Until next month...

Sincerely,

Jane Lippincott - Editor 

U.S. Court Tennis Association

Happy holidays to all!

Charleston Update: December 2014

USCTA Supporting Charleston Court Tennis with the 2014 USCTA Auction.

The fundraising efforts for Charleston Court Tennis continues to build. As of this date, over $876,000 has been pledged from 175 donors. 

Proceeds from the USCTA auction, to be held in New York later this month, will be going into a new USCTA court development fund and will be earmarked for Charleston. USCTA President - Jeremy Wintersteen recently commented: "Charleston Court Tennis has been making significant progress with its fundraising efforts and the USCTA is pleased to get behind this effort, which is the best chance for a new court in the U.S." A list of auction items will be posted on the USCTA website later this week.

For more information on the Charleston Court Tennis and how you can make a pledge, visit  www.charlestoncourttennis.com  or contact Greg Van Schaack at (845)-642-2673.

The New York Racquet & Tennis Club hosted the 22^nd annual Silver Racquet Invitational and New York Open Handicap on November 5-9, 2014. In conjunction with the court tennis, the weekend included an invitational squash doubles tournament, paired doubles racquets, under-35 handicap racquets singles, and the first annual North American Racquets Invitational.

For the full story, photos and draws,  click here  

U.S. Ladies Open

by DAWSON LANE

The 2014 Ladies US Open kicked off with four round of 16 singles matches on Friday November 7th.  Helen Grassi and Alex Klara were the first match of the championship at high noon with Grassi prevailing in straight sets.  Rackets aficionado Shi-Nan Zhang and Petra Napolitano were next on the docket.  Napolitano was determined to keep her foot on the pedal before Zhang got the hang of the bounces and chases, as her comfort level increased game by game.  Napolitano emerged victorious in straight sets with some fantastic rests enjoyed by the spectators.  Dara Walsh and Sara Hamilton were next up to grace the Tuxedo Club court; with Walsh's experience and controlled play being too much for Hamilton to overcome.  The last round of 16 match paired up two New Englanders; Beth Winthrop from the National Tennis Club and Suzy Schwartz from the Boston Tennis & Racquet Club.  Winthrop got off to a fast start, but Schwartz righted the ship and moved on to the quarter-finals.  

  Click here for the full story. 

This year's Jimmy Dunn hit record numbers with 25 draws and over 218 matches played starting Thursday at noon and ending Sunday at 6pm. There was record numbers in the squash draws and the tennis as always was sold out 3 weeks in advance with 78 players. The level of tennis this weekend was some of the best quality we have seen for a number of years. The racquets draws saw massive numbers as we added age group categories this year. As well as the Jock Soutar we also had the Tom Price, Murray Sales and Dennis Walsh Cup.

The club was bursting at the seams on the courts, in the bar and in the steam rooms to recover for their next matches. Everyone was in multiple events and found themselves going from one match to another. All matches were very tightly contested in all sports and were played in very fair spirits despite what was on the line.

NEPTUNE BOOK OF TENNIS & RACKETS

"THE NEPTUNE BOOK OF TENNIS & RACKETS by James Bruce will be published in February 2015.

This is a complete revision and update of his father the late Lord Aberdare's earlier books, which have long been internationally regarded as the most authoritative works on the games of Real Tennis and Rackets.  It provides the reader with a comprehensive account of everything that has happened in the games from their inception hundreds of years ago to 2014.

This new edition is bursting with over 300 new photos all in colour covering not just active courts and players but also every known court still standing in the UK, Ireland, USA and Australia.

The book contains comprehensive and completely re-written chapters on the history and present situation of every active court in the world (over 200 new pages) covering all that is new in the games-people, places, clubs and achievements. The author has also scoured the records of the UK, Australia, Canada, France and the USA to bring the statistics of all major tournaments up to date.

This large format book has over 450 pages.

The order form for either the £35 standard edition or the £350 leather-bound limited edition (100 copies) can be found by clicking here. 

If for any reason you are unable to open the attachment, send an e-mail (with your mailing address) to alan@tennisbookshop.com and a

printed copy of the order form will be immediately mailed to you wherever you are in the world."