Clem Hopp successfully retained his 80 hard court singles title, beating Graydon Nichols 62 64 in the final. Jason Morton and Leonard Bunge upset Nichols/Wayne Hippenstiel 26 64 64 in the final. The 80s division was riddled by injuries the most severe of which was that of Roald Flater who partially tore his achilles in his first round match was was wearing a knee length boot when he was watching matches the next day. Nichols/Hippenstiel as a result reached the doubles final without having to play a match. Jack Graham, Flater's doubles partner also had to retire in his singles match in the first round.

John Powless hurt himself feeding his rabbits (he fell and banged himself up) and wasn't able to play in the 75 doubles. However, George McCabe and Chuck Nelson were playing well and took up the slack, winning the doubles over Neil Hurlbut/Dennis Nielson. Hurlbut won the singles over Buddy Lomax in a topsy-turvy match 06 64 63. Lomax took out defending champion Saul Snyder in 3 sets.

Marvin Henderson won the 85s over Bob Sherman...Sherman goes into the 90s next year! They combined to win the doubles over Dyle Anderson/Austin Sellery of NorCal.

For all draws, click here.

This is a bit late...but the final between Martha Downing and Brenda Carter was intriguing. Carter was the defending 60s champion and Downing the defending 55s title holder. Downing started well, forging a 31 40-0 lead, but Carter won 4 straight points and took a 5th to narrow the gap to 3-2 when Downing fell and though she got up quickly, seemed to move gingerly on her left leg, the one with the knee brace. However, she continued to play, and played well. Carter won the first set 64 but Downing adapted (it was only their 2nd meeting, the other coming several years ago in the 55s on hard courts and won 75 in the third by Carter). Downing finally won the match 75 in the third, with the critical game being the one at 5-5, Downing serving at 0-40 and rallying to hold. Downing also won the doubles, with Kathy Bennett, over Carter/Wachob.

Carol Clay took the bronze with a strong 75 60 win over Betty Wachob. Molly Hahn/Judy Louie took the bronze over Clay/Ellen Goodman. Pat Keleman beat both Wilma Lee and Molly Hahn on the last day of play to place 5th in singles.

In the 50s, Pam Cooke and Carolyn Nichols beat Chris Ramsower-Pearlstein and Kim Lackey 61 63 to take the bronze. Lackey and Cooke were both suffering from sprained ankles and Cooke from a very sore shoulder (surgery soon)...welcome to the 50s Pam and Kim. Chris took 5th in 50s singles over Rita Giles 60 76.

As always it was a really nice tournament. There were discussions of the ITF clothing rules (logo size limitations, matching outfits for doubles); chairs calling all lines...(but it was nice to have so many umpires for matches); but there were 2 nice dinners, a beach party and also a fabulous cocktail party on Tuesday night; lots of great tennis and it was a priviledge to be a LJBTC member for a week. Many thanks to Bill Kellogg, Pierrette Featherby and the staff, volunteers and sponsors for a great week, and to the LJBTC members for letting us play at their club.

Dorothy Matthiessen repeated as the 70s champion here. She faced the #2 seed, Dori deVries in a rivalry that must exceed that of Chris and Martina. They met in every national final last year and also at the clay courts this year. Dori won the clay courts, but was 0/4 last year. She looked ready to put a claim in for the #1 player in the 70s when she rallied from 14 down to win the set 76 (5). However, Dorothy was just getting warmed up and won the final sets 61 61 and the 2009 Women's 70 Hard Court Championship. Kathy Langer finished strongly, upsetting Roz King, the 3rd seed 61 63 to win the bronze.

In 70 doubles, the top 2 seeds will meet in the final. Claudia Giacomini/Norma Veal beat Dorothy Matthiessen/Lyn Little, last year's winners, 62 63 while deVries/King edged Langer/Lynn Tietz in 3 sets. Giacomini has wonderful hands and her errors can be counted wth the fingers of one hands...combining that touch and consistency with Norma's flat shots is a tough ask.

Susan Wright started the final against Carolyn Nichols as if she had a 30 min reservation for the court and would be bumped if she didn't finish in that time. She played a flawless first set, winning it 60 in what seemed like minutes. The second set was more competitive, but Susan upped the level of her play in the tiebreaker, winning it 7-1, and successfully defending her title in La Jolla. (And no one bumped us). Robin Harris beat 4th seeded Kathy Vick 62 63 to win the bronze in singles.

