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The ITF Masters Tennis World Team Championships are taking place August 13-18 in Lisbon, Oeiras and Estoril Portugal. The Men’s and Women’s 55 & 60 divisions are being contested this week.
USA scored a clean sweep for the second straight day in Portugal, with all four USA teams winning their 3-team round robin competitions. Tomorrow will be a day off for the four USA teams, and the medal rounds will begin on Wednesday and conclude on Friday.
No Byes in Knockout Rounds (Correction & New Rule)
BYE REPLACEMENT IN MEDAL KNOCK OUT STAGE (Day 4-6)
- The are no longer any Byes in the Medal Knock-Out Stage of the competition (Day 4-6)
- The Medal Knockout Draw will consist of 8 Teams for all draw sizes of 17- 23 teams.
- If there are spaces after taking the winning team from each round robin group, these will be filled by Lucky Losers.
- Lucky Losers will be any team that finished 2nd in a round robin group.
- As far as is practicable, teams from the same Round Robin group shall beplaced in different halves of the draw in the first round of the Knock-out stage
- Mens 55 Draw – No Lucky Losers as there are 8 round robin groups
- Mens 60 Draw – 1 Lucky Loser spot (as there are 7 round robin groups)
- Women 55 Draw – 2 Lucky Loser spots (as there are 6 round robin groups)
- Womens 60 Draw – 2 Lucky Loser spots (as there are 6 round robin groups)
Connolly Cup, W55: USA d. Ireland
- #2 singles (played first in every tie): Kathy Settles won 60 61
- #2 singels: Charlotte Hartsock won 63 61
- Doubles: Debbie Spence Nasim/Jenny (Rens) Keller: USA won 60 61 (then practiced…so forgot to turn in scores till later).
- USA players (top photo): Hartsock, Settles, Rens Keller, Spence Nasim
Austria Cup, M55: USA d. Turkey 3/0
- #2 Singles: Curtis Dunn won 62 60
- #1 Singles: Eoin Collins won 60 60
- Doubles: Dunn/Paul Settles won 60 60
- USA Players (every other from far left): Dunn, Collins, Oliver Lorin, Settles,
Alice Marble Cup, W60: USA d. Norway 3/0
USA beat a Scandinavian team for the second straight day (yesterday they played Denmark.
- #2 Singles: Vick Buholz won 60 60
- #1 Singles: Fran Chandler won 61 61
- Doubles: Anne Frautschi/Gayle Prejean won 60 60
- USA players below from far right: Chandler, Frautschi, Buholz, Prejean
USA Von Cramm Cup, M60: USA d. Netherland 3/0
- #2 Singles: Andy Stoner won 60 61
- #1 Singles: John Saviano won 62 64
- Doubles: Bill Moss/Steve Schultz won 62 61
History of Cup Names:
Maureen Connolly was an outstanding American player in the 1950s who won the Grand Slam of tennis: winning the Australian, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Championships in one year. Her career was cut short by a horse back accident.
Alice Marble was another outstanding American player (Courting Danger is a great read). She won five singles, six doubles and seven mixed doubles Slams.
Baron Gottfried Von Cramm was a German player who won Roland Garros twice, reached five other finals at slams and a member of the International Hall of Fame. (“A Terrible Splendor” is a book about a Davis Cup match played on the eve of WW2 involving Von Cramm).