The Boston Marathon weekend was a fitting backdrop for the 2019 US Amateur Court Tennis Championships. Due to the fantastic depth of the draw, there was no easy path through to the final and the players’ mental and physical strength was truly tested.
Some notable results included a win for Ben Hudson, a T&R up-and-comer, over Shawn Herlihy 6-3, 6-2; Jeremy Wintersteen fought off a strong Alex Spence 5-6, 6-4, 6-2; Jon Crowell defeated Todd Meringoff 6-5, 6-3 and the backed that up with another 6-5, 6-3 win over Patrick Winthrop.
Then there were two… Jon Crowell and defending champion, Jamie Giddins, took to the court for a five-set final. And that’s exactly what it turned out to be! Jon seemed to be more measured in the early goings and took the first set 6-4. He continued this good form into the second set taking a strong 4-2 lead, only to see Jamie grind out some long games and eventually the set 6-4. In the middle part of the third set Jon appeared to get a hand cramp but this didn’t seem to hold him back as he came from 5-4 down to take the third set 6-5. After winning the third, however, the tough route to the final and the hard movements that Jamie was forcing him to make saw a drop in energy from Jon. The final two sets weren’t without highlights but were one-way traffic with Jamie taking the fourth and fifth 6-0, 6-0.
Final score: 4-6, 6-4, 5-6, 6-0, 6-0.
Thanks to all those who made the trip to Boston to take part in this fantastic weekend.