In 60 doubles, Kathy Bennett/Martha Downing started a bit sluggishly, but finished strongly against last year's champions, Brenda Carter/Betty Wachob, using excellent net play and overheads to win 64 62 against their always consistent opponents. It was Bennett's second straight women's 60 doubles title. The 3/4 playoff is tomorrow.

In 60 singles, Carter edged Wachob 65 75 and Martha Downing played excellent, attacking hard court tennis to beat Carol Clay 63 60.

Tracey Thompson/Robin Harris, seeded second, put an end to the run of Tracey Worley/Jackie Heston, winning 62 63 in the 50 doubles final. Heston/Worley also took out the 3rd seeds yesterday, Cooke/Nichols, 75 75. The 3/4 playoff is tomorrow.

In the 80s, Jane Lutz beat Liz Harper and Louise Russ beat Rita Price to set up a repeat of the 80 singles final played a few weeks ago at the clay courts. In 80 doubles, Jane Lutz/ Elaine Mason take on the top seeds, Louise Russ/Doris Stephens in the final.

There was a terrific party tonight at the Beach Club...a big thank you to all of the sponsors, staff, volunteers and members for allowing us to play here and for providing such great amenities.

Another day in paradise...

Kathy Langer, seeded 7th upset 4th seeded Norma Veal 62 75 today...the rest of the 70s are still in action. Molly Hahn, seeded 9th beat the 7th seed, Janet Watanabe in the 60s. Tracey Thompson (3) and Robin Harris (6)are still playing in the 50s, but the remaining seeds advanced to the semis.

Robin and Tracey finished about the time the beach party was in full swing, and Robin won 36 63 76 (1)...what a match. There was a large crowd...we were playing a couple of courts away and could hear the roar of the crowd when one or the other of these players made a great shot.

Chris Pearlstein and Kim Lackey took out the #4 seeds in the 50 doubles in three sets, beating Mahan/Vick 75 in the third, despite Lackey taking a tumble and spraining her ankle in the second set. But an even bigger upset was that of Tracey Worley/Jackie (Barr) Heston taking out the top seeds, and current world champions, Marianne Robertson/Susan Wright 75 76. Robertson/Wright were up 41 in the first set when their opponents rallied, using great lobs (Heston) and aggressive returns (Worley). Then Heston/Worley went up 41 in the second before Robertson/Wright rallied to force the tiebreaker...it was a really good match to watch,  a lot of great points.

One other upset from yesterday, Liz Harper took out #3 seed Nancy Stout in the 80s and won again today to advance to the semis.

Photos from the tournament are posted here: Photos from La Jolla You have to create an account to view but it's free. I also have a few photos on my home page, but will be adding more during the week.

There's also a men's tournament here...it was nice to catch up with George Sarantos, Bob Duesler and Gordon Davis today.

For all results click here.

Hello from gorgeous La Jolla, CA. I was on a conference call the other day...and everyone was bemoaning the weather where they were...and I was here in La Jolla, looking at the sunny sky, enjoying the moderate weather....and felt pretty lucky.

It's amazing to think that last week we were on the Mediterranean at a different beach club, Beach Club Font de sa Cala in Mallorca, nearly half a world away (9 hour time change), and now on the Pacific in La Jolla.

The 50-90 hard courts begins tomorrow here with play in the 50s, 60s and 70s, singles and doubles.

From the tournament director, Rogier Liefbroer.

This tournament is one of the ITF circuit tournaments. There are now tournaments in the Netherlands two weeks in a row for anyone interested in playing tennis in the Netherlands. The link to the information for the tournament is at the end of this entry.
 

For me the tournament finished today. I lost singles and doubles. The silver lining is that Vesna McKenna, Tracy Houk and I are going to Palma tomorrow to do some shopping and site seeing, so are out of here early tomorrow.

Diane Fishburne is in the semis against Betty Michel and Pat Medrado, who beat Susan today is playing Chris French (who beat Marianne Robertson). However, Marianne and Susan are in the doubles final and are the heavy favorites.

In 45 doubles, it's an All American affair, with Myke Loomis/Mariana Hollman vs Fran Chandler/Mary Dailey.

As I predicted when I first saw the draw (have to be right some of the time :-)...it's an All American final in the 55s, Sherri Bronson vs Joanne Russell. Sherri took out the top seed, Lynn Mortimer of Australia in 3 sets while Joanne lost only a game in beating another Aussie, Helen Worland.

