The US Junior Doubles playing for the Lieb Cup were played in Newport this past weekend. Ranging in age from 8 to 21, ten enthusiastic juniors from Newport, Tuxedo, Aiken, and Seacourt gathered for a weekend of matches, drills, food, and camaraderie. There was even a quiz on court tennis history, etiquette, and current facts that were taught to the kids over the weekend. It was a great success!
While a few of the players got together on Friday night for drills and pizza, the tournament kicked off on Saturday at 8:30 sharp with breakfast, followed by a “fun Games & target competition”. This was a great way to get the kids up and moving around, prior to the start of the matches. The players were than divided into two divisions of 5 players each for a series of round robin matches. All of the players in each division played with a different partner for a ten game pro set. The top four point getters in each division went on to the finals.
The format guaranteed each player four matches plus six mini clinics. Bottom line – everyone got to play a lot of tennis! More important, though, there was visible progress by all participants over the weekend.
The results were as follows.
A Division – US Junior Doubles Title
Christian Thorndike/Caroline Lippincott def. Celeste Atlee/James Chamberlain – 10/8
Jacob Mason/Celeste Atlee def. Caroline Lippincott/James Chamberlain – 10/1
Christian Thorndike/Celeste Atlee def. Jacob Mason/James Chamberlain – 10/4
Christian Thorndike/Jacob Mason def. Celeste Atlee/Caroline Lippincott – 10/4
Christina Thorndike/James Chamberlain def. Caroline Lippincott/Jacob Mason – 10/4
Final: Thorndike/Mason def. Atlee/Chamberlain – 6/1, 6/2
B Division
John Chamberlain/Cameron Buettner def. Gamble Freydberg/Connor Buettner – 10/1
Cameron Buettner/Justin Bartenbach def. Gamble Freydberg/John Chamberlain – 10/6
John Chamberlain/Justin Bartenbach def. Connor Buettner/Cameron Buettner – 10/0
Gamble Freydberg/Cameron Buettner def. Connor Buettner/Justin Bartenbach – 10/3
Gamble Freydberg/Justin Bartenbach def. Connor Buettner/John Chamberlain – 10/1
Final: Justin Bartenbach/Cameron Buettner def. Gamble Freydberg/John Chamberlain – 10/0
In addition, special prizes were awarded.
Most Improved – Connor Buettner
Target Competition – Gamble Freydberg
Quiz Master – Caroline Lippincott
In addition to lots of tennis, the kids were treated to a lunch at Café Zelda, courtesy of Tom Callahan, Dinner and showing of the movie “Origins of Tennis” at the club on Saturday. The food was provided by Beth Winthrop, Mary-Stuart Freydberg, Peter O’Connell and Tom Ewart.
A special thank you to our sponsors, for making the weekend possible: Alex Walsh, Jay Schochet, Joe Tomaino, The Buettner family, Peter Damon, Simon Aldrich, Jim Wharton, Haven Pell, Soren Winger, Mike Hunter, Jane Lippincott, Beth Winthrop, Sheila Reilly, Jeremy Wintersteen, David Ford, Paul Trombly, Charles Neuhauser, Temple Grassi, Arthur Drane and Harry McVickar.
Finally, thank you to our professionals – Rich Smith, Tony Hollins and Jacques Faulise and our co-chairs Jane Lippincott and Beth Winthrop.
PS I have attached the court tennis quiz – if you need help with the answers, e-mail me!
