The Men’s 55/60 Grass had a new venue, the Agawam Hunt Club in Rumford, RI. Despite some rain and big draws in the 60s, the tournament finished on schedule.
The two winners took vastly different paths to the gold.
In the 55s, Alfredo Rivera, seeded 4th, upset #2 Andy Stoner 63 64 in the semis and then took out John Saviano (who was trailing by a set and up 4/3 in the second when Dan Goldie (1) had to retire with an injury in the semis). Saviano won the first set 76(6) but Rivera dominated the final sets 62 62. Stoner took bronze by default.
In contrast, Mike Tammen, the #1 seed in the 60s, sailed into the final without trouble, beating Richard Jordan(8) 62 61 in the semis. There he faced Tim Klitch. Klitch, seeded 4, also reached the final without trouble, beating unseeded Ralph Saviano (who earlier took out the #2 seed) 63, 62 in the semis. It was Klitch’s first national final. Tammen won in straight sets, but the second set was the closest Tammen had in the tournament…he had to come back from a break down to win it 64. Jordan won the bronze 76 54 ret. inj. over Saviano.
David Box/Andy Stoner beat Tammen/Ken White 64 63 for the 55 doubles title. Sanjiv Pillai/Brad Jefferies won bronze.
Richard Jordan/Tim Keegand beat Carl Norbeck/Scott Snow 62 61 to winthe 60 doubles. Stuart Chase/Alex Pier won the bronze.
The women’s tournament season in the USA basically skipped most of the summer for higher level tournaments (only 2 from June-mid-September), but now is packed! I flew from Houston on Friday night. It was an uneventful flight but I did leave my phone in the rental (I realized it pretty quickly…before I got on the shuttle), then went through security before remembering to do my “Clear’ biometrics…which had to be done in a different terminal. I had arrived nice and early though and was still early to the gate.
Yesterday I had a tennis rest day but a busy one…laundry, packing for my international trip next weekend, flu shot, grocery shopping (always hard to dash in and out of Costco or even Trader Joe’s for that matter) for next week (three house guests)…plus getting ready for one guest who came in last night.
Today I practiced with Erin Nevin from Palm Beach Gardens who also practices with Jenny Klitch. We practiced a lot during lockdown and it paid off for all of us. The courts at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Center are really nice…new, hydro-courts and the clubhouse is also new and quite nice and beautiful to look at. Two years ago the clubhouse was a couple of temporary trailers, so this is quite an upgrade. There are two more stadium courts as well. It was breezy and warm but not too oppressive and the weather forecast for the week is mostly dry.
I don’t play till Wednesday but then the tournament starts with a bang, singles and doubles.
Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Center (A public facility! 20 green clay courts plus some hard courts and pickle ball. )
Sunday was the final day of the 2021 Clay Courts in Houston, which was the 50th anniversary of this tournament. It’s always a great event but this year’s edition seemed better than every. Many thanks to everyone who made the tournament great, especially Sue Bramlette and the very supportive Bob Bramlette. It was fun and see you next year!
Kaysey Smashey beat Alina Mihailescu in three sets to win the 35 clay singles.
Jennifer Toney/Tammy Morris won the 45 doubles over unseeded Corrine Loeffler/Kristin Warren 76 60. Brandi Bratek, the third seed won the bronze.
And that’s a wrap on the 2021 Clay Courts in Houston…coming up, the 40-80 Clay in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida!
Last night I flew to Florida for the 60 national clay but the Houston tournament is still going. The tournament was scheduled so the older divisions started on Monday, the 45s on Wednesday and the 35s on Thursday.
Julie Thu won the 45 singles title without dropping a set. She beat #2 seed Luciana Roldan in the final. She’s an amazing player, lefty with double handed groundies. She pummels the ball after angling opponents off the court. Leslie Wargo mount an impressive comeback to take the bronze over #3 Dianne Lee 06 62 63.
Julie Thu
In the 35s, Kaysie Smashey and Alina Mihailescu are in the final which will be held tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Smashey and Thu won the 35 doubles over unseeded Linda Sheldon/Megan Wnuk 62 60. Brandi Bratek (3) will face Chiara Combs for the bronze.
In the 45 doubles, the top seeds, Anne Frautschi/Susanne Zuniga defaulted to Jennifer Toney/Tamy Morris, the 3rd seeds; they play Corrine Loeffler/Kristin Warren who took out the #2 seeds Stacey Williams/Mariana Hollman and the #3 seeds, Rainy Miller/Vikki Dudley to reach the final which is Sunday. Miller/Dudley won the bronze by default over Frautschi/Zuniga.
In 55 consolation singles, Tracey Thompson beat Paulson by default over Christine Paulson.
In 65 consolation singles, Pat Purcell beat Frances O’Sullivan 60 60.
It was another beautiful, sunny warm (but not humid) day in Houston Friday, and there were a lot of matches both in the main draw and consolation draws.
As usual there was a delicious lunch and breakfast for the players…on the menu for lunch were make your own burger (using hamburger, barbecued chicken or portabella mushrooms), various salads, green, coleslaw, potato, house made potato chips, sweet potato fries and the club’s awesome cookies. Again, I cannot say enough thanks to Sue Bramlette for directing the best senior tournament, full stop.
