By Brittany C. Wakim-Harde and Robert Whitehouse
Every March, court tennis enthusiasts circle a single event on their calendar – The Percy Cup. Started in 2001, it’s the can’t miss event in Philadelphia – and this, its 24th year, was no exception.
For those who are new to the game, the Percy Cup was initially started as an equivalent to the Whitney Cup for higher handicap participants. In a Davis Cup style format, teams of 3 doubles squads compete together to move throughout the tournament with aggregate win-loss records.
This year saw 9 teams from 6 clubs, 54 competitors, 36 matches over 3 days, and 484 games played (200 games on Saturday alone!).
Since we might lose our readers by the end, we wanted to start off with a massive thank you to the RCOP Pro Shop of Robbie Whitehouse, Ross Bolling, and Colin Lumley for all of their work on putting this event together. From the pros to the bartenders to the locker room attendants, every layer of the RCOP worked tirelessly to bring the weekend to life.
But now, onto the fun stuff.
At 10:15 AM on Friday, a new batch of balls was released, and we were off to the races. The first match up saw Philly 3 vs Aiken and we started off with a tone-setting 7-7, 40-40 thriller! Philly 3 eked their way into the tournament thanks to the fold from Washington 2 and they were determined to win it all or at the very least, act as the spoiler for other teams’ hopes. Wakim and Gephart – the all ladies duo from Philadelphia – dropped the first match of the day as Mount waited until the last point to unleash a killer serve he’d been saving the whole match. Aiken was up 1-0 but thanks to the strong and decisive play from Scott and Robin as well as Gorsen and Soffer (team Denist), Philadelphia 3 punched its ticked out of its play-in and into the elite eight.
Next up was New York 2 v. Newport. Newport wasted no time steamrolling through their matches 3-0. The performance from Flatgard and Hamilton and Yaari and Whitlock in the first two matches was tone setting and Van Burskirk and Brickley followed suit. Newport was solid as a rock and put a scare into the RCOP pro shop after 2ound 1 with its convincing sweep of New York 2.
Onto Tuxedo v. Philadelphia 1. Due to competition and programming at RCOP – Philadelphia had to have an extensive tryout with 8 teams trying out for the 2nd and 3rd division and 3 teams vying for the team 1 slot. This meant that Philadelphia 1 – its premier squad, was going to be tough to beat. Tuxedo ran into a buzz saw with Philadelphia 1 that proved too strong on its way to a 3-0 sweep on the backs of Folkestead and Arcot, Spruance and Jamieson, and Zhang and Haab. While Yager and McMorris put up a fight with the prime-time dinner match – Zhang and Haab were too strong to overcome as they marched to an 8-6 victory.
The next match in the elite eight saw New York 1 v. Philadelphia 3. Philadelphia 3, out to keep their borrowed time chances alive stumbled in their first match. After Amtrak had other plans for New York 1 and 2, a pre-game switch of the Kapsimalis brothers’ squads earlier played well into New York 1 Team 3’s success. Nick Kapsimalis and Simone, Sr. staved off a late game attack to take the first match 8-5 and put New York 1 up 1-0. However, this was familiar territory to the Philadelphia 3 squad and Scott and Robin as well as Gorsen and Soffer laced up their sneakers and steamrolled their way to victory. A black eye mid match could not slow down Scott and Robin and Gorsen and Soffer went on to notch the first 8-1 victory of the weekend. Philadelphia 3 lived to fight another day and left New York 1 in its wake to join Aiken.
The last set of matches saw Philadelphia 2 v. Washington 1. Philadelphia went for the full 3-0 sweep in fairly close matches on its quest to hoist the silver tray.
By dinner time, the semi-finals were set with 3 teams from Philadelphia as well as the team from Newport. New York, the defending champs, saw its chances for a repeat vanish as they were sent home by their neighbors to the north and south. Ted Goneos was overheard asking if Rob Whitehouse was going to be playing for a Philly team next year because of how strong they were this year.
Saturday morning opened up with the Plate Draw followed by the Semi-Finals.
First up in the Plate saw Aiken play New York 2. Looking to avenge its loss to Newport, New York 2 came out swinging, but Ward and Vogt were able to edge out Carrie and Turner setting the teams at 1-1 after the morning. Etsy and Truchetta were up to the task and took control of the rubber and did not look back on their way to an 8-2 victory giving New York 2 its first team win.
Next saw Washington v. New York 2. New York 2, looking to avenge its loss to Philadelphia 3 and ride the steam of its win over Aiken, started off with decisive play taking a 2-0 team lead before the last match. Sternberg and Price fought hard but Etsy and Truchetta were too much in the last two games – Truchetta hit 4 dedans in the last 2 games hoping to get signed by the Phillies as their next line drive hitter. New York 2 cruised its way into the semi-finals and sent Washington packing.