The French player who took out Myke and Tracy earlier in the week continued her success against the Americans in the 45s, beating Mariana Hollman in three sets. Mariana though did well to force a third set, coming back from 03 down in the 2nd set to win it.

Amy Alcini lost in 2 tough sets also in the 40s.

Phil Landauer and Tom Smith had a match point in the third set tiebreaker only to see the serve hit the line and take a wicked hop. They lost 76 in the third.

There are 3 Americans in the 50 men's singles tomorrow, Ross Persons and then Egan Adams (who plays Mike Fedderly).

In the 40s Amy Alcini won yesterday. Renata Marcinkowska won in 3 sets and plays Zelinka today.

I won 60 62 over Sabine Schultz of Germany, and played well. She is not a big fan of topspin, liuckily for me. I play the French #1 Betty Michel next, and she is an excellent player. It should be a good match.

Egan Adams beat another American today, Peter Markes, in three gruelling sets, a 4 hour match. Ross Persons also won in the men's 50s.

Mariana Hollman won a tough 2 setter, holding off set points in the 2nd set to win 64 76, so she's into the semis against the French player who took out Myke and Tracy...she must think everyone in the draw except her is an American.

In doubles, Fran Chandler and Mary Dailey won convincingly and play Tracy and me...we won by default over Chris French and her partner (the latter of whom was injured).  Myke and Mariana are on the other half of the draw and play some tough Aussies.

Tom Smith and Phil Landauer won their doubles and Phil played and won his third straight 3-setter in singles. Mike Fedderly and Val Wilder won in the 50s and I think Ross and Peter did too. Ching Ling Chang and Sherri Bronson cruised to a win in the 55 doubles. At one point Ching Ling fell during a point and was waiting for Sherri to pick her up when she realized the point was continuing without her help...Sherri hit 2 more shots and won the point while Ching Ling was scrambling off the court!

It was a gorgeous California sort of day today, though a bit breezy in the afternoon. Tomorrow the 50s play mostly between 11 and noon...

All for now..

Tracy Houk lost to an excellent French player who used to be ranked #2 in France in the open division before a 15 year hiatus.

Sherri Bronson and Joanne Russell continued to roll in the 55s and are in the semis.

Ross Persons and Mike Fedderly won in men's 55s.

Diane Fishburne, Susan Wright and Marianne Robertson all advanced, Marianne by default, in the 50s. Susan beat Anthea Stewart 64 60, avenging her Cup loss to Stewart under much different...less windy, conditions.

Saturday, May 2nd
3rd & 4th playoff
USA vs. Spain

USA defeats Spain 2-1 to come in 3rd place in the 2009 ITF Senior World Team Championships!
The USA Young Cup team clinches a bronze medal!

Our #2 singles player, Renata, played Leticia Almrall of Spain.  Renata was down in the 1st set 3-5 and came back winning 4 games in a row to win 7-5.  Then Renata kept her momentum going in the 2nd set and won 6-2!!  Great job Renata! 
USA 1     Spain 0

 Our #1 singles player, Vesna, played Ana Maria Segura.  Vesna had a great start in the 1st set and was up 5-1 when Ana came charging back to be up 6-5.  Vesna held serve to make it 6-6 and went into a tie breaker.  Ana won the tie breaker 7-1.In the 2nd set Vesna lost 6-1 to a very strong ground stroking Ana Maria Segura.

The match came down to our doubles team of Rachel and Renata who played against Ana Maria Segura and Rosa Bielsa of Spain.  Rachel and Renata played a great 1st set with crisp volleys and awesome hands at the net.  They won 6-3.  In the 2nd set they were down 3-0 very quickly.  Then they were down 4-1 and ended up losing the set 3-6.  They got very pumped up for the 3rd set and had the strategy to be very aggressive and get to the net!  This strategy paid off for the Americans and they went on to win the match 6-2!!

I am very honored to be writing this blog because this was a big win for us over Spain.  We are very excited to be bringing home the bronze medals!

In this blog I am being interviewed by my team mates. 

Rachel Gale-Interview
Rachel is the Assistant Tennis Coach at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.  “I love my job and being so fortunate to coach under head coach Kelly Weaver!  The Meredith girl’s tennis team has made it to the NCAA’s this year and two days after I get back from Turkey I will go with my team to the NCAA tournament.  The girls on the team are a very special group of individuals!  It is great to have a job you love.”  Rachel is also a teaching pro at Lochmere swim and tennis club in Raleigh, NC.