I had a 9am match, and Jenny K and I warmed up as usual at 7:30. I played Tina Karwasky, the 2017-9 champion in the 65s and won 62 63. Tina slipped during the second set and skinned her knee…she was icing it, her other knee and right shoulder after the match. The conditions weather wise were perfect..70s and no wind, but the extreme contrast between sun and shadow made play tricky at times. Bunnie Jackson beat Sherri Bronson in three sets to take the 65 bronze. Lisa Musgrave beat Andrea Barnes in three sets to place fifth. In the consolation to determine 9th place, Pat Purcell beat Leslie Murveit in three sets and takes on Frances O’Sullivan next.
After I finished, we took some photos and I watched Jenny Klitch, (#1 in the world in 55s) play Renee Saheim, an energetic lefty who is an excellent player. Klitch though played a terrific match, smacking winners left and right (no Renee hit seemed safe from Jenny’s returns) and making Renee run a lot. The points were great but Klitch won 62 62. Gayle Prejean took third. In consolation, beating Laurie Capra 62 ret. (Capra had a loooong match two days earlier, with kathy Vick, plus doubles), Tracey Thompson won a marathon with Heidi Gerger 67 76 (12) 63! She faces Paulson in the 9-10 playoff. Vicki Buholz won the 5-8 playoff over McWilliams (winner of the 5 hour 15 minute match against Kathy Vick yesterday) 61, ret. McWilliams was pulling up after every point. Winning a match against Kathy Vick this tournament was a pyrrhic victory. After singles Renee had the doubles final with Lori Gonzalez against Buholz/Prejean, the 55 world doubles champions. Buholz/Prejean dropped the first set but rallied to win and take the gold in three sets.
Dori Devries won the Women’s 85s when Carol Wood had to retire after dropping the first set 64 with hamstring and arm injuries. Sheila Palmer took the bronze over Burnett Herrick 64 64. Laurie Leach was 5th.
Julie Thu took very little time in beating Dianne Lee Friday..Lee didn’t play badly but Thu just kept hitting winners at the end of points, angles then line shots. She plays Luciana Roldan in the 45s final this morning. In 45 doubles, the 1, 3 and 4 seeds survived but the #2 seeds, Stacey Williams/Mariana Hollman lost to Loeffler/Warren.
Kaysie Smashey started her tournament with a win in the 35s and faces #3 Brandi Bratek in the semis. Alina Mihailescu (2) faces unseeded Chiara Combs who beat the 4th seed when she had to retire at 1-1 in the third set.
Rita Price won the 90 singles despite not having played singles for two years and being 95! She attributed her wins to Tai Chi and dancing…and she is a very good dancer. If you are on Facebook check out the video from the player party of Rita dancing to New York New York.
Brenda Carter mounted an impressive comeback in the second set to win the 75 singles gold ball in Houston today. She won 62 76(8), rallying from 2-5 in the second set against Carolann Castell. Castell did a good job during the second set of hitting deep and finishing at net to forge a 5-2 lead, but Carter became more aggressive according to Castell and closed out the match in straight sets.
In the 55s, Jenny Klitch beat Laurie Capra 61 61 and Renee Saheim beat Gayle Prejean 62 63 to advance to the final. Klitch and Capra played in the shadows on the third court down but Klitch played a near perfect match, and ran off what was left of Capra’s legs (she had a marathon match yesterday with Kathy Vick). Saheim and Prejean played in front of the clubhouse and it was an interesting match; they hadn’t played before and you could see the players adjust their strategies; Saheim, a lefty, alternated drops, approaches to the net, and hard hit backhands in her win. In the backdraw, Vicki Buholz went down 4/0 against Shelly Works, then won the next 12 games…Jacqueline McWilliams edged kathy Vick in a 5 hour 15 minute match to reach the 5/6 playoff match against Buholz…I heard there were a lot of high (moon) balls in that match.
Saheim/L Gonzalez, unseeded, took out the # 2 seeds in 55 doubles yesterday and today beat the #3 seeds, both in straight sets. They face Buholz/Prejean who won in straight sets to reach the final.
Tina Karwasky just loves the matchup with Sherri Bronson…it’s great for Tina and bad for Sherri, matchups are like that sometimes. Tina won 60 60 and Sherri said Tina played flawlessly. I played Bunny Jackson and won 60 61 in a good match, closer than the score. Bunny is a tall lefty and tricky, it was a good win and am looking forward to tomorrow. In the backdraw Andrea Barnes beat Kathy Foulk 61 61 and Lisa Musgrave ended Ginny Beneke’s singles tournament 61 61 by coming to net on most points.
In 65 doubles, Bunny Jackson/Betsy Savitt edged Andrea Barnes/Leslie Murveit in the first set of the final 76, rallying from 1-4 and 4-5 down, then took the second 62 to win the gold. Karwasky/Jan Cochran won the bronze over Kandy Chain/Lisa Musgrave 62 62.
Bottom: Carol Wood/Dori DeVries, Brenda Carter, Winstead, Anderson, Kimball, Castell
Castell/Sue Kimball won the 75 doubles 60 76 over Cathie Anderson/Brenda Winstead. Till the second set Castell/Kimball hadn’t lost a game all tournament. Elizabeth Barnhill/Sherri Floor took the bronze.
