Mideast Regional at Chapel Hill

I was recently in Raleigh for the Thursday night football game between North Carolina State and Florida State. Before I made the trip I learned that UNC Chapel Hill would be hosting the ITA Mideast college regionals. I knew this was something I wanted to check out.

On my way to the football game I stopped at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center to catch an hour or so of action. The qualifying round was taking place and the first match I saw when I walked in the facility was David Hopkins of Wake Forest. He was getting ready to take his match to a third set when I ran into some of the Georgia Tech players looking on at a few matches. I spent a few minutes with them getting their perspective on the upcoming season. They are a great group of guys and they always make a point of saying hello to me at the matches.

Shortly after that, I ran into head coach Kenny Thorne and we visited for quite awhile. He is so enthusiastic and is really looking forward to the upcoming season. Tech has a new assistant coach, Aljosa Piric, and his arrival at the Flats is a great story. Kenny has known Aljosa for a long time and is really excited to have him on his staff.

Before returning to Charlotte on Friday, I had made the decision to take a day off from work and catch a full day of matches. I watched Ryan Smith of GT fight back after dropping the first set and take out his opponent from Radford. Once he won the second set, he was in complete control and played smart by moving his opponent around and forcing him to make shots he wasn't converting.

Later I saw Doug Kenny from GT play a tough match against the College of Charleston. Kenny went down in straight sets and was never really able to wrestle control from his opponent. I talked with Doug's father before the match and he was feeling good because he and his wife went to the N.C. State game the night before to root the Seminoles on to victory. He went to FSU.

The last GT match I saw was Ryan Smith and Miguel Muguruza in doubles taking on a team from Radford. Kenny Thorne sat with me for a few games of the first set and provided some good strategic insight. The Jackets were playing tough, but not converting on the key points and they ended up going down in straight sets in an entertaining match.

The day was filled with great action on every court. I loved the Davidson - Clemson doubles match where Davidson went up 4-1 and was set for an upset but Clemson clawed their way back and when the match was 8-8, the Tigers went on to win the tie-break. All day long you could see high quality matches from players at schools like UNC, Wake Forest, Florida State, Clemson, William and Mary, and East Tennessee State. Colette Lewis at Zoo Tennis recently wrote in her blog that the quality of tennis you will see from the major NCAA conferences is equivalent to seeing USTA challenger circuit matches. I could not agree more with her observation. One of these days, more tennis fans from all over will realize this and start making a point to catch these matches. Events like the ITA championships are like all-star events where you can see multiple players from multiple teams come together for some great entertainment. And if you really watch them play, you can learn something too.

Time.

Saturday at the Davidson Invitational

Davidson College hosted a four team fall invitational this past Friday and Saturday. The visiting schools included Furman, Appalachian State and UNC Charlotte. The weather on Saturday morning was very pleasant with bright sunlight and cool temperatures. Instead of random singles and doubles matchups, the schools played one another in a team format. In the morning singles, Furman took on Appalachian State while Davidson played UNC Charlotte.

The Furman / Appalachian State match was a good one. Two matches stood out to me as I roamed from court to court. Philipp Fuelkell from Furman played a tough match against Lee Floyd. These two went at it for some time with good rallies and plenty of service holds. Fuelkell used the drop shot quite often to his advantage. In the end he edged out Floyd 7-6, 7-5. Over the two days at the tournament Fuelkell won two singles and one doubles match. I was impressed with his groundstrokes and his consistency.

Another good match involved Peter Jacobs from Appalachian State and Ethan Asher. Both of these guys displayed consistent groundstrokes but Jacobs was able to run more balls down and came away with a 6-3, 6-3 decision. Asher showed a lot of emotion at times but he maintained his control. That win was one of four that Jacob recorded on Sunday.

Later in the morning the teams rotated for doubles, as Davidson took on Appalachian State while Furman played UNC Charlotte. In what turned out to be a heated match, Phillip Kloc and Lee Floyd of Appalachian State won 8-5 over their Davidson opponents. When Floyd called a ball long that the Davidson duo thought was clearly in, the two sides traded comments and later played some very aggressive and entertaining points at the net. Calls do not always go the way you want and you have to have the ability to let them go and not affect your game. I don't think it affected Davidson that much, but it did lead to some memorable points and interactions between the two teams.

My friend Alex stopped by just in time to catch the Kloc / Floyd doubles match and then he headed off to Chapel Hill for even more entertainment as UNC was hosting Notre Dame in football.

Time.

