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.
Time.
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