The 85 doubles title was won by Dori DeVries/Carol Wood in a tight match over Sheila Palmer/Burnett Herrick 75 76. Palmer thought her team had some set points along the way.
The 45s is underway and Leslie Wargo upset 3rd seeded Teresa Merklin to reach the semis as the other seeds advanced. Thus far there are no upsets in 45 doubles.
The 55, 65 & 85 singles final and 55 doubles final are tomorrow.
The weather changed from torrid to delightful overnight and today it was breezy, sunny, warm and the humidity dropped (in other words Houston weather changed to San Diego weather). I even had to get out my warm up pants and jacket! The tennis wasn’t bad either!
Lunch today was excellent; salad with all the fixings (cheese, olives, mushrooms, peas, corn, pecans and more); chicken, beef and pork which could be put into a tortilla cup with the fixings (beans, salsa, avocado etc.), tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches, and three kinds of cookies.
And there was tennis too. I played at 9am…Jenny K and I warmed up early, then I played Andrea Barnes. I won 60 62 but the second set in particular was quite good; Andrea and I both had to make some strategy changes as the match advanced. Jenny beat Jacqueline McWilliams from Texas 60 61 but they had some great points and used the entire court.
In the 65s, the seeds advanced; I play Bunny Jackson (a 6′ lefty) who beat Kathy Foulk 60 63; Tina Karwasky fended off a challenge from Lisa Culp Musgrave, 76 (5) 62; Lisa had a set point and missed a drop shot in the first set. Sherri Bronson ousted and outlasted Ginny Beneke (described as an energizer bunny) 75 57 61, using her experience and competitiveness to win the match. However, the doubles matches both resulted in upsets; Jackson/Betsy Savitt beat Karwasky/Jan Cochran (#1) 60 46 61 and Barnes/Leslie Murveit took out #2 seeds Musgrave/Kandy Chain in three long sets 75 36 64…the final should be another great match.
In the 55s, Renee (Tharpe) Saheim (5) played a great match to beat Vicki Buholz (#2); Renee is a lefty with a great two-handed backhand, nice volleys and excellent mobility…she won 64 61. Renee plays Gayle Prejean (5) who upset Shelly Works (4) 63 62 in a match that had VERY long rallies…the match lasted several hours. Laurie Capra (unseeded) beat #3 Kathy Vick in a match that was about three hours long 64 67 64. Towards the end of the third both competitors had game points in the 4-4 and 5-4 games but Capra finally got over the finish line with an aggressive groundstroke. The 55 doubles are still going on…
In the 75s, Brenda Carter beat Sue Kimball 62 64; Kimball said it was the best she’d played to date against Carter; Carolann Castell took out Cathie Anderson (winner of the marathon with Brenda Winstead yesterday) 62 63. Speaking of Winstead; after finishing play yesterday (she also played doubles with Anderson after their three-set singles), she had to visit the emergency room for full body cramping. Castell/Kimball were supposed to play Anderson/Winstead today but agreed to postpone the match till tomorrow to allow Winstead some recovery time (unless it rained in which case Castell/Kimball would take the default according to Kimball). The weather forecast though is for dry weather tomorrow.
In the 85s, Carol Wood and Dori DeVries won their respective round robin groups and will play the final on Friday. In doubles Burnett Herrick/Sheila Palmer and DeVries/Wood both won easily and will play their final round robin match, this one for a gold ball, tomorrow.
The 45 singles and doubles began today; there were no upsets but Dianne Lee (3) had to dig out a tough match against Emma Nguyen 36 60 76 (4).
And then for the 90s…I had the ages wrong yesterday: Rita Price is 95; Sally Fuller is not 97 but 91 or 92; Janet Hubbard is 92 and Joyce Vanderpol is 97 (see photo below). Also Joyce Jones is 91. Trudy Kuckhahn and Jones won the gold in the 90s over Vanderpol/Fuller 60 62. Jones beat Fuller in the round robin singles 62 60 and Price beat Hubbard by default; Price and Jones play tomorrow.
It was sweltering, torrid, hot, humid, oppressive, sultry…air temps around 100 with high humidity in Houston today. Not everyone survived the heat (to finish her match…no one keeled over). I warmed up again at 7:30 with Jenny Klitch and was soaked after just over 30 minutes of warm up. I played Debbie Burgess and was soaked again after about an hour of play. Jenny was less soaked but her match was shorter.
There were a few upsets and some very good matches today. And as usual the club put on a great buffet breakfast (same options as yesterday, why change a good thing?) and today a very nice lunch (salad with the fixings of nuts, fruit, cheese and dressing), bread, butter, crackers, baked sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, all the fixings (sour cream, butter, green onions, bacon, cheese) and pulled pork, shredded beef and shredded chicken…and barbecue sauce (it is Texas)…plus lemon cupcakes and chocolate chip blondies for desert.
The 55s had no upsets today other than Anna Zimmermann who had to withdraw due to illness. In doubles, Rainy Miller was able to get a replacement in doubles (Renee Heckler), thanks to the efforts of tournament director extraordinaire Sue Bramlette) and they won today. Most winning players were efficient in their matches today.