Visiting the Champions Series in Charlotte

While the ATP and WTA seasons are winding down right now, former champions that make up the Champions Tour are still entertaining tennis fans all over the country. I got a taste of this recently. I joined two of my good friends in late September for the night session of day two of the Outback Champions Series at the Palisades just outside of Charlotte. Jim Courier has been complimentary of Charlotte as a host location and I believe there were good crowds at the event, except for the night we attended. The threat of rain and heavy winds kept a lot of fans away, but the 500 or so people that were there were entertained by some big names.

The Palisades is a nice place to host the event. The stadium court could probably hold 3,000 or so people and the set up was just like any other ATP event with vendor tents and hospitality areas. The round robin tournament brings together eight champions in two groups. The Charlotte stop included Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, Todd Martin, Wayne Ferreria and Thomas Enqvist, among others. The first match of the night on day two was Courier and Jimmy Arias. Arias really struggled with the wind and the misting rain at times and never really found his game. Courier was very consistent and glided through the match 6-2, 6-1.

In the second match, Ferreria played Enqvist in what turned out to be a very entertaining match. Enqvist jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first set and it looked like Ferreria would not be able to get his game going. He did start to find his consistency and turned it around. Ferreria rallied to win the next four games and take the first set. The two continued to play many good rallies but Ferreria was more consistent and took the second set 6-3.

The players come to play and entertain. Enqvist and Karel Novacek were late adds to the lineup when Mark Philippoussis and Mikael Pernfors pulled out of the tournament due to injuries. Each champion brings a really good spirit to the event and all are pretty accessible. Although he wasn't playing, Ivanisevic watched both matches and a number of fans got photos and talked with him during the evening. Arias was in good spirits after his loss and took a moment to pose in a photo with me and Alex while cracking a joke or two.

It's a great event that promotes all the good things about tennis. And it's clear from the level of play that these guys can still compete. If you get a chance to see the series in one of the many cities they play in the U.S. or outside the U.S., check it out.

Time.

Mile High Memories

In the middle of September I made a return trip to the Mile High City for a week-long series of business meetings. At last year's US Open, I had met a group of people from the Denver area who showed me great hospitality the week after our encounter in Flushing Meadow. This year, I contacted my friends about a week before my trip to see if we could set up some time to hit the courts. I got that and a whole lot more.

On Sunday before our meetings began, I went to Boulder with my co-workers for brunch and a quick trip into the mountains. While on the ride I got a call from Steve who said he or one of the other guys would meet me and we'd make plans as we go. So Brock, Steve, Matt and his daughter Haley joined me in a brew pub to catch up and hang out. Later Steve and Matt took me for an hour hike around the mountains in Boulder. We then went to John's house to watch the semi-finals of the Open. Steve brought me back to my hotel in downtown Denver, 30 minutes away, at the end of the night.

Monday night Brock and Steve met me at the hotel and we went over to the Gates Tennis Center to hit some balls around. This is a top notch public facility. Make sure you call ahead to reserve a court and be advised there is a court fee. It is well worth it. We had a great hourlong workout and then made our way to a local grill to get a bite to eat.

Tuesday night Matt picked me up at the hotel and we zipped over to Washington Park to hit for an hour. I must have seen 1,000 people walking by the courts. It is a very popular spot for riders and walkers. Steve then called and we met him at an Irish pub downtown where we sat outside for dinner while an in-training waitress did a great job serving us.

Earlier in the week, John called to let me know a friend of his was playing at a prestigious Denver jazz club, Dazzle, on Wednesday. I love jazz and when he followed up Wednesday afternoon I told him I would meet him there. If you get a chance, make a point to see a show at Dazzle. It has a lot of character and a number of well-known jazz greats have played there. John's friend is Bonnie Lowdermilk and she put on a great performance. She is a vocalist / pianist in the traditional jazz style and she included two original compositions in the show. "Bankin' on the Moon," inspired by George Clooney, is a great song and you can hear it on her web site, www.bonnielowdermilk.com. After the show I got on her e-mail list and we've even traded a few stories since then.

The weather did not cooperate on Thursday and so tennis plans were scratched, but Matt did come down with his daughter and we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

This is a special group of people and I can't wait to get back out for another visit. Wow! Meet some people at the US Open and you have got friends for life. I am looking forward to the time when some of them make their way to Charlotte. After sharing photos and stories with them about this year's Open, I have a good feeling they will be in NYC next August.

Time.

Friendly Encounters at the US Open

Another US Open came and went this past year, and this one was especially memorable. Just before the Open I took the big step and got engaged to my girlfriend Lisa. We then traveled to upstate New York to spend the weekend with my family and celebrate the engagement. On Sunday we took a train to NYC and we stayed on Lexington Avenue in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. We had a great view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.

