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Greetings!
What a busy month - and you can read all about it here! The U.S. 40's and 50's in Tuxedo kicked off the month, followed by the always popular doubles events - The Cherry Blossom in Washington and the Northrop Knox Doubles in Aiken. The pros capped off the National League season with an exciting final night in Newport. Lastly, the women took to the court in Newport for the Ladies' Invitational - open to all U.S. based women players. What a month - scroll down for all the details!
Are you a history buff or just curious about a court? Check out the blog "Big Old Houses" to learn more about Georgian Court. Need some coaching tips? Barney Tanfield provides a follow-on piece to last month's "Illumination" story. This month's article is entitled "Twenty Twenty Hindsight", exploring the use of video to help you understand the player you ought to be.
Looking ahead - the veterans take center stage in May - starting with the US 60's and 70's in Newport. Then it's on to Tuxedo and Philadelphia for the World Team Championships (Go USA!) culminating with the World Masters in New York.
June is just a busy as the top professionals from the U.S. and around the world gather for the U.S. Pro Singles playing for the Schochet Cup. The Newport Handicap Doubles, U.S. Ladies Open and the U.S. Junior Nationals round out the month - who thought tennis was just a "winter sport?
Our thoughts are with all those impacted by Boston Marathon bombings. Read "Boston Gives Back" for some reflections from Tom Dobbins during the days after the tragedy.
In closing, please take a minute to read and sign the petition to stop the demolition of the court in Bordeaux. The Bordeaux court is one of 3 in France - losing it would be a great loss for the game. Sign the petition today!
Until next month...
Sincerely,
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2013 NATIONAL LEAGUE
by Ken Forton
 Last week, Tuesday, we saw Team New England take the 2012-2013 championship in the United States National League. Congratulations to Camden Riviere, Tony Hollins, and Rich Smith in their win over Jamie Stout, Barney Tanfield, and Mike Gooding. As you shall see, it was an offbeat night for a variety of reasons.
First, New England swept the evening. To my recollection, I don't think the team has won all three (two singles and one doubles) matches in any of their earlier outings. The domination began with a very serious effort by NTC's head pro Rich Smith over New York's assistant pro Barney Tanfield. In an exciting first set, Smith eked out a win at 6 games to five. This result must have taken the wind out of Tanfield's sails, as Smith won the next set and the match 6-2. This was redemption for Smith, as the last time he was on court in Newport for National League he lost to the Tuxedo/Philly team's Josh Dodgson 6-3, 6-4. That night Rich didn't seem to have his usual sparkle out there; he was frustrated. But at the finals Rich appeared smooth and in control. Kudos to him for his efforts. To read Ken Forton's Story, click here.
Click here to see complete results from the season.
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2013 U.S. 40's & 50's
The US 40's & 50's were held in Tuxedo on April 5-7. Results...
- US 40 Singles - Lex Miron def. Bill Barker 4/6,6/0,6/1
- US 40 Doubles - Lex Miron & Simon Aldrich def. Bill Barker & Guy Devereux 6/5,6/5
- US 50 Singles - William Maltby def. Peter Hill 6/1,6/1
- US 50 Doubles - Charlie Johnstone & Simon Aldrich def. William Maltby & Greg Van Schaack 6/4,4/6,6/4
The Johnstone/Aldrich win marked their fourth US 50 Doubles victory in the past 5 years! For draws, click here.
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2013 CHERRY BLOSSOM
The 2013 Cherry Blossom Doubles Tournament was held at Prince's Court in Washington from April 11th-14th. 26 teams participated in the tournament with entrants hailing from Newport, Boston, Philadelphia, Aiken, France and the UK.
This year's theme was "Lucky '13" and featured a full size bingo machine, a racquet-armed slot machine, and world #2 Camden Riviere playing right handed! Click here to read the report.
Check out photos here!
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2013 NORTHROP KNOX
by Dacre Stoker
This years Knox Handicap Doubles tournament featured 13 teams, which were spread into two pools of four and one pool of five teams for round robin play. The top six teams emerged into the quarterfinal round on Saturday evening. Gary Swantner and Ryan Carey received a handicap of receive 15 and played very well in their defeat of Rakesh Jasani and Michael Sullivan. Brothers Ben and Bob Cook dispatched Rick Preston and Paul Sauerborn 6/0 6/5, while in another all Aiken match Morgan Purvis and Geoff Ellis beat last years runners up Clayton Vaughters and Jason Mengel 6/3 6/1. The dark horse team of Aiken's Bryan Haltermann and New York's Adam Inselbuch fell just short of pulling of a massive upset of defending Knox Champions Lex Miron and Jeremy Wintersteen 6/5 5/6 3/6.
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2013 LADIES' INVITATIONAL
by Sheila Reilly
The 2013 Ladies' Invitational was held on a bright and crisp spring weekend in Newport. 13 women competed, including newcomer Ruth Kelley from Philadelphia. Look for Ruth to figure prominently in women's tennis in the future; with only six months' experience, she exhibited tremendous talent.
But for the present, experience was not to be denied, as the singles finalists, Sheila Reilly and Petra Napolitano, teamed up to take the doubles from Ruth and Amy MacMillan, overcoming a slow start to do so, 5/6, 6/1, 6/2.