In the 65s, Lisa (Cup) Musgrave took out #5 seed Leslie Murveit 61 76. The biggest upset though was that of energizer bunny Ginny Beneke (who played a long 3-setter yesterday) over Pat Purcell…actually it was 5-5 in the first set when Pat had to retire due to injury. And it was very hot. Tomorrow I play Andrea Barnes, a 62 63 winner over Frances O’Sullivan; Beneke takes on Sherri Bronson; Bunny Jackson plays Kathy Foulk and Tina Karwasky plays Musgrave. Musgrave and Kandy Chain, the #2 seeds, had a tough match today with Bronson/Foulk. The latter team was up 5-2 in the first set and had several set points at 53 and 54 before falling 76 63. There were some stellar lobs by Sherri Bronson but Musgrave added some nice volleys and drops of her own…it was a good match.
Ginny Beneke, Brenda Carter
In the 75s, doubles partners Cathie Anderson and Brenda Winstead had to play each other in the quarters and had a long, hot, very good battle. Cathie took the first set; Brenda blitzed Cathie in the second but Cathie has unbelievably good anticipation (and a killer backhand)…she sliced and dropped her way to a third set win. Anderson plays Castell next (who took a direct, efficient path to the semis); Brenda Carter faces Sue Kimball on the other half. Anderson/Winstead won their doubles match in straight sets to reach the final against Kimball/Castell.
Cathie Anderson and Brenda Winstead right after their match, which was really a great match. They combined to reach the doubles final later in the day.
The 85s and 90s began today too. They have four doubles teams and are playing a round robin; Carol Wood/Dori DeVries and Burnett Herrick/Sheila Palmer both won. Wood beat Herrick in singles and Devries beat Laurie Leach (there are two groups of 3 players; the winners of each group play for gold; the second place finishers play for bronze).
Rita Price, Joyce Jones and Sally Fuller are playing a round robin in the 90s; Fuller is 97, Rita 96; Janet Hubbard got sick.
Rita Price and Kathy Langer
Kathy Langer came by today to visit friends and watch players…it was great to see her, it’s been years.
Today was my last practice day here in Houston. I practiced early (7;30!) with Jenny Klitch. It was HUMID (and warm) … by 9am I was soaked. After hitting there was of course a little more chatting. I caught up with Cindy Babb among other friends.
I had eaten breakfast but did check out the buffet (and had some regrets about having already had breakfast). It looked amazing, omelets or eggs made to order, oatmeal and all the fixings, fresh cut fruit, potatoes, CRISPY bacon, bacon, egg and and cheese breakfast tacos. This is the 50th anniversary of this event and the Houston Racquet Club and Sue Bramlette are sparing no effort to make this tournament special. The daily breakfasts and lunches are free to all players.
After breakfast the matches began, with most of the 55s playing today and many of the 65s and 75s. Kristen Guszak beat Tracey Thompson (5) 75 55 retired (it was really hot…Tracey is ok now). The rest of the 55s seeds survived and the round of 16 is tomorrow around 9am.
In the 65s, there weren’t any seeds in action but there were some long matches. Ginny Beneke from San Diego ousted Houstonian Mary Morgan in three sets (Ginny is a runner and super fit; she said Mary served great). Donna Drosner from Wisconsin survived the heat and Becky Timmis to win in three long sets.
There weren’t any upsets in the 55 or 65 doubles; the 65s are out to the quarters and all seeds were in action, and won easily today. In the 75s, there was a terrific first round doubles between Brenda Carter/Ellen Goodman and Brenda Winstead/Cathie Anderson. Anderson/Winstead won in three very competitive sets.
Today, Saturday, I flew from Florida to Houston got the national (Level 1, gold ball) 65 clay courts. I drove to Ft Lauderdale from Palm Beach Gardens, and parked my car for the week. It was super smooth, 25 minutes from Park n Go to clear security which include a shuttle ride and checking a bag!
The terminal wasn’t very crowded.. I sat at a gate with no flight, snd had a row to myself on the flight. We had to return to the terminal after having taxied to the runway because a (relatively young) passenger was ill. But flight arrived nearly on time.
Houston/Bush was pretty busy. I rented a car then had to wait 20-30 minutes for one to be available…the lot was devoid of cars!
After checking into my Airbnb (and waiting out a big thunderstorm), I drove over to the tournament venue, the Houston Racquet Club. The courts were soaked but I caught up with some friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a few years. Below are Tammy Simon, Anna Zimmermann and Rainy Miller from the 55s.
My next stops were Kroger and Trader Joe’s. Then back to the apartment to get ready for the busy week ahead.
The USA Men’s 45s team, led by Chris Groer, beat France 2/1 to advance to the semifinals. After Jesse Walter lost 75 61 at #2 singles, Groer won 75 64 at #1 singles and combined with Guillermo Cosson to win the doubles point 63 63.
The Men’s 40 team fell 2/1 to Argentina. Ross Duncan won at #1 singles 64 75, Marvin Colley lost 61 60 at #1 singles and Colley/Duncan narrowly fell in doubles 57 75 62. They play next the 5/6 playoff.