On Monday we got to the grounds at 9:30 am and were in shortly after 10 am. We ran into some tennis friends from Atlanta on the way in and headed over to see some players warming up before the matches started. After watching Davenport for a short time, Lisa, Pat and Marybeth stayed around Court 4 while I took a stroll. I had Lisa join me shortly thereafter as I was watching Tommy Haas and Igor Andreev warming up. At the end of their session, Lisa got photos with both guys.

During a break early in the afternoon we ran into a number of friends of mine who had told me they were planning to come. Mark had flown in from Atlanta and would be there for the first two days and Eileen and her sister took the train down from upstate New York. I also spotted Ashley Weinhold, a junior standout I have known for a number of years and is still part of the USTA development program. She came over to meet Lisa and catch us up on her life on the tour.

Later in the afternoon, after all that visiting, we headed over to join Pat and Marybeth on the Grandstand court to see John Isner, former member of the national champion Georgia Bulldogs. Unfortunately he went down in straight sets to Andres Beck. Isner made a big splash at last year's Open, but it did not work out the same for him this year.

On day two, I met up again with Mark and my good friend Eric, who had flown in that morning from Washington, DC. We spent a lot of the day together drifting on the backcourts and hitting the stadium courts as well. We also met up with Pat and Marybeth for a few matches, including the Richard Gasquet - Haas duel. We made sure to see the two Atlanta boys on the schedule. Scoville Jenkins played in the early afternoon and went down to Jarkko Nieminen while Bobby Reynolds played late in the day against Tomas Zib. Reynolds played tough and advanced.

I have been going to the Open for years, but I saw more people I know at this Open than any previous one. It's such a great event and it brings the casual fan as well as the tennis die-hard fan. Attending the Open is always special, but when you can share it with friends it takes a great feeling and makes it even better.

Time.

Traveling To Winston-Salem

Over the past summer I have had a number of memorable tennis encounters. I'll start with a traveling league match I participated in this past August. When I returned to Charlotte, I rejoined the Sugaw Creek Park team I had played with when I lived in Charlotte in 2002. This group plays a number of matches over the summer across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The match I attended was in Winston-Salem, NC which is 90 minutes from Charlotte.

It was a great day for tennis and I was able to participate in singles, doubles and a mixed doubles match. The Winston-Salem team is a great group of people and they were great hosts. They brought out the grills and had a great BBQ with burgers, dogs and a bunch of sides. Our team had a tough day and lost the overall match, but there were a few highlights.

I lost in straight sets in singles, but with my partner Larry we were able to win our doubles match in straight sets. Our women won two out of three singles matches, but that was really it for us. My big highlight came in mixed doubles.

Our captain asked me to fill in at number one doubles and so we were paired up against a team that included an incoming freshman at Wake Forest, David Hopkins. David is from Winston-Salem and grew up playing with this club. Earlier this year he accepted an offer to attend Wake and play on their squad. I talked with him briefly before we played and told him that I was familiar with the college tennis scene after watching Georgia Tech over the last six years. He said he expects to be in the lineup when the dual match season starts in late January.

David and his partner took us out in the first set 6-2. In the second set we took a 4-2 lead and then we saw a very different team play the rest of the way. David really stepped up his game and led them over the next four games to close us out. I was very impressed with his game. He has great control of his forehand and backhand and was effective at the net. He has a ton of power in his strokes and it takes some time to get used to the pace. It is a great experience to play against a Division I ACC college player when they are giving you a taste of their best game. I loved every minute of it.

When the college season kicks in I am sure I will see him play. I am hoping to get to the GT - Wake match and I may even try and get to one other Wake match if I can. I hope David does well in his role at Wake. The Winston team is very proud of him. I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in one of the best tennis conferences in the country at a program that has been a Sweet Sixteen team for the last few years.

Time.

Georgia Tech Ends Regular Season at Duke

I traveled to Duke University on Sunday, April 13 to see the Yellow Jackets close out their regular season against the Blue Devils. It was a sunny, windy day in Durham at Ambler Tennis Stadium. When the match started it was warm, but as the day went on it got cooler and cooler. Duke was coming into the match 8-12 and 5-5 in the ACC so I thought the Jackets had a great chance of winning this match. It turned out to be a really close one.

The match started with the doubles coming down to the number one position. GT won at number three, 8-6 and lost at number two, 4-8. On one, senior Scott Blackmon and freshman Ryan Smith were neck and neck with the Blue Devils' No. 50 David Goulet and Christopher Price. The match went to 8-8 and a tiebreak. It was a really intense match, for the players and the fans. The Jackets went up an early mini-break, but the Blue Devils got it back and even held on after facing match point and went on to win the match. As is usually the case with doubles, that would turn out to be a big point.