In the singles draw, Reilly, the #4 seed, reached the final when the #1 seed Brenda Sabbag, had to default at 5/6, retired, citing a recurring ankle injury. Napolitano, the #3 seed, turned back Kelley in an energetic and entertaining three-set cocktail match, 3/6, 6/4, 6/3.
Reilly, giving her opponent twenty years, somehow managed to use her floor game to jump out to an early lead in the title match, but Petra has a powerful, all-or-nothing style ...to read the full story, click here!
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TIPS FROM THE PROS
"Twenty Twenty Hindsight"
by Barney Tanfield
We live in an era that has the opportunity to re-live our matches and practice unlike any other era. The ability to go back in time is an incredible asset to the Real Tennis opportunist. A massive boom in photographic and video innovation has really fueled our ability to investigate and interpret things that happened in the past. HD video and high-resolution imagery are assets many of us do not have access to but this is of little consequence. The video quality of a standard smart phone is certainly good enough at the very least to record the footwork leading up to and the stroke itself. .
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BOSTON GIVES BACK
As many of you know, the Tennis & Racquet Club in Boston is on Boylston Street - just a few short blocks from the sight of the Boston Marathon Bombings. In what became an otherwise scary and depressing afternoon/evening, this e-mail from Tom Dobbins, the general manager, arrived:
"Subject: From the Worst Comes Some Good
Update: Felt brave enough to step outside and approach a Boston Police Officer to tell him we had a "Lot" of food left in here after the forced evacuation, and that they were all welcome to it. So, all these nice people who have been put on call for lord knows how long formed what appeared to be a never ending line in through the back door.
Thanks to Goedecke & Co. who provided the food, we have, as of now, fed over fifty Boston and State police and Swat team members. They are all thankful to the T&R and we are all thankful to them.
A special thanks to Goedecke & Co. and Shawn Herlihy for what I know was a happy donation. Best, T "
And a few days later...
"Hello Members,
Good to be able to be in touch with you once again. What a sad week. I sincerely hope that you and yours escaped unharmed from the nightmare. As indeed, I need not remind you, please keep the victims in your heart.
We have just been cleared by The City of Boston to re-inhabit the building. .... we don't know for sure when we will reopen. I hope it's soon. I really miss this part of my life. I hope you do too.
Best, T "
As it turned out, the club was closed for 9 days while the area was secured, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in and the club's security cameras were reviewed.
One last note...work will begin shortly on the new roof with a return to tennis in the fall....Boston here we come!
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IMPORTANT USCTA SURVEY
Real Tennis or Court Tennis?
In January, all USCTA members received a survey entitled "Should the United States Court Tennis Association change its name to the United States Real Tennis Association?"
The USCTA Board of Governors need your input!
What do YOU think?
Here's the link to the original survey form.
For additional color, here are some interesting links:
- See what players are saying on the RTO Forum...click here.
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United States Court Tennis Association
c/o The Racquet & Tennis Club
370 Park Ave. New York, New York 10022
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MAY
1-5
NEWPORT
USCTA National Singles and Doubles Championships for amateurs 60 and over, 70 and over
13-17
INTERNATIONAL TEAMS
PHILADELPHIA
COCHRAM CUP - players 50 & over
TUXEDO
BOSTWICK CUP - players 60 & over
DANBY CUP - players 70 & over
18-24
NEW YORK
International Singles and Doubles for players over 50, 60 and 70
JUNE
1-9
US PRO SINGLES -
SCHOCHET CUP
NEWPORT
Professional Singles
14-16
TUXEDO
USCTA Open Singles & Doubles Championships
22
USCTA ANNUAL MEETING
NEWPORT
19-23
NEWPORT
Doubles flights for all divisions
20-23
US JUNIOR NATIONALS
PHILADELPHIA
21& Under, 18 & Under - Singles & Doubles
JULY
4-6
CLOTHIER CUP
NEWPORT
Junior International Team Competition. USA vs. Australia
19-21
VELVET ROPE
NEWPORT
Invitational Doubles for ages 21-40
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SAVE BORDEAUX!
Sign the petition! "The Committee of the Jeu de Paume (Real Tennis) court in Bordeaux: Stop the demolition of the Jeu de Paume (Real Tennis) court in Bordeaux"
It's important.
Will you sign it too?
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2013 U.S. PRO - SCHOCHET CUP
NEWPORT
JUNE 2-9
Come see the top pros in the world, including World Champion - Rob Fahey- compete in the US Pro Singles Playing for the Schochet Cup.
For information about the tournament and sponsorship opportunities,
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RTO STATS
Recorded Matches in the last 30 days
Newport 176
Washington 166
Chicago 104
Tuxedo 73
New York 68
Philadelphia 41
Aiken 37
Boston 14
Lakewood 3
Compare to -
Radley 279
Hampton Court 274
Melbourne 242
Hobart 242
RECORD ALL SCORES ! |
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GEORGIAN COURT
For history buffs and tennis fans...here's a link to a short piece on George Gould's Georgian Court estate in Lakewood, NJ. The estate, now a University, is home to the Georgian Court Tennis Court. This piece explores the property with lots of great photos.
"Big Old Houses - In a Very Different World"
click here to read
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USCTA FACEBOOK GROUP
The USCTA is on Facebook!
Interact with other players.
Get the latest news, photos, results and more!
Click here to
have a look
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