This is Rachel’s 2nd World Team Championships.  She played on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup team in Turkey in 2008.  This year Rachel was a playing captain.How do you like being a playing captain?

After today’s doubles match I can say I LOVE being a playing captain!  It was nice to play with Renata and pull out the win for our team mates!!  I have totally enjoyed being with my team: Renata, Vesna and Carolyn all week long.  We really bonded during this week!  I have enjoyed interviewing them and writing these blogs each day.  My team has been very supportive and they have made it easy for me to be their captain!  This experience has been second to none!  My team has given 100% of themselves in this tournament and for this I thank them very much!!

On behalf of the 2009 Young Cup Team I would like to thank the USTA promoters and sponsors for this opportunity to play for our country.  We are honored to be promoting tennis to our younger and older players in the United States.  Tennis is a sport of a lifetime and the Young Cup team has cherished this opportunity and was proud to bring home a 3rd place finish!
Your 2009 Young Cup Team Members,
Rachel Gale-Captain
Vesna McKenna
Renata Marcinkowska
Carolyn Wei

I won a 4.5 hour singles match today. I played the #1 Swiss player, a transplanted Argentine, Susana Villaverde. She's a good player and I won 46 61 76 (1) and she had match points at 53 and 54, so I was lucky to escape with a win. Tracy Houk and I won our doubles right afterwards, 62 61 against a pickup Australian/Brazilian pair in the 45s.

The wind made play incredibly tough today. The courts are nicely located with a view of the Mediterranean in the distance and green hills in between. But the view was the only nice thing about the courts today...I had to wear goggles it was so windy! Tracy Houk, Sherri Bronson and Ching Ling Chang really supported me as I played and probably made the difference between winning and losing. Thanks everyone!

Susan Wright won easily and so did Diane Fishburne and Marianne Robertson had the day off. We also have tomorow off...Susan and Marianne play doubles and Diane and I don't play at all. I think they have more players than courts. Vesna McKenna plays doubles tomorrow and hasn't played any singles and does not play tomorrow. Renata Marcinkowska won her singles today. Joanne Russell and Amy Alcini won their doubles and Joanne won her singles 60 60...against the 7th seed.

Sue Bramlette and Ross Persons from the Houston Racquet Club had a successful day on court, both winning in singles and doubles. Sue spotted her Canadian opponent, the 8th seed, the first 4 games, then won 64 62. Ross won 61 62. Sue's doubles partner, Margie Cooper won easily in singles.

Myke Loomis won  yesterday against Andrea Schmidt, a good player from Germany. Tracy Houk and Mariana Hollman won yesterday; Fran plays a 5 time world champion tomorrow who is unseeded...it's been the talk of the tournament for days. Tracy plays the person who beat the 2nd seed.

Phil Landauer won yesterday, saving 2 match points en route to a 76 in the third win...something I thought about when I was down match points today. He told me about the match during our warm up...I warmed up for an hour with Vesna, a workout in itself!

Phil and Tom Smith play doubles and singles tomorrow...don't know how the rest of the guys are doing.

Hello from Font de sa Cala. I drove here yesterday without incident, much to the surprise of my Bueno Cup teammates who have suffered my driving for a week...maybe I drive better in silence (less multitasking)?

Yesterday after a long practice with Amy Alcini and then Amy and Joanne Russell, Susan and Marianne and I went into Porto Cristo and did some shopping and walked to the water there.

I arrived here just in time for the opening ceremonies and saw some of the American players who had been at other venues all week. I don't play today but probably play tomorrow against a tough Canadian or Swiss player.

There is internet access here at the hotel, mostly in the mornings, in the evenings, it's so crowded that the internet becomes too slow.

Today I hit very early with Fran Chandler and then with Vesna McKenna...now a little site seeing seems to be in order.

For all results from the final day of play click here.

USA won the Perry (men's 50), Connolly (women's 55) and Court (women's 45) Cups.

The USA finished 3rd in the women's 40's (Young Cup) and 2nd in the women's 50's (Bueno Cup)

In the Perry Cup, the USA team had to play the deciding doubles match today because the tie was halted yesterday due to darkness. The USA won that match against Austria, then won both singles against Germany to win the Fred Perry Cup behind the singles play today of Peter Markes and Val Wilder.

In the Court Cup, Mariana Hollman beat Barbora Koutna at #2 singles in three sets, 60 in the third, and Gretchen Magers cleaned up at #1 singles, beating Eva Zalabska 60 61.