In singles the Jackets took an early blow when senior David North had to retire in the first set on number two, sending the Jackets down 2-0. That was unfortunate as North had been struggling all season through pain and was forced to retire in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest a few weeks ago. I was not sure what caused him to retire in this match, but it put the Jackets in a big hole they could not overcome. Duke then went up 3-0 when they won at six.

At number one, GT freshman Guillermo Gomez played a strong match against David Goulet and won it 6-2, 6-2. The crowd was very lively on court one and Gomez really had to stay focused to get the win. Then Scott Blackmon won in straight sets on number five over Alex Stone 6-3, 7-5 to make it 3-2 Duke. On number three, Eliot Potvin struggled in the first set losing 6-3. He really picked up his game in the second set and took Kiril Dimitrov to a tiebreak. Potvin went up an early mini-break but Dimitrov got it back and then distanced himself the rest of the way and won it in straight sets. It was a good effort by Potvin to get back in it. For a few moments I thought he was going to get it to a third set.

What a great way to end the regular season. This was my first visit to Duke and Ambler Tennis Stadium is in an area right near the football stadium as well as Cameron Indoor Stadium. The buildings on campus are very distinct with their stone exteriors. It's a great campus to visit. The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season 13-11 but a disappointing 3-8 in the ACC. They certainly have some good talent to work with and some good recruits coming in next season, so I hope they'll be able to learn from this year and come back strong in 2009.

Later in that week the Jackets lost in the ACC tournament in Florida to North Carolina State, 4-3, so they have been eliminated from NCAA post-season play. The same week, the Lady Jackets lost in the ACC tournament and are now waiting to see if they will host an NCAA regional.

Time.

Davidson Teams Wrap Up Home Schedule

I was able to take in the last men's and women's home matches of the 2008 season last weekend at Davidson College.

On Friday, the women hosted Wofford and had a rather easy time with them winning the match 6-1. I was able to catch the doubles play and watched as the ones and threes each won by a score of 8-4. The twos had a much tougher time, losing 8-1. The Wildcats took the doubles point although they wouldn't need it as they went 5-1 the rest of the way. The result would be a lot different on Saturday.

The women and the men hosted Furman on Saturday. The women started the day and they were never really able to get on track, losing the match 7-0. The Lady Wildcats did end the season 17-5 and 7-2 in the Southern Conference. I only caught the last few matches they played this season, but they are a very competitive team and are fun to watch. There are some tough teams in the SoCon, so 7-2 is a nice conference result.

The men gave the Paladins a little tougher match, but they also lost by a score of 5-2. I was treated to an interesting match at number four singles. Walker Lyons of Davidson was matched up against Chris Motes. During the doubles match I noticed that a Furman player was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs hat. When I brought it up to the people around me I learned the player was Chris Motes, a transfer from Georgia, last year's national champions. I watched a number of Georgia matches last year, including the national championship win over Illinois, and I never remember seeing Motes play. Obviously the transfer made a lot of sense as he was going to have a tough time playing on that team last year and this year too, as they are still loaded and number three in the country.

As the first set was moving along between Motes and Lyons, Motes started losing his cool in the tight match. Motes was up a break and then started getting frustrated when Lyons stepped up his game. Motes became very animated as he lost his cool and began to shout and make hand gestures. At one point he waved his racket around like it was a fly swatter, obviously disappointed in his performance. When I talked some members of the Furman team during this episode they told me this was a standard routine with Motes. One of the guys even said, " it's Motes, we just learn to deal with it." Nice. Lyons went on to take the first set in a tiebreaker and then breezed through set two, winning the match 7-6, 6-1. Motes was a bit of a distraction, but not a big one. The rest of the Furman players stayed focused, taking four of the six singles. The only other Davidson win was at number six where Scott Myers beat Sawyer Duncan 6-4, 6-0.

The Wildcats finished the season 14-7 and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. Just like the women, they are an entertaining team to watch. They open play tomorrow in the Southern Conference tournament in Charleston, SC.

Time.

A Doubleheader at Davidson . . . Yes, That Davidson

The Davidson women's and men's teams were in action yesterday on a rainy day in Charlotte. The women were hosting the Boston University Terriers, a team they had not defeated in three previous tries. Later in the day, the men were matched up against South Carolina State University.