Tuxedo and New York 1 then squared off for the battle for New York. Simone and Kapsimalis and Hubbard and Winmill were all too hard to overcome. With the win locked up before the last match, Yager and McMorris were not going to go lightly. Arguably the tallest team in the tournament, these two covered the court with ease and notched a victory for team Tuxedo 8-3. However, it was not enough, and the scene was set for a New York v. New York showdown in the Plate Semi-Finals.
After the Plate semis were set – all attention turned to the eagerly awaited semi-final matches. Statistically, Philadelphia was going to have a team in the finals and Newport wanted to get in on the fun.
The first match was between Philadelphia 3 and Philadelphia 2. Although they mounted a late game comeback, it was not enough to overcome Alderman and Boles who took the first match 10-6. In the second match, Philadelphia 2 looked to lock up the team win but Scott and Robin had other plans for Mellor and Stimac. As was the case all weekend, Scott and Robin came to play and powered their way to a 10-8 victory, black eye and all. Therefore, it all came down to the rubber. Despite what the box score might report, this match was a nailbiter. 7-7, 40-40 and Windmill and Carroll profited off a favorable bounce straight down the back wall. Gorsen and Soffer never recovered as Windmill and Carroll took the 10-7 victory and punched their team’s ticket into the final. Windmill and Carroll were to be audited for the fortunate bounces that graced them during the match but Windmill was no where to be found post-victory – rumor is he took an uber straight to the casino to ride the wave of his good fortune. Philadelphia 3 saw its tournament run come to an end, notching the first final’s spot for the host city.
The next Semi-Final saw Philadelphia 1 take on Newport to try to make it an all Philadelphia final. Folkestad and Arcot snatched a victory over Flatgard and Hamilton 10-8 but Yaari and Whitlock kept Newport’s chances alive with a decisive 10-1 victory over Spruance and Jamieson. It all came down to the rubber match of the number 1 teams with a trip to the finals on the line – what a court tennis fan dreams of! Haab and Zhang answered the call and played absolutely flawlessly in their last match. 2 Division 1 athletes united to look as graceful as Roger Federer’s backhand. Burskirk and Brickley came out swinging and it looked like it was set to be a tight match until Haab and Zhang turned on the jets to a 10-1 victory. The rumor was that the Philadelphia Racquets Fellow, Will, was making the most of his time in Philadelphia and trying to engender himself to the RCOP membership by luring the competition onto the racquets court in between matches to affect their level of play on the tennis courts. Whether it was Haab and Zhang’s flawless play, or Will’s doing, the result was that Philadelphia 1 and Philadelphia 2 were going to square off in the Percy Cup finals.
Championship Sunday. While Sunday is usually for the Birds in Philadelphia, this weekend it was all about court tennis.
Sunday was set with a duel city face off in the finals for both the Plate – New York 1 v. New York 2, and the Finals – Philadelphia 1 v. Philadelphia 2. Some say that these matches acted as the tryouts for next year’s teams.
New York 1 v. New York 2 – with bragging rights, potential spots on next year’s teams, and the ability to walk out a Plate Champ – there was much on this line in this faceoff. Simone, Sr. and Kapsimalis were unable to start New York 1 off with a victory as Kapsimalis and Diamond took the first match 10-6. Winmill and Hubbard avenged the early loss with a 10-1 victory setting up all of the marbles to be on the line in rubber match. Again, what a court tennis fan dreams of! Truchetta set the tone and was an absolute monster on the court taking down the ex-captain of the squad, Goneos. Etsy made a statement as to why he should retain the captainship into next season with the decisive win. New York 2 reigned supreme of the New York teams and took home the title of Plate Champions.
The last matches of the day and of the weekend saw an all Philadelphia final as Philadelphia 1 squared off on Philadelphia 2. Philadelphia 2 looked to avenge all of their respective losses in the tryouts. It’s true what they say. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Boles and Alderman took the first win in 2 sets to make up for their loss in the tryouts to the same squad. With a few whispers in the hallways to adjustments to be made to both of their handicaps, they were able to notch the first win of the day for Philadelphia 2. Well done to these two new players to the game.
Stimac and Mellor were determined to lock up the win before the last match. Jamieson and Spruance came out to an early lead taking the first set 6/2. The rest of the team was starting to warm up but Mellor and Stimac regrouped and came out strong in the second taking it 6/3. The match was not over. In the final set, Mellor and Stimac edged out Jamieson and Spruance to the roars of the crowd to take the match 6/4 and secure Philadelphia 2 as the new Percy Cup champions. However, Haab and Zhang would not allow the sweep and continued their undefeated run in the tournament with a 6/4, 6/2 win over Windmill and Carroll.
Congratulations to Philadelphia 2 for a great weekend here at the RCOP and a tournament well played by all. As we like to say, Welcome to Philadelphia! Home of the Superbowl and Percy Cup Champions!
We eagerly look forward to seeing you all next March as Philadelphia will defend its title on home turf. Until then, all eyes are turned to the World Championship First Round Eliminator Matches – where Philadelphia’s own John Lumley takes on Steve Virgona in Chicago and Philadelphia and Nick Howell takes on Ben Taylor-Matthews in Aiken. Best of luck to all players.
