Boston, MA, May 12, 2002
And the winner is …
And the winner is …
And the winner is …
Lumley. Lumley. And Lumley.
Forgive Penny Lumley if she sleeps well on her return trip home this evening on British Airways. She played a lot of tennis today. And she’s lugging home a lot of trophies.
In hockey, players are credited with a hat trick if they score three goals in one game. Imagine how hard it would be to have to play in three national championship tennis finals on the same day. Imagine how hard it would be to win each of them. Imagine being Penny Lumley.
#1 seed and more than once a former winner of this event, Penny Lumley, fresh from her three-set victory over Ladies’ World Champ Charlotte Cornwallis in the British Ladies’ Singles, cruised to Sunday’s singles final with wins over Newport’s Angie Bernier and Hatfield’s Catherine Walker. She lost one game enroute. She didn’t lose another game on her way to the ladies’ singles trophy.
Her opponent in the singles final was Boston’s own Brenda Sabbag (#2 seed) who, despite a recent hiatus from court tennis, reached with an easy win over Petra Napolitano of Tuxedo, and a good result against Newport’s Sheila Reilly (#3 seed), in a hard-fought match played before an appreciative cocktail crowd on Friday night. Reilly managed to stave off one match point, beating a worse-than-two chase on the floor, but in the end, Sabbag prevailed, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Brenda Sabbag and Penny Lumley
However, Brenda ran out of tricks against the former Ladies’ World Champion on Sunday. Penny, in the first of three finals on Mother’s Day, easily defeated Sabbag without the loss of a game.
Twenty minutes later, Penny was back on court in the ladies’ doubles final. #1 seeds Lumley and Evelyn David (Tuxedo) reached the final in a walkover, while Reilly teamed with Bernier to defeat Napolitano and Walker convincingly (6/0, 6/1).
The ladies’ doubles final was only slightly less one-sided than the singles. With the more experienced players playing back, Lumley and David yielded only three games, winning in 40 minutes by a score of 6/1, 6/2.
Left to right: Angie Bernier, Sheila Reilly, Penny Lumley, Evelyn David.
Mixed doubles action began on Saturday. #1 seeds Lumley and Kip Curren (Newport) received a bye into the semis, where they defeated Peter diBonaventura and newcomer Bridget Csapo (both Greentree) 6/0, 6.1. In the other half of the draw, Walker and Arthur Drane (Boston) fell to #2 seeds Sabbag and Jeremy Wintersteen (Boston; also the tournament director) by the same score. The final, the last match played on Sunday, was easily the most competitive and entertaining of the tournament. The #1 seeds won the first set 6-4, despite the local team making a strong comeback. Sabbag and Wintersteen battled back from love-40 in two games in set #2, winning it 6-5, forcing a deciding set for the championship. At 4-all in the third, no one could predict the outcome. The points were getting longer and the combatants were digging in; Penny finally began to show a little wear. In the end, a couple of loose points by the Boston team gave the match to the #1 seeds; final score in the 2 hour, 20 minute match, 6/4, 5/6, 6/4.
Left to right: Kip Curren, Penny Lumley, Jeremey Wintersteen, Brenda Sabbag.
Jimmy Burke, Boston head professional, completed his own marathon, marking 18 matches with no assistance over a 3 and a half day period. Thanks are due to Jimmy and the Boston club, and to Jeremy Wintersteen, tournament director, for a wonderfully run event!
Group photo.
Full results:
Singles draw
Quarters
#1 seed Penny Lumley def Angie Bernier 0, 0.
Catherine Walker def. #4 seed Evelyn David, 1,0.
#3 seed Sheila Reilly def. C. Delmonico (walkover).
#4 seed Brenda Sabbag def. Petra Napolitano 0,0.
Semis
#1 Lumley def. Walker, 1.0.
#2 Sabbag def. #3 Reilly, 3/6, 6/3, 6/4.
Final
#1 Lumley def. # 2 Sabbag, 0,0.
Doubles draw
Semis
#1 seeds Penny Lumley/Evelyn David def. Walker/Bridget Csapo, walkover.
#2 seeds Sheila Reilly/Angie Bernier def. Catherine Walker/Petra Napolitano, 0,1.
Final
#1 seeds Lumley/David def. #2 seeds Reilly/Bernier, 1,2.
Mixed draw
Quarters
#1 seeds Penny Lumley/Kip Curren receive a bye.
Bridget Csapo/Peter diBonaventura def. Evelyn David/Aiki Satake, 4,2.
Catherine Walker/Arthur Drane def. Petra Napolitano/David Noyes, 2,1.
#2 seeds Brenda Sabbag/Jeremy Wintersteen def. Angie Bernier/Mike Kretsch, 0,1.
Semis
#1 seeds Lumley/Curren def. Csapo/diBonaventura, 0,1.
#2 seeds Sabbag/Wintersteen def. Walker/Drane, 0,1.
Final
#1 seeds Lumley/Curren def. Sabbag/Wintersteen, 6/4, 5/6, 6/4.
