| Carolyn 的个人资料Senior Tournament Tennis照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
|
3月10日 Houston Round Up: great tennis on the weekend
There were some terrific finals played on Saturday under much better conditions than Friday…cool but relatively calm.
The 55s final was played between Martha Downing, the top seed and Chieko Holt, the defending champion. Downing, playing in her first national clay court final, eked out the first set 76, the difference being her willingness to go forward. Holt though, kept Downing off balance the rest of the match, keeping the ball deep, defending beautifully and mixing up deep drives and beautiful drop shots. Holt won the 2nd set 62, with the 7th game of that set, which went on for a long time, being the critical game. Downing rallied from 14 in the 3rd to level the set, but Holt held her nerve to finish the win and defend her title. Sue Bramlette took the bronze by default over Kerry Young.
Downing didn’t go home without a gold ball though…filling in for an injured Margie Cooper, she teamed with Young to beat Cindy Leprevost/Sue Bramlette 61 64. Babb/Peiffer took the bronze.
The match of the day though was that between Heide Orth, the defending champion, and Charleen Hillebrand, who beat Orth in their last encounter (in NZ on hard courts). Orth won the first set and led 54 40-0 in the 2nd, but failed to finish off Hillebrand…a couple of fine shots by Hillebrand and an error by Orth and the match points were erased. Hillebrand tied the match at a set apiece. I saw the third set which was full of incredible tennis by perhaps the two best 65 players in the world, at least on Saturday. They used every inch of the court, going from deep in one corner to the opposite service line; drop shots and volleys, offense and defense…it was all there. Hillebrand seemed especially fond of the area just inside, on and outside the lines…she hit a lot of lines going for her shots and made Heide do a lot of running. Orth played slightly more conservatively (a foot from the lines), and that paid off, since she earned a 53 lead in the third when Hillebrand missed a few shots after extensive rallies, and Orth also made some nice volleys after opening up the court. At 53, Hillebrand increased her aggressiveness, hitting early, and forged to a 65 lead. Orth then raised her game, hitting some nice aggressive serves and groundstrokes and running Charleen ragged. Orth won the tiebreaker 73, scoring with drop shots and Hillebrand seemed the more fatigued player in the final few points.
After that match, the two faced each other in doubles, Orth pairing with Lurline Fujii and Hillebrand with Suella Steel. Fittingly, the match went 3 sets and the defending champs pulled it out. Uta Hegberg/Diane Willauer upset Sinclair Bill/Cathie Anderson in three sets.
Angela Simon remained undefeated in the 35s, beating Julie Cass 62 63 and teaming with Amy Alcini to win the doubles over Cass/Michelle King.
On Saturday, Cass had a real battle with Rachael Gale, holding off set points in the first set to win it 76, then dropping the 2nd 61 before storming back to win the third 62. Gale had upset the 3rd seed, Trish Riddell on Friday in three sets. Gale beat Shelly Works 60 63 to finish third.
Mai Ichikawa/Erika Smith rallied from 36 15 down to upset Phillipa Palmer/Margaret Kitchen in the quarters, (and from 56 0-40). (Final score: 36 76 30 ret.). Smith had turned to Ichikawa at 1-5 down and commented that their comeback would be the main dinnertime conversation…and of course it was). They lost 63 63 to Alcini/Simon and went on to beat Hartley/Hulsen (who upset Cooke/Croft in the quarters) 75 63 and claim the bronze.
Susan Boyer won her 2nd gold ball in Houston, teaming with Fran Chandler to beat Emily Schaeffer/Kathy Vick 75 61. They missed very few shots in winning the title. Cooke/Croft edged Fahrenholz/Lackey in the ¾ playoff, 75 in the third.
Nancy Reed cruised to the 75s title on Saturday (after barely escaping from the semis, where she was match points down to Mary Boswell), beating Anneke Balics 60 62. Boswell beat Ann Munro to take the bronze 60 61.
Betty Cookson/Dodo Cheney won the 85 doubles.
That’s it from Houston.
