A strong tightly contested Open division included World Doubles Champion Tim Chisholm playing with his colleague from Tuxedo Park Josh Dodgson. Tim and Josh won the round-robin group without losing a match to make it to the final on Sunday. The second-place team of Mike Gooding and John Lumley were only edged out narrowly 6-5 in the third in the round-robin action by Tim and Josh this only heightened the anticipation for the final.
The match began with Tim rifling a volley return down the line off a railroad from John, that whizzed past Mike making a long chase but nether less throwing the gauntlet down. Josh and Tim kept their noses ahead to clinch the first set 6-4. Tim continued to play aggressively in the second set, but John and Mike had adjusted to the pace and began to fight back with their own winning shots. They took the second set through creative serving and varying the pace. For all Pell Cup matches, the third set begins at three games all. John and Mike, with momentum on their side, took the third set and match by consistently attacking their opponents, winning with a final score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
To catch the action click here.
A great deal of thanks is owed to the Pell family for being the main sponsors along with Fredrick Warren, Temple Grassi, and Larry Philips. Also to all the other contributors for their gracious support who are named in the program accompanying this report.
In the A division, the new and solid pairing of Peter Cipriano and Pat Winthrop proved to be the dominant team, winning the final over Rakesh Jasani and George Handy 6-0 6-4. Of note, we did have our youngest ever pairing to make the A division Newporters the Dickinson brothers – Pete and Ben. Both have improved tremendously over the past year.
The last round-robin match of the B Division was between the two top teams. Rather than play the game as the final, both sides opted to use the match as a reconnaissance mission. John Damon and Mark Philpott won the match in a nail-biter over Dick Brickley and Aitor Aldazabal 5-6 6-1 6-5. Dick and Aitor, having expended a lot of effort in the prior match unfortunately and playing on a scorching day, fell to John and Mark 6-3 6-3.
Two divisions were needed in the C’s, and both finalist pairs came through each group without losing a match. After a tentative start due to nerves, the young team from Tuxedo – Dawson Chisholm and Theo Yanuzzi lost the first set to the more experienced pairing of Petra Napolitano and Dan Robillard Jr. Adjusting to the pace and aggressive play, the boys regained their stride in the second set, hitting clean and concise shots in and around the grille corner.
Dan and Petra fought bravely in the third but just couldn’t make enough inroads to stop their opponents capturing the title. 3-6 6-2 6-4. Dawson doing one better than his father ensuring one winner’s trophy went back and the Tuxedo bound minivan.
Dave Christensen and Bob Wang – also from Tuxedo – made the D division final to play Trevor Jones (Newport USCTPF intern) and Larry Phillips. Larry and Trevor played a nearly perfect first set only briefly losing the service side for a couple of points winning 6-1. A loss of concentration by Larry and Trevor, coupled with Dave’s outstanding railroad serves and some miraculous volleys by Bob allowed the Tuxedo team to take the second set 6-4. In the third set, Captain Larry steadied the ship and got his partner to relax and focus on the job at hand. This paid dividends and the team from Newport regained their first set form to capture the third set convincingly to win the D division 6-1 4-6 6-3.
Last but not least, the E Division.This final saw Tim O’Shea and partner Steve Ludwig take on Kathy Minevitz and Sewall Hodges – playing left-handed. Steve and Tim’s dedication racking up multiply hours on court over the last couple of months showed as they won comfortably 6-2 6-1. This will undoubtedly be the last time they will be seen in the E’s next year the D’s maybe even the C’s!!
Click here to see the official program.
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A Division: Pat Winthrop, Peter Cipriano, Rakesh Jasani & George Handy
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B Division: Mark Philpott, John Damon, Aitor Aldazabal & Dick Brickley
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C Division: Dawson Chisholm, Theo Yanuzzi, Dan Robillard & Petra Napolitano
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D Division: Trevor Jones, Larry Phillips
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E Division: Steve Ludwig, Tim O'Shea, Kathy Minevitz & Sewall Hodges
