-80-85 years) World Team & Individual Championships will take place in Mallorca, Spain from Sunday 10 October – Saturday 23 October 2021.
Factsheets for these events will be made available approximately 6 months before the event takes place.
The ITF will add two new age divisions to the seniors tour in 2021: 30+ and 90+
Read about the 90+ category here. This age category will be offered at the ITF Super Seniors World Championships for the first time in 2021. The tournament will take place in October 2021 in Mallorca, Spain.
Read about the 30+ Category here. This age category will be offered at the ITF Young Seniors World Championships in Umag, Croatia in 2021.
Click here for more information.
From the ITF Website: “(updated 14 July). Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ITF Seniors (50-55-60 years), the ITF Young Seniors (35-40-45 years) and the ITF Super-Seniors (65-70-75-80-85 years) World Team & Individual Championships will not be held in 2020.”
These events will be held at the same locations in 2021 as they were scheduled to be played in 2020.
The dates for the Seniors World Team Championships are confirmed to be April 25-May 8 2021 in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
I hope everyone is staying healthy and playing tennis near home. Hope to see you next year!
The USTA has announced the rosters for the ITF Young Seniors World Team Championships to be played in Umag, Croatia in September.
2020 Young-Seniors World Championships (35/40/45)
Team Tournament: Sept. 13 – 19, 2020
Individual Tournament: Sept. 19 – 26, 2020
Location: Umag, Croatia
The list of players can be found here and are also listed below.
The USTA Board has approved the Senior International Selection Committee’s extension and revision of the eligibility (minimum play) requirement and timelines as follows:
The application deadline for the 2020 Young-Seniors and 2020 Super-Seniors has been extended thirty days from the original deadline; For Young Seniors May 11th and Super Seniors May 31st.
The USTA Board has approved the relaxation of the eligibility (minimum play) requirements for 2020 (For Young Seniors and Super Seniors ONLY) and for Young Seniors, Seniors and Super Seniors for 2021 as follows:
1: A Category I USTA Championship must be played within 24 months prior to the posting of the Final Applicant List on USTA.com OR
2: A Category 2 or Super Category 2 event must be played within 12 months prior to the posting of the Final Applicant List on USTA.com
What does this mean?
A: Super Seniors can apply here to be considered for a 2020 Super Senior team up till May 31, 2020
Super Seniors must have played a Category I within 24 months of June 9, 2020 or a Category II or Super Category II within 12 months of June 9, 2020.
B: Young Seniors can apply here to be considered for a 2020 Young Senior team up till May 11, 2020
Young Seniors must have played a Category I within 24 months of May 19, 2020 or a Category II or Super Category II within 12 months of May 19, 2020.
The original Guidelines can be found here: USTA International Selection Guidelines. Section 7 is amended as described above.
The new timelines can be found here.
The application for the Men’s and Women’s 35/40/45 (Italia, Trabert, Dubler, Lenglen, Young & Court) Cups is now open. The deadline to apply is April 11th. UPDATED: MAY 11, 2020
Click here to apply: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ITFYoungSeniors
The Young Seniors Team Competition will be held in Umag, Croatia September 13-19. (The individual competition, open to all players meeting the minimum age requirement and possessing an IPIN will be held September 20-27 in Umag).
The teams will be announced May 11th, 2020.
If you have any questions about the application, please feel free to contact Rob Gorden at robert.gorden@usta.com.
2020 ITF Seniors World Championships, Men’s and Women’s 50, 55, 60
Team Tournament: April 26 – May 2, 2020
Individual Tournament: May 2 – 9, 2020
Location: Boca Raton (team) & Palm Beach Gardens (individual), Fla.
Important Dates:
October 1, 2019: Application posted on USTA.com.
November 10, 2019: Application deadline.
November 13, 2019: Players who have applied for consideration will be posted on USTA.com.
November 18, 2019: Deadline to notify the USTA of any omissions to the posted applicant list (cutoff date for 24 month period for which to consider results).
December 16, 2019: Team selection posted to USTA.com and players will be notified of their status.
January 20, 2020: All paperwork (excluding travel itinerary) due to USTA staff (including player agreement, media packet, copy of passport, & IPIN).
February 1, 2020: Players may begin to make their travel arrangements.
March 1, 2020: Travel arrangements due to staff.