The Women’s 45 lost in the semis to France 2/0 (the doubles was not played). Sophie Woorons lost at #2 64 62; Debbie Spence Nasim fell 64 63 at #1. They play next for bronze in the 3/4 playoff.
The Women’s 35 team beat Hungary 3/0 to advance to the 5/6 playoff. Jennifer Sinclair played another marathon match, winning 63 57 62; And a Perianu won 60 61 at #1 singles and Perianu/Evgenia Docktor won the doubles point 60 60.
The Women’s 40 team fell 2/1 to Estonia. Mary Beth Williams won at #2 singles 36 63 64; Yulia Bolotova lost 64 61 at #1 singles and Quynh Le/Williams lost the deciding doubles point 62 76 (2). They will play the 7/8 playoff next.
The Men’s 35 team lost 3/0 to Ukraine and will play the 7/8 playoff next. Ryan Sablan lost 75 62 at #2 singles; Jonathas Sucupira fell 46 64 64 at #1 singles and Darrin Cohen/Sablan lost the doubles point 61 64.
Several people have asked why I didn’t write anything about the USTA removing the USA Super Senior teams from the ITF Super Seniors World Team Championships in Mallorca, Spain. So here is some information about it. It caught everyone by surprise especially since the Young Seniors were off to Croatia just as the news hit that the Super Seniors were grounded.
The USTA informed players selected by the USTA to participate in the ITF Super Senior World Team Championships in Mallorca that it had withdrawn the teams from the event on September 8, 2021.
Timeline:
Dates of Young Seniors World Team Championships: September 12-17 (Croatia)
Dates of Super Seniors World Team Championships: October 10-15 (Spain)
July 26, 2021: US Department of State adds Spain to “do not travel” list (due to Covid)
August 1, 2021: players are allowed to book flights and hotels for world championships
August 30, 2021: USA removed from EU Safe list due to surging COVID cases in USA (which fyi are higher than in Spain or Croatia).
August 30, 2021: USTA notifies players that EU dropped USA from safe list and is “hoping for more information in a day or two“.
September 8-9, 2021: Young Seniors allowed to leave USA and participate in Young Seniors World Team Championships in Croatia (over a week AFTER EU dropped USA from the safe list).
September 6, 2021: Spain adds vaccination for Covid-19 as requirement for entry into Spain from a country not on the safe list (previously neither a negative covid test nor vaccination for Covid-19 was required to enter from the USA since it was on the “safe list”.) The USTA did not require that its team members be vaccinated in order to participate in this event.
September 8, 2021: USA Super Senior players informed that the USTA was withdrawing the United States from “competition in the ITF Super SeniorTeam {sic} World Championships…to be held in Mallorca, Spain”.
Rationale used by USTA:
A variety of factors
Ongoing Covid Level 4 status in Spain
Travel warning issued by US, EU and Spain regarding travelers entering from the United States (basically Americans now have to be vaccinated to enter from September 6th).
The fact that (allegedly) Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia had recently withdrawn from the championships. (In fact, none of these countries ever entered this event nor had they entered the Seniors or Young Seniors World Team Championships.)
As you can see from the timeline, the travel warning issued by the US State Department was issued in July, but the USTA waited till September 8th to withdraw the US teams.
The removal of the USA from the European “safe list” occurred August 30th, yet the USTA allowed the Young Seniors teams to travel to Croatia for the team championships there.
The only differences between the event in Croatia for the Young Seniors and the event in Mallorca for Super Seniors appear to be age, the requirement for a vaccine to enter Spain (which should make it more not less safe from Covid) and the Level 3 vs Level 4 (which goes back and forth often) Covid status of Croatia (though right now Covid rates are very similar in the two countries and lower than the USA according to some statistics).
Addendum: Senior Team players had to show proof of vaccination to USTA or proof of vaccination; this was not initially a requirement from the USTA for the Super Senior Team members.
Needless to say the players are quite disappointed and the USTA waited to pull the teams till quite late. There was no communication regarding this decision after August 30th till September 8th. The announcement was sent in batches to the players…90 minutes apart. I didn’t hear about the USTA pulling the teams from the USTA but from Fromuth, which was arranging for team uniforms (which also were cancelled though many players had already received them). The rationale that GBR, NZL and AUS pulled their teams (which had never entered and which were not in Croatia either) as a reason to pull the USA teams makes one wonder what the real reason was that the super senior teams were withdrawn but not the young seniors playing right now in Croatia.
USA players can of course still participate in the Individual World Championships and several are planning on doing so, including myself.
The USA Women’s 45 team remained undefeated in Umag, trouncing Sweden 3/0 behind the singles player of Patricia Zerdan at #2 singles (63 60), Debbie Spence Nasim at #1 (60 60) and the doubles play of Tracie Currie/Sophie Woorons (60 60). The team has lost 7 games in two matches so far but it gets tougher from here on out.
The USA Women’s 35 team rebounded from their loss yesterday to beat Finland 2/0 behind singles wins by Jennifer Sinclair at #2 singles 63 76(6) and And a Perianu 60 62. Doubles is ongoing.