The Davidson indoor facility is very nice, with four courts and a small set of bleachers on both ends of the facility, so you are up close on courts one and four. The main lobby also serves as a great viewing area above the courts with big windows that the happy Wildcat fans pound on when they like what they see. For the women's match, I sat next to the families of Kelsey Linville, Davidson's number one and Virginia Berry, the Wildcat's number two. They also played number one doubles together. The Berry's were visiting from Spartanburg, SC and they enjoy the college tennis game very much. Mr. Berry shared some good stories about college tennis legend Dan Magill, former head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs and the main force behind what is now the NCAA tennis tournament. I've met the coach a number of times and Mr. Berry's stories were interesting and provided another perspective on what I know about the coach.

The match was a good one. BU started off by winning the doubles point with wins at number two and number three. In singles, BU's Francine Whu played a great match at number one versus Linville. Her serve really set her up well and kept Linville off balance. She also showed great control with her consistently deep groundstrokes and ended up taking the match, 6-4, 6-2. Linville's father also knew Whu was tough to beat on this day. I saw Whu play last season against the College of Charleston and at that time she was playing at the number three spot, so she has really stepped up her game in the last year. At number two, Berry played a solid match in beating Vanessa Steiner 6-4, 6-4.

The match came down to the six position. Meredith Skeeters of Davidson, a senior from Greensboro, NC who also has the second-most wins on the team, defeated Danielle Abraham 6-4, 6-1. It raised her singles record to 13-2 and really showed she could deliver when her team needed her. Skeeters and Abraham played many long rallies and you could see that Abraham started to rush her shots more as the match went on, while Skeeters stayed with her game. At one point, as the crowd was cheering a nice point won by Skeeters, Abraham looked at the crowd sternly, looking for everyone to be quiet while she prepared to serve. I thought it was a little much, especially after having attended so many NCAA tournament matches where crowd enthusiasm is such a great part of the sport, and sometimes it is a little noisy when you have to serve. Deal with it.

So the women get their first win over Boston U. and run their record to 15-4 and are 9-0 at home. I expect they will be very competitive in the Southern Conference tournament in a few weeks in Charleston, SC.

The Davidson men started off strong against South Carolina State. In doubles the teams looked fairly well matched and Davidson ended up sweeping SCS, 3-0 to win the doubles point. On court one, Ethan Jaffee and Flaviu Simihaian of Davidson were able to take advantage of a break opportunity to win it over Radek Pivonka and Gabriel Meana 8-6. It was a good match. Once the doubles ended, I headed out for the day, but I learned later that the Wildcats won five out of six singles matches and won it 6-1. Davidson moved to 13-5 on the season, while SC State fell to 11-3.

Davidson has been a big story lately in Charlotte and all over the country. Last week, the Davidson men's basketball team was making its great run in the NCAA tournament. While they ended up losing to Kansas by two in the Elite Eight, they really turned out to be one of the best, if not the best story in this year's tournament. Yesterday there was plenty of talk in the stands about the success of the team and what the visibility meant for the school. As I walked on campus, many students were wearing their Davidson merchandise and you could tell they were really proud of their school. A number of the players on the women's team were talking about Stephen Curry's interview on NBC the night before with Conan O'Brien. The bookstore has all kinds of NCAA basketball shirts featuring the Wildcats accomplishments in each round. It was great stuff! What a great treat the basketball team gave the school. It was great to be on campus so soon after the the team brought so much national exposure to the school that is recognized as one of the top schools academically in the country.

Time.

Georgia Tech Visits Wake Forest

When I left the house on Sunday morning March 30, I was pretty sure the weather conditions would force the men's tennis match between Georgia Tech and Wake Forest indoors. I was right. When I arrived at the indoor tennis center there were a number of cars parked outside and when I walked in the facility for the first time, the first person I ran into was Kenny Thorne, head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

Kenny and I spent a few minutes catching up. He asked about my new job and then we talked about how the season was progressing. Even though the team has struggled a little bit lately, it certainly has not diminished Kenny's enthusiasm or his optimism. He loves tennis and he loves his team and the GT program. He still has great hopes for the team this season and with the recruits he has coming in he has great aspirations for the program next year. He invited me to say hello to the team as they were warming up.

I talked briefly with senior David North. The team's former number one has experienced back problems over the last two seasons and has not played much. He said he was ready to play on Saturday although he would only be playing singles. David is from South Africa and he let me know that his good friend Kevin Anderson, also from South Africa, beat Novak Djokovic just a few days before on Friday, March 27 at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. He told me they played all the time in juniors in South Africa and they he probably beat Kevin 25 times or so. Anderson's win was a big one for sure. I know David was really happy for him although he hadn't had the chance to talk with him since the win.

