CAPDEPERA, MALLORCA, SPAIN
World Team Championships (65-85) – Sunday 8 – Friday 13 October.
Information on all the ITF Masters World Championships can be found here.
Yesterday, Friday was finals day for most teams (the women’s 80s and 85s had finished their matches for the week as their playoff matches were round robins.)
The USA teams were all in either the final or the 1-3 playoff group (which is held as a round robin).
Four teams: Men’s and Women’s 85, Men’s 80s and Women’s 70 won their cups.
The men’s 85s (Lorne Main Cup) had their easiest match of the week, against Sweden Friday with Albert Lyle winning in straight sets and Lester Sack winning 3-1 retired. Jerald Hayes and Wilbur Jones won by default.
The Women’s 85s (Angela Mortimer Cup) won yesterday. There were to be four teams in their division but Ukraine did not arrive. Which is rather understandable. Carolyn Lane was speaking with some Ukrainians yesterday and they are so grateful for the support the USA and other countries have sent to them. The USA Women’s 85s team beat Argentina and then Thursday Great Britain to win the Cup. Dorothy Wasser won at #2, Roz King at #1 and Chris Smith/Sheila Palmer took the doubles point.
The Men’s 80s, led by Jimmy Parker, won the Gardnar Mulloy Cup over Italy with Don Long at #2 and Parker at #1 losing a combined three games. The doubles was a walkover.
The Women’s 70s, after a slow start to the competition beat Great Britain in the final. Britain played without Pauline Fisher or Shirley Fox since Shirley passed out and Pauline went with her to the hospital. I talked to Pauline’s sister though and Shirley was doing well but being held overnight for observation. Wendy McColskey beat Susan Winters and Tina Karwasky and Marjorie Love had a great match which Tina (the great competitor) won 76 (5), 76 (4). Judy Dixon was the captain and Jan Cochran was the fourth team member. The doubles was not played, since Britain was down to just two players yesterday.
Six teams finished second with silver medals: Men’s and Women’s 65s & 75s, Men’s 70s and Women’s 80s.
Our team, the Women’s 65s, Kitty Godfree Cup, lost to Australia (led by the amazing Ros Balodis) 2/1. I won over Rosemary Everett 60 60. Susan played Ros and the match was very high quality. Ros has very long arms and legs and hits with great depth and accuracy on every shot. She also moves well and seems to read her opponent’s mind, always being in the right spot and rarely off balance. Susan got used to her pace and depth and really pushed her hard in the second set, dropping it 7-5. So it was down to the doubles after a 30 minute break. Exactly 30 minutes regardless of the length of the previous match. We won the first set 63, but in the second Ros regained her energy and Rosemary, who is a great doubles player (we’ve played several tournaments together in Europe) played very well and we lost the set 61 and the tiebreaker played to decide the tied the championship 10-4. It was a disappointing end to the competition but we had a great week and a great team. Carolyn Lane & Bunnie Jackson coached and supported us all day. After the medal ceremony we had a team dinner (the grilled calamari here is soooo good!)
The ladies holding our flag with us are Antonia, Isabel (her daughter) and Carla who alone did all the court maintenance and other maintenance at Tenis Son Besso during the Cup week. Antonia sleeps above the clubhouse and they swept, lined and watered each court before all matches began and after each match and between second and third sets.
The men’s 70s, Jack Crawford Cup, fell 2/0 to France. Lenny Wofford started extremely well, leading 62 and up a break in the second but Alain Vaysset started moving Lenny side to side and won 26 75 62. Serge Cressy beat Bob Barrie 61 63…Bob had a medical time out after the first set (I heard him say his leg was numb), but finished the match standing. Dave Sivertson hurt his elbow during the previous week’s tournament but was on court coaching and Paul Wulf and Lenny alternated at #2 singles during the week. Bob was a rookie to this competition and went 4/1 at #1 singles, amazing debut.
The men’s 65s (Britannia Cup) played the Australian team led by the amazing Glenn Busby who looks as fit as a person over 65 could possibly be. Danny Waldman had a marathon at #2, beating Michael Ford who is about 6’7″ (Danny is no taller than 5’10”). Mark Vines lost 1,1 to Busby and Vines/Waldman lost to Wayne Pascoe/Busby in the deciding doubles. It was a repeat of last year’s final though Australia had added Ford. Waldman played marathons all week, up to 4.5 hours in length and he said his matches at home rarely last over an hour…he was still standing at the end though and in one piece!
The men’s 75s (Bitsy Grant Cup) lost a tough one to Spain and were the last team to finish. In fact, the medal ceremony was started before they had even begun the deciding doubles match. Brent Abel lost a tight match to Jorge Camina Borda 75 75; Geoff Moore won a marathon at #1 against Jairo Velasco 64 26 64, which was a great win; so it came down to the doubles under the lights at Beach Club Font de sa Cala. Camina Borda and Velasco (at least one of whom is a former Davis Cup player) beat Abel/Brian Cheney 61 64, rallying from 4-1 down in the second set to seal the Cup and win the only Cup for Spain this year. Michael Beautyman is not pictured, he had a virus.
The women’s 80s (Doris Hart Cup) team lost to France on Thursday and beat Great Britain on Wednesday in the three team playoff group for the Cup. France beat Great Britain on Friday, sealing the Cup win for France and the silver medals for USA. The USA team was Donna Fales, Cathie Anderson, Frances Dickenson and Charleen Hillebrand.
The women’s 75s (Queens Cup) lost to France 2/1. Brenda Carter lost to Nicole Hesse Cazaux 62 60; Toni Novack lost to Gail Benedetti 64 64 and Liane Bryson/Carter won the doubles point over Marie Anne Sevestre and Maite Soul.