April 26, 2020: Seniors World Team Championships begins.
2020 Young-Seniors World Championships (35/40/45)
Team Tournament: Sept. 13 – 19, 2020
Individual Tournament: Sept. 19 – 26, 2020
Location: Umag, Croatia
Important Dates:
March 1, 2020: Application posted on USTA.com. Click here to view
April 11, 2020: Application deadline.
April 14, 2020: Players who have applied for consideration will be posted on USTA.com.
April 19, 2020: Deadline to notify the USTA of any omissions to the posted applicant list (cutoff date for 24 month period for which to consider results).
May 11, 2020: Team selection posted to USTA.com and players will be notified of their status.
June 11, 2020: All paperwork (excluding travel itinerary) due to USTA staff (including player agreement, media packet, copy of passport, & IPIN).
July 11, 2020: Players may begin to make their travel arrangements.
August 10, 2020: Travel arrangements due to staff.
September 13, 2020: Seniors World Team Championships begins.
2020 Super-Seniors World Championships (65/70/75/80/85)
Team Tournament: Oct. 11 – 17, 2020
Individual Tournament: Oct. 17 – 24, 2020
Location: Mallorca, Spain
Important Dates:
April 1, 2020: Application posted on USTA.com.
May 1, 2020: Application deadline.
May 5, 2020: Players who have applied for consideration will be posted on USTA.com.
May 10, 2020: Deadline to notify the USTA of any omissions to the posted applicant list (cutoff date for 24 month period for which to consider results).
June 1, 2020: Team selection posted to USTA.com and players will be notified of their status.
July 1, 2020: All paperwork (excluding travel itinerary) due to USTA staff (including player agreement, media packet, copy of passport, & IPIN).
August 1, 2020: Players may begin to make their travel arrangements.
September 1, 2020: Travel arrangements due to staff.
October 11, 2020: Seniors World Team Championships begins.
Click here for the 2019 Senior International Cup team selection guidelines.
Writing from California, USA
The ITF Individual World Championships concluded yesterday in Umag, Croatia. Though there weren’t many Americans in the draws, those that were there came home with many gold, silver and bronze medals.
Wendy McColskey won her first every world championship, the 65 singles, the hard way, beating her Kitty Godfree Cup teammate Tina Karwasky (holder of two consecutive 65 Gold Slams in singles and winner 11 straight 65 national singles championships) in three sets. Earlier in the year Karwasky beat McColskey in the final of the 65 Clay. Karwasky was a doubles finalist too, with Jan Kirkland-Cochran, losing to Aussies Helen Worland and Adrienne Avis. Avis won the mixed too, with Marc Renault, FRA over American Danny Shaw and Hildegard Bruggraber, AUT.
In women’s 70 doubles, Liane Bryson, playing with Germany’s Heidi Eisterlehner were silver medalists, also losing to and Aussie, Kerry Ballard (who won the singles) and Shirley Fox (GBR). Bruce Barrett, USA and Chris Ornstein, GBR, the defending men’s 70 doubles champions reached the final but fell to Petr Kolacek, SUIand Jairo Velasco Ramirez, ESP in the final.
In the 75s, Dean Corley/Michael Stewart won the doubles in an all-American final over Jimmy Parker/Don Long. Heide Orth, GER won the 75 singles and doubles (with Petro Kruger, RSA); Kruger won the mixed with Peter Pokorny, AUT (who won the singles).
In the 80s, Herm Ahlers/Wilbur Jones fell in the final to the Aussie duo of Bruce Rehn/Bob Howes. Inge Weber, CAN won the women’s singles. In another all American doubles final, Dorothy Wasser/Burnett Herrick beat their Doris Hart Cup teammates Sheila Palmer/Carol Wood. Palmer/Jones were 80 mixed finalists, falling to Aussies June Simpson/Don Biddle in the final round.
King Van Nostrand continued his dominance of the men’s 85 division, winning the singles and doubles, with John Powless of the USA. They beat their Gardnar Mulloy Cup teammates, George McCabe/Joe Russell in the final.
Bronze medals went to: Dorothy Wasser, W80 singles, Bruce Barrett, 70 Mixed, Suella Steel, Corley, 75 mixed, Bryson, 70 mixed, Cathie Anderson/Carolann Castell, W75 doubles, Jimmy Parker, M75 singles. Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone!