The USA Women’s 40 team were trounced by Italy with Mary Beth Williams losing at #2 singles 60 62 and Yulia Bolotova falling 61 61 at #1 singles. Doubles will follow
The Men’s 35 team remains undefeated with a 3/0 win over Turkey today. Ryan Sablan won at #2 singles 62 60; Jonathas Sucupira won at #1 61 61 and Darrin Cohen/Sablan won the doubles point 62 60. (Though Tyler Browne is listed as the number one player on this team he did not make the trip to Umag.)
The Men’s 40s advanced 3/0 over India; Ross Duncan won 61 60 at #2 singles; Marvin Colley won 62 62 at #1 singles and Duncan/Ryan Pang took the doubles point 61 61.
The Men’s 45 team won 3/0 for the second straight day, beating Portugal 3/0. Jesse Walter won at #2 singles 62 74; Chris Groer won at #1 singles 63 61 and Guillermo Cosson/Walter took the doubles point 75 26 60.
No photos sent to me today…if any of the players are reading this, photos are appreciated from Umag! You can message me on FB or twitter (@tenniscan).
The USA Women’s 60 played Germany in the final (spoiler alert, Germany swept the women’s divisions…they are great on clay, have tons of tournaments and leagues and are a stone’s throw away from Umag..and did I mention they are great on players especially on clay).
Susan Wright lost a very tough match at #2 singles, 64 26 64; Helga Nauck, a particularly tremendous German player beat Fran Chandler 61 63…they could have a rematch next week. So Germany won the Cup and the USA took the silver medals.
Dailey/Newman; Klitch; USA W60 (Chandler/Wright/Gordon-Carney); US W55 & 60 (Newman, Klitch, Dailey, Wright, Gordon-Carney, Chandler); Congratulations!!!!
The USA Women’s 55s played France in the 3/4 playoff. Vesna McKenna played #2 singles and lost 76 4/0 retired. (I don’t know what happened). Jenny Klitch at #1 played a tremendous match to beat Sylvie Mattel 46 74 75 and level the tie. The French though dominated the doubles, beating Mary Dailey and Judy Newman in straight sets to take the bronze. USA took copper.
The Men’s 60s team beat Italy 2/1 to finish 5th. Fernando Cavalleri beat Stu Saiki at #2 63 61; Bill Moss leveled the tie against Raffaello Putti 63 75 and Mike Fedderly/Mike Tammen (the #1 seeds next week) clinched the win with a 62 62 win over Cavalleri/Alessio Frontespezi.
Fedderly/Tammen; Saiki; Moss
The USA Men’s 50s team finished on a high, beating Slovenia 2/1 behind the singles play of Brendan Murphy at #2 (63 67 63) and (61 62). USA defaulted the doubles point.
The USA Men’s 55 team finished 6th, falling to Sweden 2/0 (Willie Alumbaugh lost at #2 75 63 and Andy Stoner at #1 75 62).
And that’s a wrap for this year’s ITF Seniors World Championships. I’ll be posting occasionally during the individuals and in a week’s time will resume daily posts for the Young Seniors World Championships. Thanks for reading!
The USA Women’s 60s team beat France 2/0 in the three team playoff for the gold. Germany also beat France, so the meeting between the USA and Germany will be for the gold. Susan Wright dropped the first set at #2 singles but rebounded to win 16 62 64 and Fran Chandler at #1 finished off the win with a crisp 62 62 victory. USA defaulted the doubles point.
Shannon Gordon-Carney, Fran Chandler & Susan Wright; Chandler (backhand), Wright (forehand)
The USA Women’s 50s team finished its competition today with a tough 2/1 loss to Italy. Vicki Buholz lost at #2 singles 76 60; Andrea Rice leveled the match with a though 75 64 win; Rice/Buholz fell 76 62 in the deciding doubles.
USA and Italy 50s 5/6 playoff
The Men’s 50s team continues to shine in the 13-20 playoff, blitzing Hungary 3/0 today. Brenan Murphy won 62 62; Curtis Dunn won 62 61 and Kline Sack/Sean Straley won the doubles 64 64. They take on Latvia tomorrow in the 13/14 playoff.
The USA Women’s 55 team plays for 3rd tomorrow; the USA Men’s 55 & 60s teams both had byes today and play for 5th tomorrow.
It was a rough day for the USA Seniors teams in Umag Wednesday.
The Women’s 50/55 and Men’s 55/60 teams lost. The men’s 50 team (playing for 13th place) scored a 3/0 win over Switzerland. The Women’s 60 team had a bye.
The W50 fell 3/0 to a very strong Austrian team (former world champion Ingrid Resch was only playing doubles). Vicki Buholz lost 63 75 at #2 singles; Andrea Rice fell 63 64 at #1 and Gayle Prejean/Danielle Royston lost 64 60.
The W55 fell to a tough German team 3/0. Judy Newman (2) lost to Schapp 64 62; Jenny Klitch (1) lost to Dobusch 64 76 (soo close!) and Klitch/Newman fell 64 76 in doubles. They play for bronze next.
Photos by Denise Saiki
The M50 swept Switzerland 3/0. Sean Straley won 63 63 at #2; Curtis Dunn wore down his opponent 75 57 3/0 ret. and the Swiss defaulted the doubles.