I spent a few minutes with assistant coach Josh Hausman and then seniors Scott Blackmon and George Gvelesiani. Scott has been playing well this season, but George had not been in the lineup in the last few matches. I'd get to see them both play doubles and singles in this match as Scott was playing the number one position and George was in the number six position.

The doubles point was up for grabs when George and Guillermo Gomez won at number two, 8-3, while Scott and Ryan Smith lost at number three, 8-3. The GT ones ended up losing 8-6 in a tight match and the Jackets were down 1-0.

I stayed focused on the number one and number six matches. The Wake Forest indoor facility is very nice with eight courts, four on each side with a viewing area down the middle between the two groups of courts. Scott and George played directly opposite of each other. George had a tough time with Andrew Brasseaux, going down in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. Brasseaux's one-handed backhand was very effective and he ended up winning a number of points off of it. Scott also faced a tough match against Mariusz Adamski. Scott was playing tough in the second set but he did not have enough to beat Adamski, losing 6-3, 7-5. I spent some time with them after their matches and while they were disappointed they were also looking to bounce back.

On court two, David North was hitting some nice ground strokes to start the match, but he ended up twisting his ankle in the third game and retired after the fourth game, down 3-1. The Jackets did get two nice wins. At number three, freshman Guillermo Gomez lost the first set 7-6, bounced back in the second set 6-4 and won the third set tie-breaker 10-8. At number four, freshman Eliot Potvin won in straight sets 6-2, 7-6. I thought it was a great effort from the youngest members on the team and it helped disappoint the Demon Deacons a bit, as they were looking for a 7-0 sweep.

There was a nice crowd on hand to support the Yellow Jackets and the team showed a lot of class when they came over to thank all of us who came out to cheer them on. With the loss the Jackets fell to 11-9 and 1-6 in the ACC. They'll need a few good wins to be considered for the NCAA tournament.

The Yellow Jackets return to North Carolina on April 11 and 13 when they take on North Carolina and Duke. I have put the matches on my calendar and I look forward to making the drive over to Raleigh - Durham to support them.

Time.

Visiting William & Mary in Virginia

Last weekend I visited Williamsburg, VA to gather with my family from upstate New York to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my great aunt and uncle. While I was in town I learned that the William & Mary women's tennis team would be playing a match versus the University of Pennsylvania on Easter Sunday. After going to church and then breakfast with my family at a local pancake house, I headed over to the William & Mary campus for the noon match.

It was a great day for tennis with plenty of sun and temperatures in the low 60s. The tennis center is right next to the basketball arena and it has plenty of space between the courts for spectators. William & Mary came into the match ranked #25 and 10-8 on the season. These are two good women's programs. Last season the Tribe took out Georgia Tech before the Lady Jackets went on their run to win the national championship. Penn was an NCAA tournament team last year and I saw them in the 2006 Atlanta regional, which Georgia Tech ended up winning. They came into the W&M match at 5-5, but I knew they were a talented team. I figured this would be a competitive match.

William & Mary won the doubles point with easy wins on court one and two, but court three turned out to be a great game with William & Mary winning in a tie break, 8-7. For the singles matches, I sat between courts two and three and saw some really good tennis. On two, Katarina Zoricic for W&M played Yulia Rivelis. They battled to a tie break in the first set before Zoricic won it. She had and easier time in set two winning it 6-3. On three, Ragini Acharya of W&M was matched up against Maria Anisimova. These two hit a lot of big groundstrokes and had plenty of good rallies. Anisimova did not like some of the calls on the other side of the net and was a little frustrated at times, but Acharva kept her head down and went on to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 win. William & Mary ended up winning the match 6-1, but it was closer than the score indicated.

William & Mary also has the number 10 ranked player in the country in Megan Moulton-Levy. The five foot senior has a great one-handed backhand and is extremely quick. She and Zoricic won their doubles match and then she won the first set of her singles match 6-1 and then her opponent retired. She likes to come to the net which is so nice to see in players today, as so few actually make that an integral part of their game.

Before the match started I had a nice conversation with Barb Zidek's father. They live in Chicago and try and see as many W&M matches as they can. They drove from Chicago for this one and even though his daughter was not in the lineup, he and his family were there supporting the team. I was really impressed. Barb also worked her way around the crowd during the match, promoting her weekly William & Mary sports talk show on William & Mary's radio station, WCWM, 90.9 FM. You can listen to the show every Sunday night from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. in Williamsburg, or over the Internet at wcwm.org. If you get a chance, check it out.

Tomorrow I will be heading over to Winston-Salem, NC to see the Georgia Tech men's team take on Wake Forest. The Jackets started strong but have lost a few recently and are 11-8 and 1-5 in the ACC. Wake is 13-6 and 4-1 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons were a sweet 16 team last year and I expect this will be a good match. This will be the first time I get to see Georgia Tech play since I moved back to Charlotte. Go Jackets!