American Super Seniors Find Success on Red Clay in Croatia
Writing from California, USA
The USA won five of the 10 divisions last week in Umag Croatia (Women’s 65,70, 85 & Men’s 75 & 85) and finished second (Women’s 75, 80) and third (Men’s 65, 70, 80) in the other five divisions.
This week some American team players stayed on to contest the individual world championships while others flew in for this event and others live in Europe.
In the women’s 65, Tina Karwasky, having led the USA to victory in the 65s for the third straight year, is having a great second week, reaching the final of the singles and doubles (with Jan Kirkland Cochran, USA). She will face her Kitty Godfree Cup teammate Wendy McColskey in the final. McColskey will be contesting her first world singles final, with her previous best being a semifinal in singles. It is also Kirkland Cochran’s first world doubles final.
In women’s 70, Liane Bryson (playing with Heidi Eisterlehner of Germany) is in the doubles final. She won this event last year with Petro Kruger of So Africa. Bryson reached the mixed semis too but lost today.
In women’s 75, Cathie Anderson/Carolann Castell lost a close match in the semis but NSWTA & USTA member Heide Orth is in the singles and doubles finals (with Kruger). Suella Steel/Dean Corley, USA fell in the semis of the mixed.
In women’s 80s, the doubles final will be an all-American affair, between Carol Wood/Sheila Palmer and Burnett Herrick/Dorothy Wasser. Palmer/Wilbur Jones are in the mixed final. In singles, Inge Weber, CAN, also a USTA member and Nanda Fischer, GER, who plays some USTA events will face off in the final.
In women’s 85, France, which did not send a team, had six entrants in singles! And NZL, who also didn’t send a team had two entrants (to be fair, the ITF requires three players to field a team).
In the 65s, Danny Shaw, USA (lives in Europe), playing with Austrian Hilldegarde Bruggraber upset the top seeds today (Bruno Renault/Caroline Glazmann), former champions to reach the final.
In the 70s, defending champion Bruce Barrett USA and Chris Ornstein GBR are in the doubles final again. Barrett also reached the mixed semis.
In the 75s, Jimmy Parker reached the semis of singles but lost to Peter Adrigan in the semis. Adrigan is returning after a two year golf sabbatical, which doesn’t seem to have hurt his game any. Parker/Donald Long USA will face Corley/Michael Stewart, USA in the doubles final. Steel/Corley fell in the mixed semis.
Wilbur Jones is in two finals in the 80s, the doubles, with Herm Ahlers, USA and mixed (with Sheila Palmer, USA).
King Van Nostrand, USA will go for gold in men’s 85 singles against Frenchman Henri Cruchet and doubles, with John Powless, in another all American doubles final. They face Joe Russell/George McCabe.
From Brenda Carter, Captain of the Althea Gibson Cup team:
Amazingly, we did it. We won the Althea Gibson Cup by defeating the team from Great Britain. Both singles matches were nail biters — however, both were won in straight sets. Judy started the day winning in two very tight sets, then Toni took the court and defeated her opponent in straight sets. Shortly thereafter, Liane and I defeated GB’s remaining two players. We are very excited.
The team competition ended today. USA won 5 of the 10 Cups and finished in the top 3 in the remaining 5 Cups. The individual World Championships begin tomorrow. Many of the Cup players will remain in Umag to compete for singles, doubles or mixed doubles titles and will be joined by many others who choose to compete from all over the world. However, many choose not to compete in the Individuals and head back to their home countries (including me) this weekend.
I’m so happy for my teammates as they all earned their places on the team with stellar national competition leading up to team selection. We all are very honored to be selected by USTA to represent USA. I’m attaching a photo of our team taken at the awards ceremony.
Thank you so much for supporting us.
Warmly and sincerely,
Brenda
Writing from California, USA
The USA has won five gold medals in Umag so far by Friday, two silver and three bronze. What a fantastic effort by our “super” Super Senior Teams!
The Kitty Godfree Cup, W65, trounced Germany 3/0 with Wendy McColskey at #2 and Tina Karwasky at #1 winning in straight sets. Jan Kirkland Cochran/Lil Peltz Petow completed the 3/0 win.
