2018 Level Championships

Feb 5, 2018 | Uncategorized, US Events

Level Championships – Singles

Greevy Cup – Handicaps 20-29 – Washington

  • Erik Barker def. Noah Motz 6-4, 3-6, 6-5
  • Consolation
  • Dan Sternberg def. Vu Hoang 6-1, 6-0

By Chris Aley

Princes Court hosted the 2018 Greevy Cup from January 2nd to January 4th.

Erik Barker & Noah Motz

The level singles tournament for players with a handicap between 20-29 attracted a draw of 11 players, and we were happy to welcome members of the New York Racquet Club, and from the Aiken Tennis Club. We ran the tournament alongside a Plate Draw, ensuring all players had the opportunity of a full weekends tennis!

Our top two seeds were Noah Motz, and Erik Barker, both players with bright futures in the game, with Noah being 19 years old and Erik being just 16 years old.

True to seedings, both players reached the final, and played out what was surely the most exciting match of the tournament, with Erik prevailing 6-5 in the third set! (6-4 3-6-5) – hard luck to Noah, but we’re certain they’ll be playing out another final in the near future!

Dan Sternberg won the plate draw, beating Vu Hoang in the final, both players played some excellent tennis to reach the final.

Many thanks for all who entered the event, and helped make it the fun, highly contested tournament we had hoped for.

Noll Cup – Handicaps 30-39 – Philadelphia

  • Henry Smith def. Patrick Harris 6-2, 6-2
  • Consolation Charlie Michele def. Matt Churchill 8-3

 

By John Lumley

Rob Whitehouse, Patrick Harris, Henry Smith & John Lumley

We had a huge turnout for the 2018 Noll Cup with 23 entrances. Players travelled from New York, Tuxedo, Aiken & Washington to battle it out for the 30-39 Championships here in Philadelphia. Henry Smith & Andrew Dick both had easy paths to the Quarterfinals which is where they met. This proved to be match of the tournament with Henry taking the match 5-6 6-3 6-5 which came down to deuce! Andrew Purcell vs Anders Cohen was also a good quality Quarter-final match with both players showing fantastic control and length to move each other around the court. Purcell would go on to win 6-4 6-4 to meet Smith in the semi-final. Patrick Harris had been the man in form going into this event and showed his skills beating Charlie Michele 6-1 6-3 and then George Handy 6-2 6-1 to secure his place in the semi-final. Bradley Ursprung & Dick Tanfield had an absolute battle in the first round with Ursprung just taking it 6-4 3-6 6-3 where he met Bruce Katz who also gave him a run for his money to win 6-1 4-6 6-3.

With the semi-finalists all set to play the first up were fellow family members Henry Smith vs Andrew Purcell. Both players eager to get a good start saw some great rallies and pressure creating good length chases. Before we knew it they were tied at 5 games all. Smith finding a good railroad, served well and took the set 6-5! With momentum in his favor Smith used it to his advantage and keep up the pace to take the match 6-5 6-0 and secure the first spot in the final. Patrick Harris vs Brad Ursprung was up next and Harris looking like he wanted the win more played some great Tennis. Keeping the ball on the floor and not feeding Ursprungs killer volley enabled him to take the first set 6-3. Harris smelling victory and the taste of silverware kept the pressure on and took the match 6-3 6-3.

With the final all set and ready to go both players were looking and feeling good for the final. Smith came out the blocks strong moving well and cutting down Harris’s time enabling him to take the first set 6-2. Smith then jumped out to an early lead of 4-1 in the second set but Harris fought back controlling the length on his serve and taking advantage. Tied at 4 games all Smith played 2 very strong games to close out the match and take the Noll Cup title 6-2 6-4.

In the back draw Charlie Michele & Matt Churchill made it to the final where the faced off. Michele who had been creating spooky pace all weekend kept up his fierce forcing to put lots of pressed on Churchill. Churchill with moments of brilliance played a steady game but it wasn’t enough as Charlie Michele took the back draw 8-3! A superb weekend and thanks to all for coming and playing.

Burke Cup – Handicaps 40-40 – Aiken

  • J Lewis def E Toscano 6-4 0-6 6-5
  • Consolation
  • John Iole def D Caldwell 6-4 6-5

    Jonathan Lewis & Emile Toscano

Wharton Cup – Handicaps 50-59 – Chicago

  • Drew Oliveira def. Matt Fullerty 1-6, 6-4, 6-5
  • Consolation
  • Ross Read def. Claire Voegele 8-4

 

Hickey Cup – Handicaps 60+ – Newport

  • Jeremy Booth def. Christian McCall 6-5, 2-6, 6-1
  • Consolation
  • Brad Dellenbaugh def. Arthur Horowitz 10-9

By Nick Howell

We originally had 10 players for the Hickey Cup but that was down to 9 with a late pull out due to injury.  We had 2 out of state players, one from DC & one from New York. We would normally expect a few players from Boston & Philly but with New England Patriots & Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl, we understandably had no players from Boston or Philadelphia. I think next year the Hickey Cup should maybe be held a week after the Super Bowl.

We started with a couple matches on the Friday, with 2 of our newest juniors playing their first tournament. Mikey & Joe Nardolillo. Joe won his match against Mary Stevens, but Mikey came up against the very experienced Beth Winthrop who is just too good for him at the moment.

Saturday saw a full day of matches in the main draw and back draw. There were some great matches. Many matches went the full 3 sets. Notable performance goes to one of our Juniors Christian Behan who won a 3 set match against the experienced Arthur Horowitz and came close to making a final after losing to Christian McCall in 3sets. Saturday evening, players and guests went for  dinner at Midtown Oyster bar, One of the best restaurants in Newport. The food was great, and everyone had a good time.

Sunday, we had the finals of the Back Draw and The Hickey Cup.

The back draw final saw Newport member Brad Dellenbaugh take on Arthur Horowitz from DC in a 10-game pro set. This was a great match. Arthur started the better of the two and took an early lead. Brad fought back and went ahead in the match. Arthur started to pick up his game and went back ahead in the match 8-6. Brad hung in with his tenacious retrieving and leveled the match at 9-9. It was Brad who held his nerve in the last game to win the back draw 10-9

The Hickey Cup final saw Jeremy Booth from Newport, playing in his first tournament take on Christian McCall from New York who is also fairly new to Court Tennis.

Both players were evenly match. The first set took 50 mins. No player could get more than a 1 game lead and inevitably the first set ended up at 5-5 and it would be Jeremy that would take the first set 6-5. After a tough first set, Christian started the stronger of the two. His was hitting the ball hard and was getting a lot of winners. Christian won the set 6-2. The final set Christian started the first 4 games well. Every game he went 40-0 or 40-15 up. I was sure Christian was going to be the runaway winner. Jeremy hung tough however and managed to pinch 3 of those 4 games to go 3-1 up. That’s when the wheels came off for Christian. Jeremy maintained his good level of play to win the set 6-1 and the match 6-5 2-6 6-1

 

NOTE – Slight technological issue. The draws will be posted shortly. Apologies.