The Inaugural Spring Invitational and Pro-Am was hosted by the Racquet & Tennis Club May 7-10th. A fifteen-player field made up of eight professionals and seven amateurs competed for the title. On the Amateur side, the pedigree was very strong, with a multitude of both club champions and national titleholders. The Professional field was headed by World #13 John Lumley and featured Professionals from Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and New York.
Seven teams entered the Pro-Am. Nearly all of the matches were closely contested including the Final between Chris Oberbeck/ Tony Hollins and David Ford/ Matt Ronaldson. The nip and tuck match was eventually won by Oberbeck and Hollins (10/7). The Pro-Am was greatly appreciated by all involved and will likely become a fixture to accompany the singles draw.
Three days of excellent Invitational Singles play began on Friday with some exciting match play from the start. Without a doubt the player, who generated the most eye-catching results was Lex Miron. Lex fought back from a one set to love, 5/0 deficit to bring down the rapidly improving, Neil MacKenzie. In the Quarter-Final he managed to overcome a sizably favored Tony Hollins (6/1, 3/6, 6/4). In both matches, Lex managed to serve masterfully and vary the pace of play very effectively.
On the top of the draw, Philadelphia Professional, John Lumley defeated U.S. Amateur finalist Brook Hazelton in his Quarter-Final and went on to meet Adrian Kemp in the Semi-Final. John cruised in the first set but Adrian rallied and took the second set 6/4. John regained his cool and comfortably managed to take the third set and emerge the victor.
In the Final, John continued his strong play against Barney Tanfield. John came out with guns blazing and won the first seven games of the match before being properly challenged. Barney fought to take a 3/2 lead in the second set but was unable to succeed in pushing John to a third set, eventually losing (6/0, 6/3).
Thanks go to the magnificent patronage of the R&TC membership! Special thanks go the Pro-Am participants and lead sponsors, Bardyl Tirana and the USCTA.
