By Nick Howell
Newport hosted the 2020 Burke Cup with matches starting on Friday for the local players. Amy Wintersteen had a solid win over Bill Rives 6-1 6-0. In the second match, there was nearly an upset with Tim O’Shea taking the first set off Dan Robillard Jr. With a 13-point difference in handicap between the two players, however, Dan picked up his game and won the next two sets comfortably.
Saturday was quarterfinal and semifinal day.
The first match of the day was an epic match with James Chamberlain upsetting the number two seed Tyler Thompson from Washington 4-6, 6-5, 6-5. James defended a match point in the second set. The third set went to 5-all with both players having match points, but it was James who held tight and won the set. The next three quarterfinals
were won by the lower handicap player.
Both semifinals were close. First up were the young guns James Chamberlain vs. Trevor Jones. James won 6-3, 6-4 with Trevor saving five match points in the second set. I was worried for James that this might be a Tennys Sandgreen moment where Tennys blew seven match points against Rodger Federer in the recent Australian Open.
In the second semifinal, the experienced Dick Tanfield took on one of Boston’s members Dan Nagler. This one could have gone either way, but it was Dick who stepped up his game on the critical points and won 6-4, 6-5
That evening the players and pros enjoyed dinner at Surf club with a variety of appetizers and bottomless pizza.
On Sunday, we had two finals. The first one was the consolation final with Marc Lewinstein taking on Tyler Thompson. Tyler put in a strong performance to win 8-0. Marc was unlucky not to pick up a couple games, though.
The Burke Cup final between James Chamberlain and Dick Tanfield was a lot closer going three sets and taking 2 hours. Dick ran young James around ragged, but James was up to the challenge, chasing every ball down. Both players traded sets. In the final set, Dick ran out of steam, and James became the 2020 Burke Cup winner 6-3 3-6 6-2. Everyone had a great time, and there were a lot of close matches, with no apparent incorrect handicap players this year like you sometimes can get in this level championships.
Here’s a link to coverage in the local press.