3月7日 Houston, Friday, Wind, Cold, SurvivalIt was a horrible day to play tennis in Houston, windy, gusts up to 30mph and cold, 30s and 40s and overcast till the late afternoon. But the senior players persevered from 35s to 85s. The main draws conclude tomorrow except for the 35s. The 65s and 75s finals were postponed till Saturday; the 55s semis were played today and the 45s final was played in singles, as was the 75 doubles final. The 35s really got underway today and there were a couple of upsets. Rachael Gale, a solid lefty rallied from an 06 first set to upset Trish Riddell in 3 sets under gusty, cold conditions. In doubles later on, Kristen Hartley/Jeanne Hulsen rallied from 14 down in the third set to beat Pam Cooke/Debbie Croft, a team to whom they lost 63 60 in the 45s under milder conditions a couple of days earlier. The remaining seeds advanced. In the 45s, Fran Chandler moved beautifully and made few errors in ousting Carolyn Nichols 63 63. Susan Boyer, using her "consistency" strategy, outrallied Kathy Vick 63 61...and finished before both Chandler/Nichols and Smith/Schmidt. Erika Smith played her longest ever match, 3 hours 20 minutes, against Andrea Schmidt, winning the quarterfinal consolation match 76 (5) in the third. She next takes on Heidi Gerger who received a walkover to advance to the consolation semis, and force a rematch of their first round encounter. In 45 doubles, the top 2 seeds advanced to the final but not easily. Kathy Vick/Emily Schaeffer needed three sets and well over 2 hours to beat Lori Fahrenholz/Kim Lackey. In a rain interrupted match, Chandler/Boyer played flawlessly in the wind to beat Cooke/Croft 67 63 63. The latter team led by a set and 32 when it started raining yesterday but the delay really helped Boyer/Chandler, who lobbed effectively and made few errors today, covering the court like an octopus. Martha Downing, who, prior to this event had never gone past the quarters at a clay court national, looked at home on the surface, beating Kerry Young 64 75. Young rallied from 25 down in both sets before Downing finished off the sets. The two play much alike both tall, all court players, who used a lot of variety and both of whom possess good serves. Martha faces last year's champion, Chieko Holt, who beat Sue Bramlette 76 62. Downing/Young will play Leprevost/Bramlette in the doubles final tomorrow. The latter team beat Torrance/Mauldin in a very entertaining match...lots of extensive rallies in that one. Downing/Young beat Babb/Peiffer, 64 63, winning the final 6 games of the match. The 65s singles final and 3/4 playoff were postponed till tomorrow, but the doubles semis were played. Heide Orth/Lurline Fujii tooled Anderson/Bill, winning 63 61. The face Hillebrand/Steel who dominated fellow SoCal players Willauer/Hegberg 2,0 in the other semi. The 75s singles final was postponed till tomorrow which was good since the doubles final lasted about 3 hours. Last year gold slam winners, Mary Boswell/Louise Russ fell to Nancy Reed/Lee Burling 67 63 63. Some games lasted 15 minutes, and the match was of high quality. Canby/Ray took the bronze over Munro/Balics. The 85s was won by the seemingly ageless Betty Cookson and Dodo 64 75 over Betty Eisenstein/Olmstead. Dodo defaulted the 85s singles final to Eisenstein (2 rounds of doubles were played today by Cookson/Cheney). Lovie Beard took the bronze when Loucille Scoggins, who has been ill with the flu, had to default. Lucille Kyvallos, who withdrew from the tournament Monday, with the flu, ended up in the hospital last night, but has been released and is feeling better. That's all for today, I hope to have some photos tomorrow if it's warm enough to walk about. It was just so cold today, 3 layers weren't enough to keep the chill off unless one walked into the "warm room" in the pro shop. For all results, click here. 3月6日 Thursday Update from HoustonIt was a nice day in Houston, not too cold or windy...till about 3:30 when the thunder and lightening storms finally hit the Houston Racquet Club. Play was suspended in the 35 and 45 doubles and 55 consolation singles till tomorrow. Tomorrow the forecast is for cold and very windy, 20 mph plus winds most of the day with temps feeling as if they are in the low 40s. But the rain should cease?
In the 35s, there were no upsets in singles and the draw is out to the quarters. The 35 doubles saw only one match completed...Amy Alcini/Angela Simon advanced to the quarters.
In the 45s, Fran Chandler continued to dominate her opponents, using her deep groundstrokes and deadly dropshot to oust Kathy Vick 61 61. Carolyn Nichols beat Susan Boyer 62 64, rallying from 2-4 15-40 to win the set. Update on Myke Loomis...she was walking today but still suffering from the cramps she suffered when playing Boyer yesterday. Also, I talked to Susan and the score was 16 75 60 and Susan was down one match point at 0-5, 30-40 and told me she was at the net and Myke hit a great shot to pass her but Susan hit was she termed "the best backhand volley of my life" to save the match point...and the rest is history.
