by Steve Fazzini
The 60s and 70s singles and doubles tournaments were both played in Newport the weekend of May 5-7. The action began on Thursday evening and ended with the four finals on Sunday, with many excellent and well played matches throughout the weekend.
In the 60s the top team in the doubles were Greg Van Schaack and Peter Clement who defeated the number two seeded team of Dick Tanfield and Rowan Carroll 6-2, 6-4. In the singles Van Schaack again was the winner over Carroll in a close 6-5, 6-3 match. We congratulate all the finalists for their excellent play. Though all the Newport locals including myself had been eliminated in the semi-final round, there was one early match of note. Bill Rives defeated Doug Shear 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a rousing three set match that took nearly three hours to play.
The 70’s were a different matter as four of the five finalists were locals. The one exception, Dick Tanfield won the singles over Jonathon Pardee 6-0, 6-1. The doubles were an almost all Newport final pitting Alex Walsh and Jonathan Pardee against Tom Rowe and Dick Brickley (Boston-Newport). Rowe and Brickley won in three sets 5-6, 6-3, 6-4. The match took over two hours to play.
Of note was the play of Tom Rowe who was involved in one singles and two doubles matches that all went three sets and took about six hours to complete. Yes, he was a winner in all of them. The only match that he lost all weekend was against Jonathan Pardee in two sets. Perhaps Tom has found a fountain of youth.
In conclusion, we all had a great deal of fun and I’m sure many of the participants will return for next season 60s and 70s.
US 60s Singles – Greg Van Schaack, Mike Gooding & Rowan Carroll
US 60s Doubles – Greg Van Schaack, Peter Clement, Mike Gooding, Rowan Carroll & Dick Tanfield
US 70s Doubles – Dick Brickley, Tom Rowe, Mike Gooding, Alex Walsh & Jonathan Pardee
US 70s Singles – Jonathan Pardee, Nick Howell & Dick Tanfield