The Connolly Cup: From captain Martha Downing: "Today we beat Spain for the  Maureen Connolly Cup victory. Joanne won easily again at #2...the only exciting thing was the wind...was so strong  (more than 36 k {over 20 mph} at times), that one of Joanne's opponent's serves bounced 2 times before Joanne could get to it . Joanne's game is so solid...deep groundies, attacking volleys, etc...just a shame she was not seeded at the Individuals, as I think she will win the whole thing. Tina also had her "A" game today & won easily. Mary & I won 6-2, 6-0." Also, check out Joanne's blog on USTA.com and USTAflorida.com.

The Bueno Cup: We lost a tough one today 2-1. It was sooooo windy. Chairs were flying around when Marianne and I hit at 7:45 am...and the wind only got worse, seemed a lot stronger than the 36kmh that Martha mentions, seemed more like gusts to 36 MPH! It was difficult to get a good strike at the ball and Anthea Stewart, Susan's opponent, moved well, kept the ball really deep and counterpunched well, lofting balls that on a less windy day would be easier to hit out of the air, or that on a faster court would not be lofted back at all. Anthea did a good job of controlling the play by using the wind and keeping the ball deep and forcing errors or waiting for errors. Susan played a lot of long points patiently waiting for her chance to attack, only to have the wind play havoc with the ball.

Diane followed Susan and it was still super windy. She played last year's world championship singles finalist from the 45s, Christine French and again, it was punch vs counter punch. Chris showed off an excellent dropshot and and excellent follow up to the dropshot (one of those pesky lobs). She also moved very well. When Chris got behind in the 2nd set she started serving better and didn't miss more than a smattering of balls. She played a very good clay court wind match and Diane played a courageous 2nd set, hitting a lot of balls on or close to the line, going for her shots and making a lot of them in a pressure situation.

Marianne and I played the #3 and #4 Brittish players, Sue Bartlett (from Tennessee!) and Leona. We won 61 36 64. We were up 3-0 in the 3rd, played a sloppy game, the Brits were reenergized, tied us at 3-3, whereupon Marianne played a superb game, and that changed the momentum back to us. It was the first time I ever played a match in dark glasses...it was very sunny and windy, and I had clear and dark glasses...had to wear one or the other since my eyes otherwise would bother me too much (clay court dust plus hard contacts = disaster). Anyway, they worked and we earned our consolation point.

The men's 55, Austria Cup and men's  40, Trabert Cup, finished 5th. Hunter Galloway and Richard Schmidt played singles the last 2 days for the Trabert Cup team and doubles went unplayed both days.

USA beat Argentina today in the Italia Cup to finish 7th out of 24 teams.

The USA Dubler Cup team beat the #4 seeds, Gr Britain today to finish 7th out of 24 teams.

The USA Lenglen Cup team finished 11th, beating Austria today 2-0; Amy Alcini and Julie Cass won their singles matches. There were 16 teams.

I will post photos soon time permitting. Tomorrow I go to Font de sa Cala...don't know what the internet access will be there but it should be available near the courts.

According to the ITF website: The Margaret Court Cup (W45) was the last to finish, with matches on court until 11pm. The final will feature the top two seeds, as Czech Republic and USA had 2-0 wins over Italy and France respectively.
Click here for article and results from yesterday's play in Mallorca

USA is down 1-0 after Gr Britain's Anthea Stewart beat Susan Wright 63 64. It is awfully windy today, miserable conditions, but sunny, 60s. Diane is tied now at 1-1. She is playing a very tough Chis French, finalist at the worlds in the 45s last year and playing great.

The men's 50s cup team won the first set of their deciding doubles match this morning according to reports from Font de sa Cala.

The women's 55s won the Connolly Cup again! They beat Spain in the final, and won both singles matches.

USA Dubler Cup team lost to Netherlands 2-0 today and play Great Britain for 7th tomorrow.