In the doubles, Kim Lacky/Lori Fahrenholz advanced to the semis with a straight set win over Susie Brown/Mary Johnson. The semis of the top half were underway when the lightning surfaced. It was a great match between Chandler/Boyer who were counterpunching, lobbing, and finding the middle with their groundstrokes and Debbie Croft/Pam Cooke who were hitting lots of overheads, angles and drop angles. The match will resume tomorrow under much different conditions as it's going to be in the 40s with 20 plus mph winds (ugh) tomorrow. Forgot to mention that the score was 76 (5) 3-2 Susp. for Cooke/Croft when the lightning appeared.
The 55s also has the 4 top seeds into the semis. Martha Downing beat Susie Peiffer 62 62, Kerry Young beat Cindy Babb 61 60; Chieko Holt beat Carla Brown 64 62 and in the most watched match of the day, TD and NSWTA pres, Sue Bramlette, beat Roxanne Schazenbach 67 62 62, despite a hard fall during the 2nd set. It was a long match, starting at 9am (Bob Bramlette told Sue that at one point it looked like her match would finish after that of Nichols/Boyer who began an hour later...but that didn't happen). Sue plays Chieko and Martha plays Kerry tomorrow.
Martha and Kerry looked tough in ousting Norma Taylor/Lil Peltz-Petow today 61 60. They next play Babb/Peiffer. Leprevost/Bramlette won easily today and they next play Jan Mauldin/Shelby Torrance who upset Carla Brown/Jan Kirkland-Cochran in a crazy, long match. There were lots of good points in that match by both teams.
The 65s finally had a mild upset, since Charleen Hillebrand upset Suella Steel 64 61. One onlooker said Charleen was playing better than last year and another said Steel made a lot of errors. Charleen plays Heide Orth in the final. She beat Cathie Anderson 63 61. The top 4 seeds are in the doubles semis.
In the 75s, Nancy Reed rallied from 2 match points down to edge Mary Boswell 46 75 63. She faces surprise finalist Anneke Balics from that hotbed of clay court tennis, NorCal (don't laugh, there are already 2 singles finalists from NorCal , Balics and Nichols and Martha Dowing has the potential to join them in singles and doubles as do Kim Lackey and Cooke/Croft, who are in the 45 doubles semis). Balics beat her doubles partner, Ann Munro 63 61 today. Reed/Burling and Boswell/Russ play in the doubles final.
Dodo and Betty Eisenstein are in the 85s final tomorrow. Dodo said jokingly, that the only chance she had for a game was if she could run Betty enough so Betty tripped and fell, since Betty moves so beautifully. Due to the rain and other circumstances, the 85 doubles semis on the bottom half of the draw have not yet been played, though Eisenstein/Olmstead are in the final.
That's all from Houston for now. All the results from completed matches are posted for today, click here for the draws.
3月5日 Wed UpdatePam Cooke and Debbie Croft narrowly avoided a first round upset in the 45 doubles, rallying from 26 25 15-40 to beat Pam Dodman/Joy Passalaqua late yesterday. They played well today, beating the 6th seeds, Hulsen/Hartley in straight sets to advance to the semis.
Anneke Balics is enjoying her first year in the 75s. She upset Louise Russ 64 64 in singles and then combined with Ann Munro to beat the 4th seeds in doubles, Cofer Lasby. Balics faces Munro in the bottom half of the draw while Nancy Reed plays Mary Boswell (who was impressive in beating Suzanne Ryerson 60 60 today) in the other semi.
There were no upsets in the 65s and the top 4 seeds advanced to the semis. Cathie Anderson beat 2006 champion Suzanne Clark 62 60. She plays Orth and Hillebrand plays Steel tomorrow.
In the 55s, the seeds advanced to the quarters, joined by Roxanne Schanzenbach, who was in Anne Guerrant's quarter of the draw. Cindy Babb struggled to beat Vicki Williams 16 75 61. Barb Sasser lost to Carla Brown 63 63 (not in 3 sets...I happened to ask Barb how she did and that was the score she told me).
Martha Downing replaced and injured Margie Cooper in the 55 doubles (bad elbow) and she and Kerry Young advanced as did the remaining seeds who played.
