by Rob Whitehouse
The Racquet Club was proud to host the U.S. 60s & 70s this past weekend. Even though they may have been missing some usual suspects, the draws were extremely competitive throughout the weekend.
The 70s singles draw had a barn burner in the quarters between John Schellenberg & Phil Straus, with the match seeing both players trying to construct nice rallies and exposing the open court when presented. Schellenberg prevailed with a 6-5 win in the third set. The semis saw Greg Van Schaack play too tidy for Steve Sader with a 6-2 6-0 win. The other semi had Duncan Rutherfurd against John Schellenberg. Schellenberg served very well, but Rutherfurd scraped out a win 6-3 6-2. Van Schaack went on to win the 70s singles over Rutherfurd 6-2,6-2 The doubles final saw top seeds Greg Van Schaack and Peter Clement play a very solid match against John Schellenberg and Steve Sader 6-2 6-5.
The 60s singles did have some great match-ups with many close matches in the early rounds. In the quarters Bruce Katz had a tussle with Baird Standish prevailing 6-0, 6-5. The other quarter was also nip-and-tuck, but Dr. Cohen squeaked it out against Lincoln Frank 6-4 in the third set. The bottom semi had a very even match-up, but Anders Cohen dug in deep at the end of the second set to cool off Thad Gray 6-2 6-4. Steve Hufford was very clinical with his play all weekend and won 6-0 6-1 over Bruce Katz in the semifinal. Steve showed no mercy against Anders Cohen even after Cohen tweaked his hamstring in the match’s first game; Hufford won 6-0, 6-1. The doubles was a different story, with Bruce Katz and Thad Gray playing very well to scare top seeds Steve Hufford and Peter Vogt but coming up a bit short, losing 6-5, 6-3. Anders Cohen and Lincoln Frank had an easier time in their semi with a win over Steve Sader and John Schellenberg 6-0, 6-1. The final was a battle and took close to three hours to play! Hufford and Vogt won the first set 6-4, but games were very tight throughout the set. The second set was a see-saw battle with no team leading, then a game throughout, and Cohen and Frank grabbed the second set 6-5. The third set was knotted at 3-games-all, but then Hufford and Vogt hit some targets and grabbed the next three games, and the match was 6-3. It was great watching the experienced players play the game with length shots. Excellent work on the court by all.
Click here for the 60s and 70s Draws
