On Thursday, February 7th, the Racquet Club of Chicago hosted the New England team in the debut of the 2019 USCTA Court Tennis National League.
A partisan crowd of 75 members was keen to cheer on Chicago to victory over an in-form New England team.
The first match would see the #1s face off–Local pro-Steve Virgona taking on Newport’s Nick Howell. The match started fairly even with both players hitting the ball crisply and finding their targets. At 3-all in the first set, there was a slight momentum shift as Steve somewhat fortuitously managed to win a point defending a chase after the ball bounced a little higher than anticipated! The second set was more one-sided as Steve controlled the service end with some tight serves, buoyed by a partisan crowd in full voice, and ran out the winner 6/3, 6/1.
The doubles were up next. With Conor Medlow unable to play due to injury, Josh Dodgson partnered with Steve against Nick and the Boston Tennis & Racquet club professional Leon Smart. Steve and Josh jumped out to an early lead, keeping Nick and Leon under tremendous pressure at both ends of the court. With a comfortable lead throughout the match, Steve and Josh ran out an 8/3 victory.
The final singles match between Josh and Leon saw two of the rising players in U.S. tennis square off on a neutral court. Josh was quickly out of the blocks with a 3/0 lead as his aggressive, accurate play won him three straight games. Leon then changed the tempo of the match and, took a close first set 6/4. Leon continued his winning momentum into the second set as he raced out to a 4/0 lead. The match looked to be over, but to Josh’s credit he came back strong to level the match at 4-all. After numerous long rallies and great gets over the next two games, Leon was slightly more consistent and finished the match 6/4, 6/4.
Thanks to the Racquet Club, the players and the spectators for their support in making the night such a great success.
