Welcome to the May edition of Chase the First where we cover all the tennis news, starting with the World Doubles Championship at Prested Hall. Wow - talk about amazing wins...Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm had a huge comeback win as they successfully defended their World Doubles title. The
final score line was 4/6 2/6 2/6 4/6 6/3 6/3 6/1 6/1 6/3 - simply amazing tennis. Congratulations to Camden and Tim.
Camden went on to win the AppsPlus IRTPA Championships at Leamington the following week.
April was a busy month in the U.S., as well, as tournaments were held in Boston, Washington, Aiken, and Tuxedo. Some familiar names surfaced at the top, along with some new faces. Brook Hazleton captured the 40s Singles, and Doubles with Simon Aldrich. Todd Meringoff claimed his first U.S. Amateur Singles title, while Sarah Bartlett took home her first silver axe in the Anne Boleyn Handicap Singles. John and Noah Motz won the A Division of the Cherry Blossom. Ryan Carey, fresh from running the Cherry Blossom, won the Northrop Knox tournament with Gary Swantner.
We have all the tournaments covered, along with a recap from the Bathurst Cup that was played in March in Paris.
In this month's "Tip from the Pros" - Leon Smart provides us with the "smart' way to play the tambour. We've also included an article from the Boston Globe Sports section on Michael "Mity" Hill. Mity plays court tennis and is also on his high school tennis team. It is a great article on tennis except for one "alternative fact". Read it and see if you can spot "the fact'. In the meantime, congratulations Mity and good luck with the rest of your high school tennis season. We hope to see Tony Collins on court soon....
Looking ahead, the best women players in the world will descend upon Tuxedo for the Ladies World Championship. The biennial event rotates between the U.S., England France and Australia and was last held in the United States in 2009. Tuxedo has planned a great week of tennis and social events. Washington will host the finals of the National League on May 10 between New England and the Chicago/Philadelphia teams. Boston will host the Sears Cup Doubles later that week.
In other news, the Charleston court is near its goal. Help push it over the finish line by donating today! Georgian Court continues to see activity from visiting players and students.
Finally, mark your calendars for June 20, 2017 - the fourth annual International Tennis Day.
International Tennis Day: Uniting the Game Around the Globe.
It's going to be HUGE.
Until next month....
Sincerely,
U.S. Court Tennis Association
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Congratulations to Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm on successfully defending their World Doubles title at Prested Hall. Riviere and Chisholm staged an historic comeback to defeat Rob Fahey and Ricardo Smith. Down four sets after the first day, Riviere and Chisholm won all fives sets on day two of the best of nine set competition.
Click here for the draw, photos, commentary and links to the video coverage from the T&RA.
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| 2017 U.S. Bathurst Cup Team: Danny McBride, Pat Winthrop & Jon Crowell |
2017 BATHURST CUP
by Danny McBride
In the waning days of April, Le Club du Jeu de Paume de Paris, near
Paris
' famed Arc de Triomphe, hosted the biennial Bathurst Cup, which welcomed top amateurs from France, Great Britain, Australia, and the United States in a 6-day "
tour de tennis.
" The 2017 U.S. contingent, comprised of Patrick Winthrop (Newport), Jon Crowell (Philadelphia) and Danny McBride (Washington), arrived as underdogs, but remained hopeful and focused, proudly representing the red, white and blue in the sport they love.
After three days of preparation on the storied and bouncy court, the players, as well as all the officials who made it possible, participated in an opening ceremony, which included singing each country's national anthem and drawing the first round match-ups: The host nation would face the odds-on favorites and returning champions, Australia, and the U.S. would square off against their friends from across the pond, Great Britain, allowing the two nations to resume their special relationship in a courting fashion.
The first match saw Crowell take on Jamie Douglas. Crowell came out of the gates full of confidence, maintaining controlled aggression while limiting errors. Up 40/15 at 5-all, the American seemed poised to shock the throng of onlookers (about ten) by taking the first set. Seemingly unfazed, Douglas roared back and played his best tennis to steal the first set. Douglas seized the momentum from there, taking the match 6-5, 6-1, 6-2. Crowell displayed a strong all-around game as he adapted quickly to the unfamiliar Parisian court.
Click here for the full story and complete results.
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Tony Hollins, Sarah Bartlett, Lizzie Pingpank & Leon Smart
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2017 ANNE BOLEYN
by Tony Hollins
This year's Anne Boleyn was hosted by the Tennis & Racquet Club - Boston. We had a large draw of 16 ladies sign up; the welcoming handicapped format meant that some of these ladies were brand new to the game, only having played a handful of times.
