Jun 1, 2022 | Juniors, Tournament Results, US Events
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 >
May 1, 2022 | Tournament Results, US Events
From an Interested Observer: The Racquet Club of Chicago welcomed over 20 competitors from Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Aiken, Washington, New York, and Manchester. In the Singles draw, after rather convincing straight-sets victories by the top-seeded competitors in the early rounds, the quarterfinals action saw some very spirited and close matches. In the top half of the draw, Ben Stein narrowly edged Todd Meringoff in two sets after a number of very long deuce games, 6-4, 6-5. Jon Crowell also outlasted an inspired and energetic onslaught by Erik Barker in two tight sets and strategically avoided a third, winning, 6-5, 6-5,… Read the Full Story >
May 1, 2022 | US Events
by Mit Carothers, Tennis Chair Aiken Tennis Club The Aiken Tennis Club welcomed back the 2022 Northrup Knox after a two-year hiatus. The eight teams were drawn into two groups with each having two former champions as well as former finalists, all of whom had new partners. Fifteen matches later, nine of which went three sets, four wonderful social events, and a mathematical determination of one semifinalist, there was one team left standing. It could be argued that if you were to visit the Aiken Tennis Club just once do it during the Knox Tournament on the Thursday Oyster Night.… Read the Full Story >
Apr 27, 2022 | US Events
by Rob Whitehouse Philadelphia hosted the 2021-22 Women’s Invitational Level Championships on April 22nd – 24th. We had twelve ladies enter this year’s event, and most were brand new players to the game. Friday night saw four Level matches played, and all were highly contested, with two of the matches going to 9 all. Kelly Patrick, who is brand new and playing in her first event, had a bunch of game balls but could not convert against the steady Kitty Cook. Brittany Wakim and Shirley Freitag had a barn burner with Freitag nipping her 10-9. Kaytlynn Gorson went up against… Read the Full Story >
Apr 8, 2022 | Uncategorized, US Events
by Rob Whitehouse The Racquet Club was proud to host the U.S. 60s & 70s this past weekend. Even though they may have been missing some usual suspects, the draws were extremely competitive throughout the weekend. The 70s singles draw had a barn burner in the quarters between John Schellenberg & Phil Straus, with the match seeing both players trying to construct nice rallies and exposing the open court when presented. Schellenberg prevailed with a 6-5 win in the third set. The semis saw Greg Van Schaack play too tidy for Steve Sader with a 6-2 6-0 win. The other semi… Read the Full Story >
Mar 31, 2022 | National League, US Events
Report by an interested observer The Racquet Club of Chicago was thrilled to see Professional Court Tennis return with the season’s first National League Challenger Series match. This season, the 2022 National League will take on a slightly distinct look, with competitive matches organized at different venues between various professionals. It had been two years since the members were treated to a match of this caliber – that event being the 2020 US Open, so it was a keenly anticipated battle. The doubles match proved to be a 5 set classic that pitted Steve Virgona and Adrian Kemp against Conor… Read the Full Story >
Mar 30, 2022 | US Events
by Camden Riviere The weekend of March 25th, the T&R was excited to host the Burke Cup 40-49 Singles Championship. The makeup date, which was announced only three weeks prior, forced the draw to be slightly smaller, but that didn’t affect the quality of play! Dick Tanfield represented the rest of the US as the only traveling player in the event. The #1 seed entering the weekend, Tanfield lost in an incredibly tight three-set quarterfinal to Conor Richmond of Boston. With the #1 seed out, the remaining players were all from Boston, ensuring a hometown champion. Both semifinals went to a deciding… Read the Full Story >
Mar 14, 2022 | Tournament Results, US Events
by James Asher March 11th-13th, the Racquet Club hosted the Annual Percy Cup. The Percy Cup is a team event featuring three levels (25-40, 40-55, and 55+). We had 2 New York teams, 2 Aiken teams, 2 Washington teams, 2 Philadelphia teams, Tuxedo and Newport. Due to the size of the draw, we started at 8 am on Friday, with Aiken 2 and Newport doing battle. Newport got off to a strong start, winning their 3rd and 2nd strings, 8-4 and 8-3 respectively. The #1 strings did battle in the dead rubber match with Robert Glance and Mike Sullivan getting… Read the Full Story >
Mar 1, 2022 | Tournament Results, US Events
by James Asher On February 4th-6th, the Racquet Club hosted the Greevy Cup, a 20-29 Level tournament for USCTA members. We had a fantastic turnout for the event, with eighteen entrants descending on Philadelphia. The first-round matches had great battles with Washington’s Steve Hufford against Kenny Soffer and Philadelphia’s Norris Jordan against Ross Bolling. Hufford played a fantastic first set over Soffer to take the initiative and grab the set 6-4. Soffer responded decisively to take the second set 6-1, forcing a final set. Soffer continued his momentum to take the third set 6-4. In the other first-round close match, … Read the Full Story >
Feb 27, 2022 | Tournament Results, US Events
By Ivan Ronaldson The U.S. 50s took place at Prince’s Court for the last time, February 25th-27th. The 14 entries mainly were from DC and Philly with a tiny Newport contingent. In the singles, both Jeremy Wintersteen (1) and John Motz (2) cruised to the finals without dropping a set. Unfortunately, Jeremy pulled his hamstring in the semifinal, so the Motz/Wintersteen showdown was not as close as the crowd hoped for. John’s brutal cut volley and pinpoint serving helped destroy the gimpy New Englander 6-2 6-0. Having to cover less of the court, Jeremy was far more effective in the… Read the Full Story >
