Finally home from a grand rackets’ weekend in Chicago. Almost didn’t make it, but, after a brief visit to Milwaukee on Thursday, the plane did manage to land in the Windy City and the start of the celebration of NARA’s 50^th anniversary, the U.S. Open Singles and Doubles competitions, the Tom Price Cup (over 50) draws and the Kendrick Cup (novice players) draw.

 

The weekend started with a huge Gentlemen’s Dinner in the Main Dining Room. About 150 attended this wonderful event. The food was delicious (as always at the RCC), the wine was flowing and the company was the best.

 

The emcee of the whole affair was former World Champion, Willie Surtees. He kept things going at a rather nice pace throughout the dinner. Each club was represented at the head table: Norb Madison (president of the Detroit Racquet Club), Peter Pell (Racquet and Tennis – NY), Walter Deane (Winter Sports Chair- Tuxedo Club), Scott Pritchard (president Montreal Racket Club), Keene Addington (representing NARA), Edward F. Ulmann (guest speaker – NY), Ted Nield (president Racquet Club of Chicago), former Worls Champion, John Prenn (Queen’s Club - UK), E. Denis Walsh (The Prince of NARA – Boston) and Jeff Yager (Racquet Club of Philadelphia).

 

Each spoke about their respective clubs and of rackets in general. Perhaps the greatest remark of all the speeches was when John Prenn acknowledged young Mark Agate (UK) and the wonderful work he has done in the past to assure that the young Brits get to visit North America and play in any of the four main competitions during the season. His efforts has made many of the draws very competitive in the past few years. This year, in fact, his traveling Mjolnirs won their first event, when Alastair Gourlay and Ben Bomford won the Canadian Amateur Doubles in January. This year the Bailey Brothers (also Mjolnirs) reached the final of the U.S. Open Doubles. Cheers to Mark for his grand efforts and hard work. Mr. Ulmann’s talk was very entertaining, filled with personal anecdotes as well as stories of other racket’s people. Ed loves this game and everything that goes with it; the friendships, the parties, the players and of course the playing. "…hit the ball, …hit it damn hard!!!”

 

After dinner, most of the gentlemen retired to the Men’s Grill for drinks, games of chance and perhaps a cigar or two. Some ventured out into the streets to sample some of Chicago’s exciting night life. Some decided it was time to head to bed in order to be ready for the long day ahead.

 

There were over 70 players in the main singles draw. There had to be 11 matches just to get people into the round of 64. Many matches were played on Thursday and by Friday night, the singles were down to the final four of World Champion, Harry Foster, former World Champion Neil Smith, James Coyne and former World Champion James Male. Saturday saw the main doubles draw , the Tom Price draws and the Kendrick Cup draw all played through to the finals. All the final matches in all the draws took place on Sunday. Two matches stood out to some as the matches of the tournament. The first was a quarter final doubles contest between the Bailey Boys Mike and James) and the James Gang (Beaumont and Coyne). Cone and Beaumont took the first game, but seemed to tire late in the second game. In the third and final game, the Baileys were ahead 13/9, only to see their opponents catch up and with two hands in, the Baileys called for set 3. To many this was a strange call as Beaumont and Coyne both had a chance to serve and end the match. They quickly scored twice and had match point. The Baileys came in and tied the score and finally won the match with a 16/15 win in the final game. James Coyne mentioned that maybe the set 3 call was a good one, as neither he nor Beaumont ever really got a run in serving (maybe 5 or 6 points in a row).

 

The most exciting for the galley was the semi-final between James Male and  Neil Smith. Male won the first game and then, as Chris Worlidge would mention, “...playing much like the Male of 5 years ago…”,  won the second to go ahead 2 games love. But then Smith took over and easily won games two and three, setting up the 5^th and deciding game. Smith managed to get by 15/11 and advance to Sunday’s final.

 

The Saturday night dinner/dance was magnificent. The dining room looked spectacular. Sarah Potter and her staff worked hard to ensure the night would be memorable. It sure was!!! The dance hall, with a 6 piece band pumped out song after song for our listening and dancing pleasure. The Caberet, with a small soft music combo kept people tapping toes and enjoying the night. The last venue was The Orange Room where a fantastic pianist sang and played everyone’s favorites. It was very early in the morning (4 a.m.) when the last guests left the building.

 

The Kendrick Cup final was played early Sunday and Cam McKinney (RCC) defeated Tom Shumaker in two straight games. The Beebs (Gordon and James - UK) took the Tom Price Doubles crown after a fine victory over Peter DeSvastich (Tuxedo) and Dick tanfield (RCOP). The Tom Price singles’ final saw David Jenkins (UK) defeat Chicago’s own, Bill Hargrave in a hard fought match.

 

The U.S. Open singles final was a battle of the two top seeds, Harry Foster (#1) and Neil Smith (#2). Smith scored the first point of the match and that would be the only time he led until 4-3 in the third game. After that point, Foster dominated the first game with some very crisp winners, excellent serving and shot selection. The final score was 15/6.

 

Game two saw much of the same from Foster. There was some flashes of Smith’s power and game control, but that was short lived. There were few long rallies in this game and the world champion won again, this time 15/7.

 

Game three started slowly, then, Smith took control. He served very well and kept Foster on the defence. Down 10/4, time was called as Foster seemed to have something in his eye. After a minute or so, play resumed and soon it was 11/10 for Smith. The injury delay seemed to slow Smith down, but, he finished strongly and won the game 15/10. Shades of Saturday’s semi-final, when Smith, down 2 game to love versus James Male, rallied to take the match, in five games. Could it happen once more?

 

The answer was quickly answered by Foster. After falling behind, Foster controlled the game and won it 15/10, therefore winning the Pell Cup (U.S. Open singles champion), three games to one. This was Foster’s first U.S. Open championship.

 

After a 45 minute interlude, Foster was back on the court with partner Alistar Orchard, to contest for the U.S. Open doubles competition (Bertolotti Cup). Their opponents were the Cinderella story of the weekend, brothers Mike and James Bailey. Their path to the finals was not an easy one. In the quarter-finals they took on 3^rd seeds, James Beaumont and James Coyne. They managed a 2-1 game victory, with the last game going to extra points,16/15 and a place in the semi-final versus lefties Neil Smith and partner and Mjolnir, Mark Farmiloe. They breezed through this match winning 3-0. Game one of the final was total domination by Foster and Orchard, 15/3.  Game two was the opposite for the first part. The Bailey’s, using power and more power, smashed their way to a quick 10/0 lead. But then, Foster and Orchard used great serving and experience, to capture the game 15/11. The Bailey Brothers led game three 7/4 but faltered. Foster and Orchard continued to serve and take over the court, winning the game 15/8 and the Bertolotti Cup.

 

A fantastic weekend, to say the least!!  Wonderful hospitality, great rackets and a grand time for all. Sarah and her staff deserve huge kudos for their work. Head Professional, John Cashman and assistant pro, Charlie Crossley worked extra hard to make sure the draws ran well and on time. Well done, boys.