Time.

Park Road Surprise

When I lived in Charlotte several years ago, I played frequently at the Park Road Park Tennis facility. It's a great public facility, with 12 courts and good lighting. When I moved back to Charlotte, I located in a home that is just a few blocks from the facility. Yesterday I took a walk to the facility to see if there was any good tennis being played.

The parking lot was packed as I approached the facility so I knew some kind of league play was taking place. I was incorrect in my guess. It turned out that a USTA junior event was taking place this weekend in Charlotte at the Jeff Adams Tennis Center. The 8th Annual Midcourt Cup had a large draw and the Park Road Tennis Facility was being used as an additional site for the tournament. This was the first time I saw a USTA junior event.

I ended up watching a Girls 18 singles round of 16 match with the number one seed, Aleah Morrow from Durham, NC and fourth seed Kristen Cox from Charlotte. Morrow looked very good. She has a great forehand and used an inside out stroke to her advantage numerous times. She won in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.

As I was standing watching the match, I noticed a young woman wearing a Notre Dame tennis warm up outfit. I asked her if she played for the Irish. It turns out her name is Jennifer Smith and she played for Notre Dame from 2003 through 2005. After she graduated she moved to Atlanta and then recently moved back to Charlotte. She grew up in Charlotte and played for South Mecklenburg High School prior to going to South Bend, Indiana. She is now a teaching tennis pro at the Old Providence Racquet Club, one of the great tennis clubs in Charlotte. It's very prestigious. In fact, I saw a Federation Cup match there a number of years ago when Jennifer Capriati was left out the competition due to a disagreement with then-captain Billie Jean King. The U.S. ended up losing the tie. Serious tennis fans will remember that incident.

I told Jen that I had visited ND a number of times and saw the men and women play the University of Southern California. The match took place the night before ND played a classic football game against USC when the Trojans won with nine seconds left in the game after a big fourth down play. I also told her I saw the Irish women's team play Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in Athens last season. Georgia Tech ended up winning that match 4-2 and went on to beat UCLA for the national championship.

Jen is coaching a local girl who was in the draw. I did not see the match, but ran into her this morning and learned that her player did not advance. Hopefully she will have better luck the next time out. One thing that was clear to me as I watched these kids play is that many of them have good game.

When I got home and checked scores from the day I saw that the Georgia Tech women beat Notre Dame in South Bend, 5-2. The Lady Jackets are having a great season. They recently won the National Indoor Championship for the second year in a row and are currently ranked second in the nation. Bryan Shelton has done a great job with the GT women's program.

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A Gusty Performance in Charlotte

I recently relocated to Charlotte, NC to take on a new job. I lived in Charlotte from 1999 through 2002 and that was the time when I was introduced to college tennis at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and at Davidson College. Today I made my first visit back to UNCC to see a tennis match since I left.

UNC Charlotte hosted Pfeiffer University, a Division II school in North Carolina, in the second match of a double-header on campus today. I was surprised to see the Pfeiffer team take the doubles point on Charlotte. At number one and number two doubles, Pfeiffer won 8-1. That would be all for the Falcons as UNCC ended up winning all the singles matches and took the match 6-1. Earlier they beat Johnson C. Smith University 7-0. With the two wins, UNCC goes to 3-5 on the season. It will be interesting to see how the Forty Niners do once they get in to Atlantic 10 league play. Last season the team made the NCAA tournament for the first time.

What a great day in Charlotte. It was in the low 60s and the skies were clear and sunny. The real story of the day today was the wind. Thoughout the entire match a stiff wind created a difficult situation for the players. A lot of groundstroke balls were flying deep and when the players got the ball high enough in the air it was almost like the ball hit a wall and came down. It was crazy. The players were asked to keep their tennis bags on their chairs during play so the chairs would not blow onto the court. Early in the number two doubles match, a Pfeiffer team member had his hat blow off his head and then the two teams played through the point. The official then warned them that the next time that happened a point would be lost. I did see one of the plastic chairs get blown about a foot while a game was being played. I don't think I have ever been at a match where the wind gusts were so fierce.

It certainly made things interesting.

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Starting the College Season at Stanford

On Saturday, February 2, I made a trip to the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University to see the Stanford men take on the #6 ranked University of Southern California Trojans. Once I knew I would be traveling to Palo Alto and San Jose for a business meeting, I looked on the Stanford site to see if they had any home matches scheduled. As fate would have it, I was rewarded as my trip coincided with the Cardinal taking on the Trojans. Although Stanford was ranked #42 going into the match, this is the place where the standard for college tennis excellence has been established.