The M55 lost to a great Spanish team 2/1. Leo Young lost at #2 63 62; Andy Stoner fell in a nail biter 16 64 76 (1); USA won the doubles 46 64 1/0(7) (Ken White/Young).
Austria beat the M60s 2/1. Mike Fedderly (2) lost to Pansy 36 63 64; Bill Miss played Maldone and lost 62 63; Stu Saiki/Mike Tammen won the doubles point 62 62
Dear Past Players and Team Captains, I hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to this year’s Women’s Intersectional Team Championships which will be held November 8-14 in Phoenix, AZ. We missed you all in 2020 and are super excited to see everyone this year in Phoenix!
You can also print out the information packet by clicking here.
Team/Player registration will be done online in the new Serve Tennis platform. The registration link is not yet available but will be in the coming weeks. If you know you will be captain of a team, please email me section name and age division I will send you the registration link once it is available.
Please review the complete tournament information and feel free to contact me at anytime with any questions you might have.
I played the 65 singles final and 50 doubles final today and both went well. I beat Mary Morgan of Houston 62 61 and even served and volleyed and chipped and charged some! (1: Hard courts encourage that behavior; 2: Fast hard courts encourage it even more). Mary is one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet (and very extroverted to boot). It was a pleasure to play the match.
Jenny Klitch beat Shelly Works in the 55 final 60 62 and played a terrific match, combining hard drives with superb drop shots all match long.
After our singles wins Jenny and I played 50 doubles against a good team from Kansas City (Victoria Marks and Theresa Lampe and Valerie Marks)…they beat Works/Rainy Miller yesterday. We won 64 76 (3) and it was a good, competitive match with many changes of strategy.
We play the 55 doubles final tomorrow against Miller/Works and Jenny plays the mixed final (which was rained out tonight) directly afterwards.
There were a lot of matches today…I saw a few since I was at the club from 7:30 am till 4pm. I also ran into some old friends…Hugh Thomson, Jerry and Marcia Thomas, Ellen and Tony Dawson, and others…it’s nice to see tournaments going again!
In men’s 50s, Eoin Collins (1), a former world champions, beat Todd Smith 62 62 to reach the final against Sean Staley, who took out #2 seed Garry Nadebaum. Collins used his impressive lefty groundstrokes to lead his march to victory.
In men’s 60s, Tim Klitch (2) (Jenny’s brother) beat David Luedtke (4) 63 61, using on the rise hitting and the apparently patented Klitch touch to advance. He faces Peter Markes who had an interesting match with Alex Behar. Alex injured his foot (plantar it seems) in the 2nd game and was hobbling around the court thereafter…but for a set he redlined his shots, limping to the ball and giving it a rip, and won the first set 62. It’s hard to play an injured player! The match was on serve at 2-3 in the second when there was a short rain delay…Peter didn’t drop a game thereafter, and took the second 62 at which point Alex retired.
The match of the day was the men’s 55 doubles final. Featuring the #1 (Scott Works/Kelly Ward) and #2 (Steve Schultz/Marc Weiner) seeds, the match had everything…tight score line (the top seeds winning the first set; the #2 seeds coming back from a break down to win the second, the third set culminating in a tiebreak), great serves/returns/volleys/touch, all played in front of an appreciative crowd on the center court. Schultz/Weiner won the match.
Works has a second chance for a title in the 50 doubles, with Nadebaum.
Kaysie Smashey won the 40s, Julie Thu the 45s and Nancy Hilliard the 50s…all are multiple time Cup members. Terri Thyssen took the 60s and Barbara Starnes took the 70s title.
In men’s tennis, many finals are still to be played, but Robert Barrie won the 65s, John Newman the 80s, and the remaining divisions either have finals tomorrow or the scores haven’t been reported.
In doubles, Mary Morgan/Terri Thyssen won the 60 doubles; Rush/Starnes took the 65s title.
Thu/Haggard won the mixed 40s; the remaining divisions were rained out Sunday night and will be played Monday.
Swenson/Foster won the men’s 65 doubles; Tommy Connell/Tony Dawson (on the comeback from a shoulder replacement!) took the 70 doubles; and the 75 and over doubles score was not reported yet.
Clockwise From top left: Eoin Collins; Alex Behar and me; Rainy Miller, Terri Thyssen, Shelly Works, Nancy Hilliard; Tommy Connell, Mary Morgan, Tony Dawson
I’m here in Austin for the Memorial Day tournament at the Westwood Country Club in Austin. It’s a big tournament with age divisions from 35 to 85 and some family events plus some NTRP age divisions. The senior age divisions earn ITF S700 points in addition to USTA Level 2 points.
I have been practicing here the past two days since I don’t play till tomorrow. Today I scouted my potential singles and doubles opponents in between hits. It was very hot the past two days, and humid, which led to the massive thunderstorms that hit around 6:30pm today, with thunder and lightning.
The Klitch siblings, Hugh & Carol Burris with Mary Morgan (center); a very loud peacock and a chameleon around the grounds.
It is nice to see friends from around the country I haven’t seen for a while. The social events are not on this year but everyone was given a nice shirt and a gift card to a barbecue restaurant.
