2022 Below Zero Tournament

2022 Below Zero Tournament

Freddie Bristowe wins 2022 Below Zero – defeating Tony Hollins 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 The Racquet and Tennis Club hosted the 2022 Below Zero from October 3rd through the 6th. A total of sixteen of the country’s professional and top-amateur players competed for the prize of Below Zero champion. Unfortunately, top-seed and past winner, Barney Tanfield, was forced to withdraw shortly before the event leading to a shake-up in the draw. Josh Dodgson, Tony Hollins and Adrian Kemp were the top seeded professionals, with Jon Crowell and Freddie Bristowe leading the amateur ranks. The event began on Monday the 3rd with… Read the Full Story >

Riviere Wins World Championship

Riviere Wins World Championship

by James Zug Third Day 6-3, 3-6, 5-6, 6-2 FINAL Riviere 5-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, 5-6, 6-3, 3-6, 5-6, 6-2 It was an even colder, damper Thursday afternoon at Prested for Day Three, upper fifties and raining. Everyone, though, was happy to gather again, needing to return to the scene after having barely recovered from Day Two. Ringing in everyone’s ears—still echoing out through the car park and down Prested’s long drive and into Feering—was the roar after the climatic final point of Day Two. It was a twenty-six stroke masterpiece at 5-all, 40-30, set-point for Rob… Read the Full Story >

World Championship – Day Two

World Championship – Day Two

by James Zug Day Two 2-6, 2-6, 3-6, 6-5 Day Two was quite different than Day One at Prested Hall. There were new faces onsite. Owner Mike Carter, who dreamed up Prested twenty-eight years ago, returned from Spain. Former world champion Penny Lumley appeared. A second American-based professional, Conor Medlow (Chicago), joined Penny’s son John (Philadelphia) in the galleries. The weather was suddenly autumnal, chilly and damp, with rain threatening and then finally in the third set some spitting turned into a steady, light patter. And everyone was attuned to historical resonances after the fourth annual International Conference on the… Read the Full Story >

Pell Cup 2022 Recap

Pell Cup 2022 Recap

by Jacob Faulise The Pell Cup is an annual court tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Club located on the grounds of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Pell Cup is named in honor of C.C. Pell Jr.’s contributions to the game of court tennis, which included leading a group of devoted players to help fund the restoration of the National Tennis Court, the only public court tennis facility in the United States. This year the NTC hosted 31 teams hailing from 8 different clubs around the US competing in 6 different divisions. The 5-day event kicked off… Read the Full Story >

US World Masters Teams Place Third

US World Masters Teams Place Third

by Steve Hufford The pandemic-delayed World Masters amateur court tennis championships were held in France in May and the US fielded teams for all age brackets contested (Over 50s, Over 60s, Over 70s).  In addition, Jules Zacher represented the US in the Over 80s individual singles. Training injuries, COVID cases, family commitments, schedule changes, and other unforeseen events challenged our intrepid captains as they rallied the US seniors to create solid rosters for the international team competitions.  Captains Guy Devereux, Simon Aldrich, and Greg Van Schaack were unrelenting in their creative and thoughtful efforts to provide a good showing by the US… Read the Full Story >

U.S. Mixed Doubles & Anne Boleyn

U.S. Mixed Doubles & Anne Boleyn

The 2022 US Mixed Doubles and Anne Boleyn tournaments were held jointly on June 17-19th at the Tuxedo Club.  The mixed doubles had a draw of 11 teams and Anne Boleyn saw 6 participants.  The tournaments included players from across the country representing Tuxedo, Aiken, New York, Boston, Newport, Philadelphia and DC.  Two international players joined from Seacourt and Prested. Play started Friday at 1pm with mixed doubles and Anne Boleyn singles (handicap/round robin) matches each day.  Pat and Alex Winthrop (Newport) were the top of the draw with Xanthe Ranger (Tux) and Will Hopton (DC) on the other side.  The rest of the field saw… Read the Full Story >

Junior Handicap in Philadelphia

Junior Handicap in Philadelphia

by Rob Whitehouse The Junior Singles handicap took place on May 14th & 15th, and it was a terrific event! We had ten players who were all very new to Court Tennis play. The weekend was a learning experience with a few clinics sprinkled in and a round-robin format to get everyone on the court as much as possible in two days. We had four players from DC make the trip north! Emma Kry, Jake Kim, Elliott Philpott & Veer Bahethi, six Philadelphians with Hope Whitehouse, Abby Bagby, Mike Bagby, Leo Figge, Jack Dongilli, and Levy Dongilli, giving  Court Tennis… Read the Full Story >

Brickley’s Win 2022 Parent/Child

Brickley’s Win 2022 Parent/Child

by Ivan Ronaldson The USCTA parent/child doubles went ahead at the beautiful Lakewood court in New Jersey on May 21st despite a couple of teams dropping out at the last minute due to illness. This year’s format was a level round-robin and a handicap round-robin. Dick and Parker Brickley won the level tournament division, beating Stijn and Paul Van Nieuweburgh 6/0 6/5 and Peter and James Cannon 6/0 6/1. The handicap final was tight until four games before the cannons ran away with it 8/4 against the Van Nieuweburghs.

Boston Hosts 2022 U.S. Ladies Open

Boston Hosts 2022 U.S. Ladies Open

by Neil Smith The 2022 Women’s U.S. Open got off to an excellent start on Friday and barely took a breath until the last ball was struck Sunday afternoon. Fifteen players competed in the singles and eight pairs in the Doubles. All but one U.S. Club was represented – and one special player traveling from overseas, with many of the players competing in their first U.S. Open (two of them being only fourteen years old). The early rounds of the singles went to form, which set up the semi-finals between the current World Champion Claire Fahey and Helen Grassi Vest.… Read the Full Story >

2022 US 26s

2022 US 26s

by Peter Dickinson May 29th – 30th, the Racquet Club was proud to host the National Under 26, Singles and Doubles, Championships. With the Van Alen and Clothier Cups approaching fast, players from Philadelphia and Washington came eager to spar in tight head-to-head battles. Henry Smith and James Greenley led the weekend off, with Smith taking a commanding 6-1 6-2 win to push on to the semifinal. Newcomer Eli Segal made his first tournament appearance against Pete Dickinson in the next match that ended with Dickinson moving on to play Noah Motz in the semifinal. Motz had no issues adjusting… Read the Full Story >