The Althea Gibson Cup, W70, battle hardened after winning two matches in deciding doubles to reach the final, won both singles against Great Britain to win the gold. Judy Dixon edged Shirley Fox at #2 76 75 and Toni Novack beat Margory Love by a similar score 75 75 to secure the win.
Queens Cup, W75, fell to France, losing both singles decisively. France was a level above the rest of the competition this year with Sylvia Galfard at #2 and Michelle Bichon at #1. The USA finishes with silver medals which is a fantastic finish for the team.
The Women’s 85, who played Argentina several times this week, split singles yesterday and had an unbeatable lead of 5-1 after that.
The Women’s 80 playoff bracket was a 3 team round robin. The USA lost yesterday 2/1 to Argentina, and beat France on Wednesday. Argentina beat France today 2/1 so USA finishes second.
The Bitsy Grant team, M75, handed Peter Pokorny rare losses in beating Austria to win the Cup. Don Long apparently hit the wall in singles after a series of marathon singles wins and lost at #2 singles, but Jimmy Parker beat Pokorny at #1 60 76 and Parker/Long won the doubles point 60 61.
The Britannia Cup, M65 placed third, beating Australia in both singles matches. Gary Jenkins won in three sets at #2 singles and Geoff Cykman won at #1. USA #1 Mark Meyers and AUS #1 Andrew Rae didn’t play today.
In Jack Crawford Cup, M70, the USA beat Switzerland 3/0 to win bronze with singles wins by Geoff Moore at #2 in three sets, Bob Litwin at #1 in straight sets and Steve Gottlieb/Brent Abel in doubles.
The Gardnar Mulloy, M80 team edged Sweden 2/1 to finish third. Lester Sack was the MVP today, winning at #2 singles 13-11 in a Match tiebreak and then combining with Wilbur Jones to win the deciding doubles (after Quall fell at #1 singles) in two tight sets.
I will add more photos later.
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Reporting from California, USA
I will update the results of the Men’s 65 & 80 later today.
Update, 10 pm CET:
USA lost 2/1 to Chile in the M80 and 3/0 to France in M65. Both teams and M70 play for third tomorrow.
W65/70/75 play for first along with M75 & 85.
W85 have won their division.
The Bitsy Grant Cup team, Men’s 75, led by Jimmy Parker, won both singles against France to advance to the final on Thursday in Umag. Don Long put in a gritty performance against Francois Pierson, winning 76 (5) in the third set to give the USA a 1/0 lead. Parker sealed the win with a 64 63 win over ?Serge Andres to send the USA into the final. Dean Corley/David Dollins were scheduled to play the doubles.
The USA Men’s 70 team (Jack Crawford) fell to Denmark in two tightly contested singles matches. Brent Abel lost 64 in the third to Claus Peterson at #2 singles and Bob Litwin fell to former top 50 player Kasper Rud 63 in the third. They will play for third place tomorrow.
The Men’s 65 team (Britannia Cup) is down 1/0 to France. Bruno Renault, last year’s world champion, playing #2 singles, beat Geoff Cykman handily; Mark Meyers is playing Didier Kaisserian at #1 singles; if he wins, he’ll play the deciding doubles with Tom Smith.
The Gardnar Mulloy (M80) team is up 1/0 vs Chile behind the strong singles play of Lester Sack at #2 singles. Bob Quall is playing the very tough Jaime Pinto Bravo at #1; Wilbur Jones/Sack are scheduled for doubles.
The Doris Hart Cup team (W80) lost 2/1 to Argentina; Burnett Herrick won at #2 singles; Dorothy Wasser lost at #1 to Romero and Flint/Romero beat Herrick/Wasser 76 75. Argentina plays Great Britain tomorrow in the three team round robin. If Argentina wins, USA finishes second. If Great Britain wins, then it will come down to sets and games to determine the order of finish. The USA will finish 1, 2 or 3.
The following teams are off today: Kitty Godfree (W65); Althea Gibson (W70); Queens (W75); W85 (who have already won their division) and Men’s 85. All play for gold tomorrow and are guaranteed silver. In fact, all 10 teams will medal in Umag, what a great result for our “super” Super Seniors!
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
As told to me by Margaret Canby, W85 Captain:
“We have won, today Rose [Austin] and I won the doubles 6-0 6-1. Really played well!
Yea USA 85 Women Cup winners 2019!”
Congratulations to Margaret, Rose and Irene Bretzel!