Tomorrow, weather permitting I have singles and doubles.
Ros Nideffer/Debbie Spence Nasim (1) beat Dina McBride/Tracie Currie (2) to win gold at the 50 Hard Courts. They dominated the division, never dropping more than 5 games in any match. Jenny Rens Keller/Jen Dawson (3) took the bronze over Vicki Buholz/Gayle Prejean.
In contrast to the 50s, an unseeded team won the 60 doubles, Sue Pendo/Julie Juliani, taking out local favorites Una Davis/Lucia Romanov in a match tiebreak. They were the only unseeded players to win gold this year. The bronze went to Colleen Clery Ferrell/Tracey Thompson who beat Julie David/Gail Warden in straight sets.
The 70s title went to Vicky McEvoy/Judy Dixon over Kathy Barnes/Carol Gay. Sue Bramlette/Cindy Babb (who lost 11-9 yesterday to McEvoy/Dixon in a final set MTB) took bronze with a straight set win over Barnes/Gay. Interestingly, the two teams who played a MTB instead of a full third set yesterday, won in straight sets today.
Roz King/Dorothy Wasser (2) beat top seeded Suella Steel/Sheila Weinstock by default (Suella hurt her Achilles I believe…it was a lower leg injury of some sort which forced her to retire in the final). Charleen Hillebrand/Sheila Palmer took bronze over Lorna Brooks/Jean Ainger.
Ann Young placed 9th in the 60s beating Kim Dean 10-8 in a MTB, her 2nd straight 10-8 MTB win. Christen Bartelt was 9th in the 50s. Gloria Melendez was 9th in the 70s (though there was a lot of attrition in that division…lots of injuries). Dorcas Miller took 9th in the 80s.
And that’s a wrap for this year’s edition of the USTA Level 1 Women’s 50-80 Hard Courts. It was a different sort of tournament with no beach or cocktail party (but nightly happy hour, complimentary food). The format for Level 1 doubles was different to the dismay of many players, but dictated by the USTA National Adult Comp Committee not by the tournament. (Since the men’s event was a Level 5, the section, not the national committee determined the format…but it was confusing). It was great to see far flung friends again. Till next time…happy hitting.
Clockwise from top left: Camilla Sutherland, Joan Avedian, Lorna Brooks; Andrea Rice, Conan, Nancy Hilliard, Lucia Romanov/Una Davis & Ann Young
Andrea Rice put on a dominating performance in the final of the 50 Hard Courts, beating top seeded Nancy Hilliard 61 62. Dina McBride finished third (winning the 3/4 playoff by default). Mariko Atoji finished 5th.
Ros Nideffer won the 60s in equally dominating fashion, beating Fran Chandler 60 63. Vicki Buholz beat me 62 64 in the 3/4 playoff and the consolation is still ongoing. Ann Young edged Terri Thyssen in a match tiebreak 10-8 and faces Kim Dean who ousted Ginny Beneke in straight sets.
Judy Dixon cruised past everyone in the women’s 70s, beating first time national singles finalist Barbara Hubbard 63 61. Barbara is a player from Hawaii who has been playing national tournaments for year, gradually improving from losing first or second round, to now, in the 70s reaching singles finals…a gold ball will follow some day! Cathie Anderson took the bronze and Carol Gay finished 5th; the 9th place playoff is ongoing.
Charleen Hillebrand ousted Suella Steel to win the 80s; Hillebrand led 5-2 when Steel retired with a leg injury. Lorna Brooks finished 3rd, beating Susanne Clark by default (Clark pulled a calf in the 2nd set tiebreak of her semifinal against Steel).
The 50 doubles final will be #1 Nideffer/Debbie Spence Nasim (who ousted Jenny Keller/Jen Dawson) vs McBride/Tracie Currie (who beat Vicki Buholz/Gayle Prejean).
In 60 doubles, La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club members Una Davis/Lucia Romanov are in the final after beating Colleen Clery Ferrell/Tracey Thompson in a match tiebreak 10-7. They will take on unseeded Sue Pendo/Julie Juliani who ousted Julie David/Gail Warden.
The 70 doubles semis were a bit odd though extremely competitive. The USTA has mandated a new format for doubles involving round robins leading to a knockout draw and has dictated that all doubles matches be decided by match tiebreaks. The USTA has mandated that the same format be used for all Level 1 (gold ball) tournaments. The top seeds, Kathy Bennett/Liane Bryson played Kathy Barnes/Carol Gay (3)…and Barnes/Gay won 63 16 76 (7)…they played a full third set due to umpire error. (The Level 5 men’s event is playing out the third set of singles and doubles and the same umpires are used for both events.) The #2 seeds Vicky McEvoy/Judy Dixon faced #4 Sue Bramlette/Cindy Babb and they also split sets (the score isn’t correctly reported but each team won a set) and then played a match tiebreak won 11-9 by McEvoy/Dixon. Both were great matches and it was unfortunate that an umpire error marred the results.
In 80 doubles, Steel/Sheila Weinstock will play Roz King/Dorothy Wasser in the final while Lorna Brooks/Jean Ainger take on Hillebrand/Sheila Palmer.