There were some stand out performances from newcomers Emma Haley, Olenka Olesnycky, Alex Post and Maura Imel, all coming from strong racquet sports backgrounds and battling with success in their first Court Tennis event.
Suzy Schwartz had an extremely close match in the Semi Finals eventually succumbing to the large handicap of her opponent, 8 games to 7.
The T&R's Lizzie Pingpank had a fantastic weekend making a run all the way to the finals. Sarah Bartlett, this year's champion, turned this into an international event, coming all the way from Ballarat, Australia, to win the tournament.
This was a fantastic weekend of tennis played in great spirits. Well done to all who participated and thanks to Matt and Magda Mitchell for their help organizing the event.
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| Tony Hollins, Todd Meringoff, Jeremy Wintersteen & Leon Smart |
2017 U.S. AMATEUR SINGLES
by Jeffrey Horine
Unseeded Todd Meringoff ousted the second, third and fourth seeded players en route to the United States Amateur singles title, held at Boston's Tennis & Racquet Club from April 21-23. Meringoff defeated Jeremy Wintersteen in the final 6/1, 4/6, 6/4, 6/1.
In quarterfinal play, Meringoff dispatched second-seeded Patrick Winthrop in straight sets while third-seeded Peter Cipriano outdueled Alex Spence in a thrilling match 6/5 in the third set. In the other half of the draw, fourth-seeded Wintersteen outlasted Jeffrey Horine in a three set match that lasted nearly two and a half hours while top seeded Will Hopton easily advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Meringoff controlled the tempo of the match in a straight set victory over Cipriano while marathon-man Wintersteen prevailed over Hopton in another two-plus hour match.
In the finals, after splitting the first two sets, Wintersteen took a 4/3 lead in the third. Meringoff tied the set after saving several game points. The final two games featured multiple deuces, with each player digging deep with crowd-pleasing defense to keep the set alive. More than two hours into the match at this point, Meringoff was able to outlast Winterseen in the 3
rd set and then cruise to a 4
th set win and the US Amateur title.
Many thanks to the T&R staff and, especially, head pro Tony Hollins and assistant pro Leon Smart for a well-run and well-marked tournament. Thank you as well to the T&R tennis members for showing their support throughout the tournament with packed dedans on Friday and Saturday night.
Click here for the draw
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THE CHERRY BLOSSOM '17
by Ryan Carey
The Cherry Blossom Doubles '17 was held at Prince's Court April 6-9. We had a "game show" theme this year and worked in game show elements both on and off the court. Click the link below to read the full report! Congratulations to our winners:
Green Division - John Motz & Noah Motz def. Ryan Carey & John Patton III 6-3, 6-1
Blue Division - Helen Grassi & Ryan Carey def. Chris Aley & Mark Philpott 9-6
Red Division - Joey Katona & Chris Payton def. Sewall Hodges & Tim Friend 9-7
Purple Division - Temple Grassi & Helen Grassi def. Randall Roe & Connor Reilly 9-5
Orange Division - Katya Johnson & Keawe Johnson def. Daniel Hsu & Mick Domagala 9-4
Yellow Division - Melanie Clark & Greg Kubasik def. Hakan Lonaeus & Tamae Heilen 9-6
Click Here for the full recap and results.
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Geoff Ellis (Handicap Singles Champion), Jason Mengel & Rakesh Jasani (Knox Finalists),
the Knox family, Gary Swantner & Ryan Carey (Knox Champions)
Photo courtesy of Aiken Tennis Club |
2017 NORTHROP KNOX
by Mit Carothers
Ten teams entered the 2017 Northrop Knox Tournament at the Aiken Tennis Club. Play began on Thursday April 13 with the finals on Easter Sunday April 16th. The entrants included the defending champions, previous winners and a mix of local and out of town players anxious to hoist the trophy. In addition to the doubles tournament, this year's version also contained a singles competition.
Three brackets began play Thursday evening to determine Sunday mornings semifinalists with the 4th semifinalist chosen from the rest of the field. In Bracket A, the defending champions, Rakesh Jasani/Jason Mengel went through by defeating the teams of Bob Cook/Brian Owens and Morgan Purvis/Sawyer Duncan. Bracket B saw both the teams of Michael Sullivan/Silas Anthony and Geoff Ellis/Anders Cohen advance at the expense of the team of Brian Halterman/Dan Villiers. And in Bracket C, the teams of Ryan Carey/Gary Swantner, Charles Bostwick/Greg Van Schaack, Tiger Riviere/Bauer Vaughters and Jason Rabun/Vaughn Massie battled to the end before former champions Ryan Carey/Gary Swantner became the 4th semifinalist. It should be noted that the team of Jason Rabun/Vaughn Massie assumed a 35 handicap and played well below theirs in missing out on being the 4th semifinalist by the narrowest of margins.
