by Nick Howell
After several postponements, The Greevy Cup occurred over Memorial weekend at Aiken Tennis Club.
Six players entered, all from Aiken. The top 2 seeds, Rakesh Jasani and Geoff Ellis received byes to the semifinals.
The tournament kicked off on a hot afternoon in the south with John Shafer versus Jason Rabun. John was the underdog but played very well, with crisp volleying and a hunger to chase down every ball, which helped him win the first set 6-4. Jason upped his game in the second set and played a lot of consistent tennis to win the second set. The 3rd set was a battle, but Jason always had one more shot to go 4-1 up in the third set. John, during a rally, rolled his ankle and had to retire. Fortunately, nothing too serious. It was a great match that took 1hr 40 mins.
The following match was another long battle between the talented Jason McAlhaney and Vaughan Massie, with Vaughan winning in 3 sets.
The two semis were Geoff Ellis versus Vaughan Massie and Jason Rabun versus Rakesh Jasani.
Number one seed Rakesh moved into the final with a comfortable straight sets win, while no two seed Geoff, who has been in great form, had to overcome a 2-hour battle against Vaughan Massie to book his place in the final.
The Final was a one-sided affair. Geoff pushed Rakesh early on, and there were some outstanding rallies, but you could see that Geoff was still feeling the effects of the match before, and Rakesh won 6/2 6/0 to be the 2024 Greevy Cup Champion. This may be the last time Rakesh is eligible for the Greevy as he will soon have a handicap in the teens.
