Though the USA teams won only one of the ten Cups contested in San Diego, they medaled in eight of the 10 Cups contested.
We won the Connolly Cup with a 2/1 win over Great Britain. Susan beat Sally Freeman 61 61 and Diane beat Frances Candy 61 60. Leslie and I lost the doubles (all our interesting matches this week were in doubles and attracted nice audiences!) 60 36 62 to Ann Clark and Pat Wise. It was a fun match even though we lost. After a lot of photos (Diane and Susan have opposite opinions on the worth of photos!) we decided on our celebration. We had a barbecue at my house. My cousins, Sidney and Sonya, flew down to watch the match and helped me shop and prepare the meal…actually they mostly prepared it, but everyone pitched in. We were at the grocery store at 5pm and eating at 7, not bad, for dinner for 12! We took the Connolly Cup, which we now call “Maureen” with us to observe the celebration, but she’s now going back to NY for engraving before being shipped back for display in San Diego.
The USA men’s 55 team, the Austria Cup, had tough luck in the final against Australia. Sal Castillo was playing a good match, and winning, up a set, against Wayne Pascoe when he pulled his groin. He continued the match, but didn’t win any more games, losing in the third set 60. Danny Waldman played world #1 Glenn Busby and played a terrific match to win 64 76. At a critical juncture in the second set, with Waldman serving at 5-5, 30-15, a lob Busby hit was called out (the chair calls all the balls in ITF matches and there were no linesmen). There were murmurings from the crowd. Danny started to prepare for the next point, then hesitated and walked back towards the chair. He saw the ball in and after a discussion, the point was replayed and Danny lost it, and the game. Busby on the changeover gave Danny a pat on the back. The next game was tense, back and forth and Danny finally won it to level the set, and he won a close tiebreak to level the tie 1-1. The doubles was close, but the Aussie’s lobs and overall court position was a little better in the end than the Americans and they won 76 64 to win the Cup for the 7th year in a row.
The women’s 50, Bueno Cup team, had a dramatic finish. Tracy Houk beat Brenda Foster in a come from behind win 46 64 64. Fran Chandler was playing perfectly against Ros Balodis, when Ros…well became Ros and at 64 50 she rallied to win the match 46 75 62. Fran had only one match point…after Ros won a game at 50 and held off a match point at 51 (Fran’s ball hit the tape), the match turned quickly…the doubles then started at dusk and was at 3/2 for the Aussies when rain started. The match finished this afternoon and the Aussies were on fire, winning 62 62…great points, but the Aussie’s didn’t miss.
The women’s 45s beat the #3 seeds, Gr. Britain, to finish5th in the Margaret Court Cup. The Irish team that narrowly beat them in round robin play went on to win the Cup, so they really had a bad draw.
The women’s 40s fell to France 2/0. Sandrine Testud, a former world #9 was their top player and beat Julie Cass 62 63.
The women’s 35s beat #2 seeded Spain 2/0 to win bronze, with both Kelly Wilson and Patricia Zerdan winning three set singles matches.
In men’s 35, the Italia Cup, the USA, seeded 7, finished 6th, beating #4 seeded Argentina and then unseeded Canada, both 2/0 in the 6-10 place playoff.
The Tony Trabert Cup team, men’s 40, finished second, as did the men’s 50s, the Fred Perry Cup, results are below for the final.
The Dubler Cup team, men’s 45, lost to Italy, the eventual winners, 2/0, then beat Great Britain, the #5 seeds, 2/0 to win the bronze.
ITF SENIORS WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS, SAN DIEGO, USA
FINAL RESULTS
MEN’S EVENTS
Italia Cup (Men’s 35)
France defeated Spain 2-0:
Arnaud Magnin (FRA) d. Roberto Menendez (ESP) 26 64 64
Xavier Audouy (FRA) d. Julian Alonso (ESP) 64 64
Tony Trabert Cup (Men’s 40)
France defeated USA 2-0:
Jacques-Olivier Moers (FRA) d. Eoin Collins (USA) 36 76(8) 61
Benoit Halle (FRA) d. Jeff Tarango (USA) 62 61
Dubler Cup (Men’s 45)
Italy defeated France 2-1:
Christophe Delafond (FRA) d. Enrico Casadei (ITA) 61 64
Paolo Pambianco (ITA) d. Franck Hervy (FRA) 61 60
Paolo Pambianco/Giovanni Pacchioni (ITA) d. Franck Fevrier/Nicolas Fourcade (FRA) 63 62
Fred Perry Cup (Men’s 50)
France defeated USA 2-1:
Philippe Kahlouche (FRA) d. Val Wilder (USA) 63 36 62
Arnaud Deleval (FRA) d. Mike Fedderly (USA) 26 75 61
Mike Tammen/Peter Markes d. Jacques Hervet/Alain Dalmasso 76(3) 63
Austria Cup (Men’s 55)
Australia defeated USA 2-1:
Wayne Pascoe (AUS) d. Sal Castillo (USA) 26 63 60
Dan Waldman (USA) d. Glenn Busby (AUS) 64 76(5)
Glenn Busby/Gary Thoroughgood (AUS) d. Ross Persons/Dan Waldman (USA) 76(4) 64
WOMEN’S EVENTS
Suzanne Lenglen Cup (Women’s 35)
Great Britain defeated France 2-1:
Alexia Ferrand (FRA) d. Karen Cross (GBR) 63 63
Lucie Ahl (GBR) d. Berangere Karpenschif (FRA) 60 26 63
Lucie Ahl/Karen Cross (GBR) d. Alexia Ferrand/Berangere Karpenschif (FRA) 26 63 62
Young Cup (Women’s 40)
France defeated USA 2-0:
Olivia Cappelletti (FRA) d. Jennifer Dawson (USA) 60 01
Sandrine Testud (FRA) d. Julie Cass (USA) 63 62
Margaret Court Cup (Women’ 45)
Ireland defeated France 2-1:
Sylvie Mattel (FRA) d. Philippa Palmer (IRL) 61 60
Lesley O’Halloran (IRL) d. Valerie Vernet Le Droff (FRA) 46 62 62
Lesley O’Halloran/Philippa Palmer (IRL) d. Valerie Vernet Le Droff/Sylvie Mattel (FRA) 63 62
Maria Esther Bueno Cup (Women’s 50)
Australia defeated USA 2-1:
Tracy Houk (USA) d. Brenda Foster (AUS) 46 64 64
Roslyn Balodis (AUS) d. Fran Chandler (USA) 46 75 62
Roslyn Balodis/Brenda Foster d. Tina Karwasky/Mary Dailey 62 62
Maureen Connolly Cup (Women’s 55)
USA defeated Great Britain 2-1:
Susan Wright (USA) d. Sally Freeman (GBR) 61 61
Diane Barker (USA) d. Frances Candy (GBR) 61 60
Anne Clark/Pat Wire (GBR) d. Carolyn Nichols/Leslie Airola Murveit (USA) 60 36 62