Click here for the rest of the story and draw.
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CHARLESTON NEARS GOAL
By James Zug
Charleston Court Tennis is nearing a milestone. After four years of gatherings, conference calls, auctions, matching programs and letter-writing, the campaign to raise the funds to build the first brand-new court in the country in twenty years is reaching an exciting denouement.
We've raised $1.6 million. If we get to $1.8 million, the project can go forward. Daniel Island has agreed to greenlight the project if we reach $1.8. That means that if we raise $200,000, it is shovels in the ground: official construction bids, permits, proposals, bulldozers.
$200,000 equals breaking ground. $200,000 equals a go.
Where does the money come from? Four hundred members of the U.S. Court Tennis Association have given to Charleston Court Tennis. We have over one thousand members. What about the other six hundred? Six hundred women and men love the game enough to be a dues-paying member of our national governing body. If every one of those six hundred gave $400 each (half a decade of dues), we'd soar beyond the $200,000 threshold and Charleston Court Tennis would become a reality.
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2017 U.S. 40s
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| Champion Brook Hazelton and Finalist Anders Cohen |
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Champions Brook Hazelton and Simon Aldrich, Josh Scherer,
Finalists Alan McHugh and Dan Laukitis |
Recap and full results to follow.
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2017 LADIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
by Kim Kilgore
The Tuxedo Club is excited to host the 2017 Ladies World Championships from May 15 - May 21. The draw will include players from Australia, the U.K., France, The Netherlands and the U.S. Claire Fahey will be defending her Ladies World Singles title and with her sister, Sarah Vigrass, the strong duo will attempt another Ladies World Doubles victory. With a solid draw featuring strong players as Penny and Tara Lumley, Saskia Bollerman, and Freddie Adams, just to name a few, this promises to be a brilliant week of tennis. In addition to the Championship draw, there will be a plate and handicap tournaments.
But the excitement is not just on court. We invite everyone to come enjoy the matches and join us for the fun social events.
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NEWS FROM GEORGIAN COURT
by Camden Riviere
GCU has had a busy semester with play from students, faculty, and even International tour groups! April saw many of the boys players in on a weekly basis, firming up their understanding of the game before the Club Championships in May. We were lucky enough to have many locals visit the court as well with Arthur Whitcomb and Tony Villa coming down for a hard training session, as well as Anders Cohen training up for the numerous events on the USCTA calendar. In May we will be adding the GCU volleyball team to the rotation on the court tennis court, as well as two International tour groups coming through to visit the court.
The men's soccer team, headed by Coach Dino has been a staple at the court tennis this month. Over 40 boys have been coming weekly to the court tennis for some cross training, team bonding, and all around good time. The boys have been playing 3 hours per week, and many will be playing in next months Club Championships. The men's soccer team won their Division 2 title last year, and we hope they can be just as successful in court tennis over the next few weeks!
A visit from longtime court tennis enthusiasts Arthur Whitcomb and Tony Villa was a highlight of the month, with the two traveling down from New York to take a lesson and check out the campus. Along with them, Anders Cohen made multiple weekly appearances to train for his full schedule of tournaments this Spring. We also had a surprise appearance by local legend Gabe Kinzler who was keen to train up for the Spring Invitational, taking place in New York this May.
Next month will be one of the busiest on record at GCU, with Club Championships being played, the addition of more teams to use the court, visits from tour groups, and even a training week with one of the US's top Juniors. Be on the look out for our next Open Play Day and don't be afraid to reach out about coming to visit!
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FOURTH ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL TENNIS DAY
by James Zug
International Tennis Day is on Tuesday 20 June. ITD, sanctioned by all the governing associations in the world, is an annual opportunity to tell the story of court tennis. In Ireland and the Netherlands and in the five-playing nations of Australia, England, France, Scotland and the U.S., men and women are celebrating the game, getting newcomers on court and rekindling a love of the game. There are clinics, exhibitions, inter-club matches and the famous Twenty-Four Hours of Radley.
Go to the International Tennis Day website to find out more by clicking here.
