By Tony Hollins
The Hickey Cup is the national singles championship for players with a handicap above 60. Beginning January 24th, the National Tennis Club hosted twelve players from clubs around the country. It was fantastic to see some new faces, with several players in the draw playing the Newport court for the first time.
There were some incredibly dramatic matches. The tone was set early, with the very first set of the tournament moving all the way to five games between John Levis (Boston) and Benson Nalle (New York). This was immediately followed up by another barn burner as new Newport member Mark Thompson narrowly squeezed past former Lieb Fund Newport junior member and current T&R member Caroline Lippincott 6-4, 4-6, 6-5.
This trend continued through the event. The eventual tournament winner was 5-2 down in two separate matches, one of which he was facing 40-0 and a chase better than 1 yard. This didn’t phase Chris, who smashed his return into the top corner of the dedans at Mach 10 and carried the momentum to take the set 6-5.
Congratulations to Chris Yalanis, the main draw champion, who defeated Albert Nichols 6-5, 6-3, and to Kevin Button, the back draw champion, who defeated Kathy Pugh 6-5, 6-4.
Thank you to the National Tennis Club members who supported the players throughout the weekend. At least ten members watched the entire weekend, and on Sunday, a group cooked up a wonderful breakfast for all the players and spectators. Thank you to Chris Yalanis, who hosted the tournament players and members at his house on Saturday evening for a lovely evening.