The match was initially scheduled for 1 p.m., but due to the threat of rain the match was moved up to 12:30 and the teams started the day by playing the singles first. I arrived at the end of the first set and at that time USC was in control. I focused on the one match where Stanford had the lead which was at No. 1 singles. Stanford's Alex Clayton, ranked #2 in the NCAA beat ninth ranked Robert Farah in straight sets for Stanford's only win on the day. Clayton has a fantastic one-handed backhand and it was a real treat to watch him use it effectively against Farah. Stanford ended up losing the match 5-1, as rain started to make its way into the area and the teams decided not to play the doubles point. I was disappointed, as doubles are my favorite part of a college match.

The real highlight of the day turned out to be a brief conversation I had with former Stanford head coach Dick Gould. Coach Gould is a great guy and over the course of his career did so much to strengthen the game of college tennis. I am glad I had the chance to meet him and thank him for all he has done for the game. In his 38 years of coaching his teams won the national championship 17 times. That is simply a record of success few coaches could ever hope to achieve. Wow! Coach Gould retired after the 2003-04 season and is currently the director of tennis for Stanford. He is a fixture at Stanford's home matches, so be on the lookout for him if you are at the Taube Tennis Center.

Speaking of the Stanford tennis facility, it is really a world class college tennis facility. You are right on top of the action no matter where you sit and I learned from one of the ushers that the stands get filled for matches regularly, especially when the team is one of the top teams in the country. Inside the facility is a trophy room and the walls are filled with national championship awards of all kinds from the men's and women's programs. Stanford is simply the standard for college tennis excellence and you can see it all right there in the trophy room. It is very impressive.

I was able to return to the facility at the end of the week and had the chance to see the men's team practice for their upcoming match the following day against BYU. I also watched the BYU team go through its practice session before I headed over to the Maples Pavillion right next door to see the No. 9 Stanford men's basketball team beat Oregon by nearly 30 points. The basketball facility is also great and both the Stanford men and women are in the top 10 right now. The tradition of excellence really encompasses so many sports at Stanford.

Stanford ended up beating BYU 7-0 the day I left town.

I look forward to the next opportunity I have to watch Stanford tennis on campus. It is a great experience.

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Georgia Tech Offers a Great Holiday Treat

On New Year's Eve, I spent my afternoon with other Atlanta tennis fans watching the singles and doubles finals of the Georgia Tech Holiday Tennis Challenge at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Tech campus. Kenny Thorne, head coach for the GT men's team and the tournament director, has put together one of the great local tennis events you can attend and watch some world-class talent. A great part of the event is that there is no admission charge for any portion of the tournament. It's really great stuff. The only other free tennis event I have ever known that also had world-class talent was the OTB Tennis Open that was held in the 1980s and 1990s in Central Park in Schenectady, New York. I don't think there would be any issue from spectators if GT instituted a small event fee to cover some of its expenses. It is really a gem of a tournament.

Thorne started the tournament in 1998 and over the years local fans have been able to see some of the top tennis players in the world compete. Many of the players have some kind of Atlanta relationship and Kenny is able to attract all of these people to help promote greater enthusiasm for tennis in the metro Atlanta area. Some of the players that were on hand this year included rising pro tennis star Donald Young, former Wimbledon doubles champion and U.S. Davis Cup doubles participant Don Johnson, current ATP Tour and two time All-American at Vanderbilt, Bobby Reynolds as well as Atlanta resident and former Australian Open doubles champion Ellis Ferreira. Good stuff.

In the past, Kenny has been able to bring other notable figures such as U.S. Open semi-finalist Robby Ginepri, Scoville Jenkins and former University of Georgia standout Travis Parrott on to the Tech campus for an event that gets stronger every year.

Kenny also gets some of his current Yellow Jackets players to compete in the tournament. I ran into seniors Scott Blackmon and George Gvelesiani during the singles final, as they were on their way to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Both of them had a good week. Scott won three matches before he lost to top seed Bobby Reynolds 4-6, 3-6. George won his first match and then fell to Jarmaine Jenkins, former All-American at Clemson, 2-6, 4-6. It certainly is great preparation for the guys as they prepare for the upcoming dual-match season.

The quality of tennis on display is reason enough to come out and enjoy the event over the holiday. I also find it is a great venue to see familiar friendly faces and just kick back and be in a tennis environment for a short time. There are plenty of other reasons but the main one is this - it is simply great tennis. Think about getting it on your calendar if you are in Atlanta over Christmas in 2008.

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