By Matthew Ronaldson
Eight players from four different clubs descended on the Georgian Court in Lakewood, NJ, for the 70+ Faulise Cup on a wickedly chilly weekend.
Day 1 saw players compete through to the semi-final stage and the final of the back draw. The joy at this level is that you actually see players improving as the matches and tournament progress, and I have never had the opportunity to mark such a pleasant group of players as I did this weekend. The politeness and camaraderie were off the charts!
Day 2 was somehow even colder than day 1, with players and spectators alike finding inventive ways to stay warm. The first semi-final between Emily Seeburger and Jules Zacher, an all-Philly affair, saw the younger Emily confidently reel off the first set 6-2 before the more experienced campaigner, Jules, rattled off 10 of the next 12 games to draw the match to one set all and 4-0 in the third. With the match seemingly slipping away, Emily finally found a serve that worked for her to take the match 6-5 in the third in 2 hours and 15 minutes! In the second semi-final, Kathy Minevitz completed a 6-2, 6-5 victory over Carlie Rice in what was probably the highest quality match of clean hitting from both players in the entire tournament, a really entertaining game.
The back draw final was an all-Tuxedo showdown between the sharp-witted Jeff Greenbaum and the ever-smiling Lauren Rowles. A back-and-forth race to 8 saw Lauren take a mid-match lead before Jeff dominated the service end to win the match 8/6. Lauren probably improved 5 handicap points as the tournament progressed and might well challenge for the crown next year!
The final was another youth-versus-experience encounter between Emily and Kathy. Emily’s Lawn tennis background saw her reel off multiple dedans and long chases to seal the first set 6-2. Kathy kept her head down and kept battling hard until she found the missing puzzle piece on serve. She got into the rhythm on her sidewall, finding the nick on multiple occasions over the next two sets, to emerge a 2/6 6/4 6/4 winner, even sealing the match with another sidewall ace! Huge congratulations to Kathy, who described herself as the bridesmaid of court tennis tournaments, often in the final but never winning.