Susan Boyer upset Myke Loomis in the 45s, rallying from a set (a 61 set I heard, not a 76 set) and 0-5, match point to win the final 13 games. Loomis cramped during the match and Susan didn't miss and kept the ball deep. She plays me tomorrow, and Fran Chandler plays Kathy Vick who survived another 3 set, 3 plus hour match against Susie Brown.
It was a really nice day today, 70s and not too windy...tomorrow...well we'll see.
3月4日 Houston, TuesdayBrrrrr! That's the official weather forcast for today....but the
 was shining. It was 40 for the 8:30 matches, and felt like 32.
Anyway, one upset in the 45s, Mary Johnson lost to Martha Condyles. The remaining 6 seeds advanced.
The Houston tournament committee and sponsors are feeding everyone awfully well....extensive breakfasts including rice, cheese, bagels, fruit etc and today a potato, soup and chili lunch. And there was some tennis too.
Susan Boyer reported a record (for her) short match, 1 hour 5 min, to beat clay court rookie Kim Lackey and advance to the quarters against Myke Bodisch...which match I would bet will take more than an hour. Kathy Vick had a tough match with the top German 45 player, Andrea Schmitz, winning 56 62 62. There were lots of long, deep rallies, but Kathy mixed up the pace better in the 2nd and third sets and her superior conditioning was a factor too.
Sally Graham upset Janel McGinley in three long sets to advance to the round of 16. A bad back put Greta Watson out, she retired down 2-1 to Barbara Sasser.
All 8 seeds are out to the quarters in the 65s. Lurline Fujii, who played way past 10pm last night, advanced more easily today.
#2 seed, Lucille Kyvallos withdrew from the 75s, due to illness, after play began. Anne Guerrant withdrew also from the 55s late last week.
All results, click here. Houston Results 08
HoustonRain for most of the day forced play to begin after 3pm yesterday. It was cold after the storm came in, and very windy, horrible playing conditions, but there weren't many complaints, the singles matches were completed and it's now in the low 40s/upper 30s with 15-20 mph winds, but will warm up to the 60s. The one upset I know of occurred in the 45s, with Erika Smith beating the 8th seed, Heidi Gerger 36 62 62. 3月2日 Women's 90 clay and grass to be held at Forest Hills in JulyThe women's 90 clay and grass courts will be held in the same week this year at Forest Hills. For more information, click here. St Petersburg Wrap UpThe St Petersburg Men's Cat II concludes today in St. Petersburg, FL Click here for all results. The 55s was won by Fred Robinson, the 5th seed, who handed Larry Turville a rare clay court loss. The two battled to the end in the semis before Robinson won 75 in the third. He beat 2nd seeded Mark Peterson 62 62 in the final. Turville and Robinson won the doubles over Cantrell/Maharaj. John Davis also scored a big upset, beating the third seed, Mark Mazo in straight sets in the round of 16 before falling to Robinson in the quarters. The 60s was a tough division. Bob Litwin, playing his first 60s tournament, upset Hugh Thomson in the quarters and Michael Beautyman in the final before falling to David Nash 75 ret (inj) in the final. Armistead Neely, who lost to Nash in three sets in the semis, edged Beautyman in the 3/4 playoff in a tight 3 setter. Nash/Neely, seeded #1, lived up to their seeding, beating the unseeded Thomson/Kirk in the final. The 65 singles was won by Rudy Hernando, who lost a set early on to Richard Schmidt and then won his final three matches in straight sets, ultimately beating 5th seeded Bob Howe in the final 61 76. Joe Bachman, the 2nd seed, withdrew from the tournament in the 2nd round. Don Biedenger/Hernando are in the doubles final against #2 seeded Irvine/Jonsson. King Van Nostrand continued his domination of the winter clay court events in the men's 70s, cruising past #2 seed Fred Farzanegan 60 61 to win the title. Farzanegan though combined with Biedenger to win the 70 doubles, beating #2 seeds, Dodson/Vredevelt in the final 75 61. In the closest of finals, George McCabe edged Jack Vredevelt to take the 75s title, 76 in the third. Main/Sutcliffe, unseeded edged McCabe/Crew in three sets in the semis and went on to win the 75s doubles title over Boone/Morse 75 62. Clem Hopp won his second Category II of the year in the men's 80s, a division he entered this year. He beat Bob Meyerdierks in three sets in the final. Bunge/Mackey won the doubles over Bill Weathers/Hopp 75 64. Edmond Heisler beat Robert Threadgill to take the 85s crown 63 63. Click here for all results. |
|
|