Reporting from California, USA
Update: USA won the doubles in the W 65, 70, 75 and men 75.
Abel/Litwin won 70 doubles.
Anderson & Hillebrand won in 3 sets.
Check back as I will update this later today with the doubles results from the W 70, 75 and M70 teams.
All results are from the ITF Seniors website…so if there are errors please let the ITF know!
First update is at 4pm Croatia Time (CET)
The Men’s 65, 75 & 80 teams are all into the semis and have byes today.
The Men’s 85 beat Sweden 3/0. John Powless at #2, King Van Nostrand at #1 and George McCabe/Joe Russell in doubles all won in straight sets. This is a powerhouse team, which is one win away from winning the Cup.
The women’s 80s have beaten France. They are up 2/0 behind strong singles play by Burnett Herrick at #2 and Dorothy Wasser at #1. Carol Wood/Sheila Palmer are set to play the doubles.
The knockout draw for the W75is a three team round robin and the USA are now one win away from gold. They play Argentina on Friday.
The Women’s 65, Kitty Godfree, split their singles matches against Austria. Austria beat Great Britain on Sunday in the round robin competition. Wendy McColskey prevailed in a tough 3-setter against Roswitha Woltsche. Margaret Kerschbaum upset Tina Karwasky 63 63. Jan Kirkland Cochran/Karwasky are to play doubles against Kerschbaum/Woltsche. Austria has three very good doubles players so it will be a tough doubles match. They won the deciding doubles against Great Britain on Sunday with a different pair.
Update: Tina and Jan won in straight sets. USA advances to the final!
The Althea Gibson Cup team (W70) split singles with Australia. Judy Dixon at #2 easily beat Jan Maddison but Kerry Ballard beat Toni Novack by the same score (Ballard is extremely tough…she beat Karwasky in the individual world championships last year in the 65s where she reached the final…she also won the doubles.). Ballard/Carol Campling face Dixon/Liane Bryson which will be a very tough match for the Americans.
Update: Judy and Liane won in straight sets. USA advances to the final!
The Women’s 75 (Queens) team split the singles with Great Britain. Cathie Anderson lost in three sets to Jan Wagott. Charleen Hillebrand lost the first set then won the second set 62 against frances McClennan and McClennan retired. Hillebrand/Anderson are playing the doubles point against Wagott and Felicity Thomas.
Cathie and Charleen won in three sets. They have one more match in the three team round robin playoff.
The Men’s 70, Jack Crawford, split singles. Against Canada, Brent Abel beat Ken Dahl in three sets while Tim Griffin beat Bob Litwin in straight sets. Steve Gottlieb/Geoff Moore seem set to play the deciding doubles point.
Update: Litwin/Abel played and decisively won the deciding doubles point.
That’s all for now. I’m out much of the day so the next update won’t be for several hours. You can check results below. Click on the Cup and then matches to get the current results. I will report later on the Women’s 85 Cup too.
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Reporting from California, USA
The USA Men’s 70s team beat Ireland 3/0 today, winning their round robin group. They move into the quarterfinals which begin tomorrow.
Brent Abel #2 and Bob Litwin, #1 won the singles; Geoff Moore and Steve Gottlieb won the doubles point.
Photo from Brent Abel.
The remaining US teams (other than Women’s 85) had the day off.
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Reporting from California, USA. The women’s 85 division is new in 2019. Some teams pulled out and only USA and Argentina are in Umag this year. Below is a report from Margaret Canby, captain of the USA Women’s 85 team which is playing in Umag, Croatia.
USA players (l-r) Rose Austin, Margaret Canby, and Irene Bretzel
ITF has us playing Doubles on Monday, 2 singles on Tuesday, Doubles on Wednesday, 2 reverse singles on Thursday and another doubles on Friday. We won doubles yesterday 6-3 6-4 and today Irene won her singles as her opponent had to retire for illness and Margaret won a nail-biter 11-9 in the tiebreak 3rd set. If we can win one more match, we will WIN!
California, USA,
Reported by Benda Carter, Captain of the USA team.