International Tennis Day: Uniting the Game Around the Globe
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4TH ANNUAL U.S. JUNIOR COURT TENNIS ACADEMY
JULY 17th - 21st, 2017
The U.S. Court Tennis Preservation Foundation (USCTPF) and the United States Court Tennis Association (USCTA) have once again selected The Tuxedo Club for a one of a kind junior court tennis academy. Court Tennis Champion Tim Chisholm will head up the USCTPF and USCTA sponsored Court Tennis Academy for one week this summer at The Tuxedo Club. This academy was a hit last year and we look to build on the momentum! The week is designed for juniors ages 11-17. Beginner and experienced players from The Tuxedo Club as well as from Clubs throughout the US are invited to participate.
In collaboration with the USCTA/USCTPF Player Development Fund, we can offer this camp for $500 per camper. This fee includes the following:
- 5 Days of Court Tennis Academy run by Tim Chisholm
- All meals for July 17th - 21st
- Housing for 4 evenings (Monday-Thursday)...those playing in the Junior Nationals will be housed for the weekend as well.
Also, a reminder that the U.S. Junior Nationals will be held at The Tuxedo Club on July 21st - 23rd .... what a great way to prepare for the National Championships!
Contact Tim Chisholm,
[email protected] for more information, and to reserve your spot.
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MAY
4-7
SPRING INVITATIONAL
NEW YORK
Invitational for Pros and Top Amateurs
5-7
NEWPORT
Singles and Doubles Championships for amateurs ages 60 years and over
5-7
NEWPORT
Singles and Doubles Championships for amateurs ages 70 years and over
10
WASHINGTON
Chicago/Philadelphia vs. New England
12-14
BOSTON
Doubles for multiple levels
15-21
TUXEDO
Singles and Doubles level and Handicap divisions
JUNE
2-4
U.S. MIXED DOUBLES
TUXEDO
4-11
U.S. PRO SINGLES playing for THE SCHOCHET CUP
NEWPORT
10
USCTA ANNUAL MEETING
20
22-25
NEWPORT HANDICAP DOUBLES
NEWPORT
Doubles flights open to all.
JULY
7-9
U23, U26 CHAMPIONSHIPS
PHILADELPHIA
Singles and Doubles Championships for amateurs under 26 years
10-16
VAN ALEN / CLOTHIER / LIMB CUPS
BOSTON
International team championship for players under 26 years
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2016-17
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chicago/Philly - 16
New England - 10
Tuxedo - 9
New York - 7
FINAL - MAY 10
WASHINGTON
Chicago/Philadelphia vs.
New England
For full match reports, photos and videos of the matches,
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TIPS FROM THE PROFESSIONALS
PLAYING THE TAMBOUR
by Leon Smart
There are two common trajectories the ball can take when it hits the tambour. Main wall tambour and straight tambour.
A straight tambour is when the ball doesn't touch any surface, excluding the floor, and hits the tambour. When this happens the ball will come off the tambour at a right angle and go straight across the court.
The main wall tambour is when the ball touches the side wall (main wall) before it hits the tambour. The ball will still go across the court like the straight tambour, however this time it will travel deeper, towards the back wall.
Here are a few basic technical tips that can help:
Always hit a backhand if you are a right handed player and, forehand for a lefty. It's very difficult to play a ball that has travelled passed your body. It's much easier to hit a ball traveling towards you.
Make sure your whole body is facing the main wall when you try to play the shot. If your body is facing your opponent, you'll end up striking the ball behind you with too little power to get the ball over the net.
And remember, when your opponent is attacking the tambour, your best plan is to be defensive. Just try to block the ball back cross court, over the low part of the net, and give the ball lots of height. If you hit the galleries, that's great! You get the serve and put the ball out of play so your opponent can't attack the tambour again.
Learning to judge whether the ball will hit the tambour or not only comes from hours of playing. So get on court!
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ALTERNATIVE
FACTS?
Tennis & Racquet Club junior Mity Hill was featured in a
Boston Globe story on April 20th. See if you can spot the "alternative fact".
If you have trouble with the link,
click here to see a scan of the articles.
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RTO STATS
Matches recorded in
Real Tennis Online in the last 30 days. Remember, it's important to record match scores to have an accurate handicap!
(as of 5/1/17)
CHICAGO 106
BOSTON 101
NEWPORT 93
WASHINGTON 89
NEW YORK 76
AIKEN 22
TUXEDO 16
PHILADELPHIA 14
GEORGIAN COURT 0
Compared to:
RADLEY 242
MELBOURNE 175
HAMPTON COURT 245
CAMBRIDGE 141
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