The Tennis & Racquet Club was pleased to host the U.S. Ladies Open in Boston from November 5-8. The singles and doubles draws featured solid fields with some of the best players in the world competing. Sixteen players competed in the singles with World Champion Charlotte Cornwallis and Karen Hird at the number one and two seeds, respectively. Freddy Adam and Amy Hayball were seeded three and four. American players from Washington, Boston, Aiken, and Newport competed with Newport sending the largest contingent.
The first match of the tournament featured an exciting contest between Jen Winthrop (Newport and also Boston) and Boston’s Suzy Schwartz. Suzy played well and won the first set but Jen soon elevated her game and took the second set. Jen continued to improve and won the third set 6/1. Other matches went generally as expected although Sheila Reilly pushed Freddy Adam in a close second set before losing 6/4.
In the top semifinal bracket, Charlotte played a solid game and handily defeated Amy Hayball. The other semifinal would produce an upset with Freddy Adam defeating Karen Hird. Freddy played strong tennis and came back from a significant second set deficit to take the match 6/3 6/5. The singles final displayed some great rallies and shot making from both players but Charlotte was too good. The first set was closer than the score indicated as Charlotte made a number of unforced errors. Freddy, however, was unable to capitalize on them. Charlotte got better as the match progressed and the outcome would soon become evident as she found her stride. Freddy made a number of great volleys and cut shots only to see them come back with offense. Charlotte went on to win 6/1 6/3.
The Tennis & Racquet Club held a Fall Gala on Friday night and many came by and watched the Open. The Tournament Dinner on Saturday was attended by over twenty one players, spectators, and guests and several toasts were made by players and tournament organizers.
Eleven teams entered the doubles with Charlotte and Karen at the number one slot and new player Ana Radeljevic and Freddy at the second seed. Ana is a tennis player from Croatia and won the 2008 Mixed Doubles after playing a handful of times.
Preliminary and quarterfinal matches went as expected. The semifinal match between Freddy / Ana and Amy Hayball and Aldona Greenwood was the match of the tournament. Freddy and Ana got off to a great start and took the first set 6/4. Freddy played well in the back court and Ana aggressively volleyed loose balls. In the second set Amy and Aldona switched receivers, which worked. They held the serve side more often and forced Ana to play more floor shots and receive more serves. In the third set, Freddy and Ana chose not to switch and this may have been the difference in the match. Amy and Aldona communicated well, were determined to keep the service side and not allow chases. Amy played steady in the back court and Aldona found her range on an effective high wall serve to Ana. Great points were played throughout and the gallery was treated to a great match with Amy and Aldona winning the last two sets 6/4 6/4.
Charlotte and Karen were simply too strong for Amy and Aldona in the final. Karen played great at the galleries and between Charlotte’s serve and her fearless volleying, they almost served out the set. Aldona and Amy did all they could but could not repeat their semifinal performance and lost 6/0 6/1.
The consolation round featured eight players and an Aiken / Boston final between Ginny Goodyear and Suzy Schwartz. Ginny’s experience proved too much for Suzy and she took the plate.
Many thanks go to members of the T&R’s Ladies Open Committee: Suzy Schwartz, Arthur Drane, Nancy Multer, Jen Winthrop, Jeremy Wintersteen, Jimmy Burke, and Camden Riviere. Thanks also go to the USCTA for its support of the tournament. The U.S. Ladies was a great success and the Tennis & Racquet Club looks forward to hosting it again. Additional thanks go to Jimmy and Camden for their tournament organization and marking and to the T&R’s Tom Dobbins and Janice Pearson for all their support. Congratulations to World Champion Charlotte Cornwallis for her successful defense of her Ladies Open singles and doubles titles and to Karen for her doubles title.
US Ladies Singles Draw
US Ladies Doubles Draw
US Ladies Singles Consolation