As expected, the USA Women’s 70 team had a tough battle against Germany today. There are 13 countries vying for our Cup and there are 4 seeds. USA is seeded #2 and Germany is unseeded. The teams are divided into 4 groups, with 3 teams in 3 groups and 4 teams in the 4th group. A seed is placed in each of the 4 groups. In each of the groups, a round robin is played and the winner of each round robin will play a semifinals and finals draw with a 3/4 playoff at the end of the week. The other 3 seeds were happy Germany was not in their round robin, because they knew how tough they would be.
Judy Dixon won her match at #2 in straight hard-fought sets, then Toni Novack lost her match to a player ranked #3 in the world in the 70s, but she gave her a run for her money. After an hour break, the doubles teams went to battle. Judy and Liane played a brilliant match and after 2 1/2 hours, won 6-4 in the third. Hence, we won the tie!
We are ecstatic that we have progressed to the semi’s. We have the day off tomorrow!
There are over 500 players competing this week, with teams from 30 different countries. The age groups for Women and Men are 65s, 70s, 75s, 80s, and 85s. The USA has a team competing in each category.
Thanks for your support!
Brenda
Writing from California, USA around 5:15 pm Croatia Time
Update 7pm Croatia time: USA Men’s 80 finished a 3/0 win over Sweden; Quall won 10-4 in a match tiebreak and Ahlers/Jones won the doubles point. USA won its round robin group
USA Women’s 75 defeated Canada 3/0; Hillebrand won in straight sets as did Cathie Anderson/Suella Steel in doubles. USA has won it’s round robin group.
Still no score for women’s 70 doubles.
The USA won the Women’s 65, 80, and Men’s 65, 75 three team round robins today. The women’s 70 split their singles against Germany and the Women’s 75 & Men’s 80 are up 1/0 after #2 singles. (They may be done but I’m only going from the scores reported on the ITF website). The men’s 70 are also undefeated but are in a four team round robin. The men’s 85 team is in one, five team round robin group and are 2/0 so far.
Kitty Godfree (W65): The USA beat So Africa 2/0 behind the singles play of Wendy McColskey (#2), Tina Karwasky (#1) and the doubles play of Lil Peltz-Petow and Jan Kirkland-Cochran.
Althea Gibson Cup (W70); Judy Dixon beat Barbara Van Ende at #2, but Toni Novack lost to Heidi Eisterlehner (multiple world singles champion) 63 63. Dixon/Liane Bryson are set to play the doubles.
Queens Cup (W75): Carolann Castell won a tough three setter against Canada (Claude) and Charleen Hillebrand was next to face Gisela at #1 singles.
Doris Hart Cup (W80). The USA beat Australia 3/0 yesterday. Carol Wood and Sheila Palmer did win the doubles point late in the day after the USA won two marathon singles matches. Today in contrast, they beat Ukraine 3/0 without losing a game in any match. Wood and Burnett Herrick won the singles points and Palmer/Dorothy Wasser won the doubles.
Britannia Cup, M65. The USA handled Poland easily, behind the singles play of Geoff Cykman at #2, Mark Meyers at #1 (who won 60 60) and Gary Jenkins/Tom Smith won the doubles.
Jack Crawford Cup, M70. The men’s 70s team is looking strong so far. They are ahead 2/0 as of now, having won the #2 singles (Brent Abel) and #1 singles (Bob Litwin) handily with Abel/Gottlieb set to play the doubles point. They played Italy today. The photo is from Brent’s FB page.
The Bitsy Grant Cup team (M75) beat Sweden. Don Long won at #2 and Jimmy Parker at #2; Dean Corley/Dave Dollins were set to play the doubles point. They won their group with this win.
The men’s 80, Gardnar Mulloy Cup, won at #2 singles (Lester Sack) and Quall was to face Gaba from Denmark at #1 singles. No results reported yet.
The men’s 85 Cup team beat Great Britain 3/0. Today George McCabe played #2 singles, Van Nostrand won at #1 and John Powless/Joe Russell won the doubles point. D
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Super Seniors Umag 2019 Information (links to blog articles, players and more)
From Brenda Carter in Umag
Hello all,
Greetings from Umag, Croatia. It is such a privilege to be a member of the USA Althea Gibson Cup, representing our country in the 2019 International Tennis Federation World Team Championships. My teammates are Liane Bryson (California), Judy Dixon (Massachusetts) and Toni Novack (Florida). We just completed our first tie, playing Sweden. It was a great tie for us, as the Swedish players played well and forced us to dig and play a little better! Judy and Toni won their singles matches, then Liane and I posted a win in doubles. All 3 matches were won in straight sets. Tomorrow we will face Germany — they’ve brought a very strong team!