Friday Young Cup Blog, From Rachel Gale

Friday, May 1st
USA vs. Italy
Semi-finals
Our #2 singles player, Renata, played against Federica Bonsignori of Italy.  We had a rain delay this morning and finally got on the clay courts at 12:45pm.  It was still raining lightly when Renata started her match.  As the match went on the rain subsided and the wind began to swirl on the court.  Renata was playing a very experienced clay court player in Federica.  While Renata tried everything she could with her heavy topspin and crafty drop shots it was not enough for Federica who won the 1st set 6-0.  Then Renata was grinding for each point (which you have to do to play well against Federica) and she won the 2nd game of the 2nd set to make the score 1-1.  It was to no avail as Federica defeated Renata 6-1 in the 2nd set.  I am very proud of Renata’s fight on the court and as always how respectful of her opponent she was!
Our #1 singles player, Vesna, played against Anna Maria Cecchini of Italy.  Anna Maria is another very experienced clay court player.  At this point the wind was swirling on the court.   Vesna did not have an answer for Anna Maria’s shots until being down 0-5 when she fought to win a game.  Anna Maria went on to win the 1st set 6-1.  Vesna was doing everything she could to stay in the points dealing with the wind and the shots of Anna Maria.  Vesna ended up losing the 2nd set 6-1.  Again I was very proud of Vesna’s fight as well as her great sportsmanship on and off the court! 
Both Vesna and Renata are wonderful team mates to have and now they are getting pumped up to play against Spain for 3rd and 4th place tomorrow!!
In the Doubles match, Rachel & Carolyn were going to play but Italy decided not to play because it was too windy.  Therefore Italy beat the USA 2-0.  Rachel and Carolyn are both very excited about our match tomorrow for 3rd and 4th playoff!
A quick thank you to Carolyn Wei for being such a great supporter of our singles players throughout this week! 

Today I interviewed Carolyn Wei.
Carolyn is participating in her 2nd World Team Championships Event.  In April 2007 she played on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup (women’s 35’s) in Antalya, Turkey. 
What do you do for a living?
I am a systems engineer at a software start-up company called “Big Fix” in Emeryville, CA.  Carolyn feels very fortunate to have this job because she “Loves what she does”.   Not everyone can say that about their job, Good for you Carolyn!
Are you having fun with your teammates?
Absolutely!  This is my best team experience ever!  The group of guys (men’s 45’s team) and girls are very friendly.  We hang out together, support each other both on and off the court!
Are there any foods you miss from America?
YES!  I miss my Mom’s cooking! J However, I do love the French rolls, Serrano ham and tomatoes as well as the honey dew melon and navel oranges.
I also miss my sister, parents, friends and my two cats: Creamy and Gizmo!
It has been a really good experience to get to know my team members better.   I think having 2 cups together playing at the same venue is better than having all the cups playing at the same venue.  I have been having a lot of fun all week long.  I have also enjoyed getting to know other players from the other countries.  I feel that Rachel has been the best captain and I appreciate all she had done for our team as does Renata and Vesna!  Thank you Rachel J 
Overall this has been an amazing experience!

By: Rachel Gale, Captain, USA Young Cup Team

The Young Cup team plays Spain tomorrow for 3rd.

USA Bueno Cup beat France, the #3 seeds, 3-0. It rained early, as predicted and we hung out at the club nearly till noon, went back to our hotel and play resumed at 2pm. By then the sun was peeking out and the wind was atrocious, nearly 20mph and swirling. Susan started strongly at #2 singles, playing flawless, aggressive tennis. She made only 2 errors in the first set according to Diane. She then led 51 in the second set, at which time Benedict LeGrand, her opponent, started playing better, attacking 2nd serves successfully and any short high balls, with her forehand. Susan lost 10 straight points (that's what she said...I just know that it took only minutes to go from 52 to 54...but played a good tiebreaker, and LeGrand made some unforced errors...1-0 USA.

Diane (Hurricane, playing in a hurricane) Fishburne took on the French #1, Betty Michel and made playing in the wind look easy (other than keeping score...and "Coach Susan" was watching the Aussie/Brit match). Diane won 61 61, breaking down her opponent mentally in the process.

Marianne and I think played the doubles, starting just as Gr Britain and Australia were starting their deciding doubles match on the adjacent court. We won 61 61, and the Brits won 61 64. The wind never stopped, and it was chilly...I had on 5 layers when I was watching.

We play Great Britain tomorrow, upset winners over the Aussies.

The Connolly Cup team also had to sit out a rain delay but finished earlier than we did. Joanne Russell won easily at #2 singles; Tina Karwasky lost a rare singles Cup match...maybe her first, 75 62 to Frances Candy, and Joanne and Tina, after making a few aggressive errors at the beginning of the match, won 64 60. Frances Candy told me that Joanne in particular just hit so hard and was so aggressive that there was nothing they could do to counter her attack. USA Connolly Cup plays home team Spain, who beat the Dutch...without Nora Blom who couldn't play due to an infected foot.

USA Young Cup team lost to Italy 2-0.

As of this morning the men's 50 and women's 45 were in play.