Attached pictures: 1) our team, 2) all USA players competing this week, 3) our team with the Swedish team.
USA Super Senior Teams Go 9/9 on Day 1 in Umag
California, USA, Reporting from Afar
The opening ceremonies of the ITF Super Senior World Team Championships (ISSWTC) in Umag took place yesterday, as well as the captains’ meetings, during which the draws were made.
Photos courtesy of Carol Wood, Bob Litwin and the players’ facebook posts!
The USA is seeded in each category and all teams, other than the Women’s 85 (a new division which only has 2 teams, USA and Argentina).
The most dramatic tie of the day was that of the USA Women’s 80 team vs Australia. Both singles matches went to match tiebreaks (match tiebreaks are only used in the 80 & 85 divisions). First Burnett Herrick won 64 46 1/0 (6). That match was not exciting compared to the one Dorothy Wasser won. Dorothy, playing on her first ever cup team, debuted at #1 singles! She dropped the first set 62, won the second 76 (4), then squeaked out the tiebreak 13-11! I wasn’t there but imagine she held off some match points along the way. That gave the USA, the #2 seeds, an unassailable lead. Carol Wood and Sheila Palmer (another woman making her Cup debut in the 80s), were scheduled to play the doubles point.
In contrast to the women’s 80s, the women’s 65 (Kitty Godfree) easily beat Croatia, dropping only two games in beating the host country. Wendy McColsky & Tina Karwasky played #2 and #1 singles respectively, while Jan Kirkland Cochran made her Cup debut alongside Lil Peltz-Petow in doubles.
The women’s 70 (Althea Gibson), beat Sweden convincingly. Judy Dixon made her singles Cup debut at #2 and Toni Novack, fresh off winning the 65 singles at the GMP Cup in Umag the week before, won at #1 singles. Brenda Carter, returning to competitive play after a knee injury, combined with Liane Bryson, the 2018 world doubles champion, to take the doubles point.
The Queens Cup team, W75, took on Argentina. Carolann Castell at #2 and Charleen Hillebrand at #1 prevailed in singles and doubles.
The Britannia Cup, M65, beat Hungary 3/0; Geoff Cykman played #2, Mark Meyers #1 and Gary Jenkins/Tom Smith won the doubles point.
The Jack Crawford (M70) team easily beat Australia in the singles behind the play of Geoff Moore (#2) and Bob Litwin (#1); Brent Abel/Steve Gottlieb dropped the first set in doubles before rebounding to finish strongly 26 62 61.
In men’s 75 (Bitsy Grant) play, USA beat Zimbabwe 3/0; Don Long won at #2, Jimmy Parker had a tough 2-set tussle with Roger Dowdeswell at #1 and Dean Corley/David Dollins took the doubles point.
USA won 3/0 against Croatia in the Gardnar Mulloy Cup (M80). Lester Sack at #2 and Bob Quall at #1 played singles; Herm Ahlers/Wilbur Jones won the doubles point.
The very strong men’s 85s team, led by legendary Kin Van Nostrand, beat Australia 3/0. Joe Russell held on to win a tough 2nd set 76 at #2 singles while King at #1 and George McCabe/John Powless (another legend) completed the win.
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Draws for 2019 Super Senior Cups in Umag Now Posted
Please click on the following links below to view the final draws for the 2019 ITF Super-Seniors World Team Championships.
Kitty Godfree Cup, W 65 (USA is in Group A); USA is in the 1-4 playoff
Althea Gibson Cup, W70 (USA is in Group B); USA in the 1-4 playoff
Queens’ Cup, W75 (USA is in Group B); USA in the 1-3 playoff
Doris Hart Cup, W80 (USA is in Group B); USA in the 1-3 playoff
Britannia Cup, M65 (USA is in Group C); USA in the playoff or 1st
Jack Crawford Cup, M70 (USA is in Group F); USA in the 1-6 playoff
Bitsy Grant Cup, M75 (USA is in Group B); USA in the play off for 1st
Gardnar Mulloy Cup, M80 (USA is in Group B) USA in the playoff for 1st
Men’s 85 Cup. (5 team round robin)
More information here including links to blog articles and players.
