NARA - Philadelphia News

The first tournament of 2010 is now complete with Todd Meringoff of the Tennis and Racquet Club winning the US Amateur Singles Championship and former Tonbridge College first pair, Tom Spurling and Jack Shields taking the US Amateur Doubles Championship. Early highlights included:

· Greg Gross’ victory over Denis Walsh. Denis was disappointed after winning the first game 11-2 and the second 14-11, but Greg rebounded and found his game in time to earn the victory.

· Greg was then equally disappointed to lose in three to Philadelphia club president, Tim Proctor. When in the last century, we all wonder, did Philadelphia’s president last win a match in this event?

· Lucas Walsh wreaked his revenge from Alisha Turner for his loss in the Jock Soutar doubles final. He upgraded his partner to Todd Meringoff whereas Alisha severely downgraded hers from Jack Shields to your correspondent, Dick Tanfield.

· Friday’s Dinner Match was a piece de resistance between Lou “The Fork” Habina and “Fast” Eddie Matthews. Lou dropped into a groove early (easier to find one that fits, now he is 50lbs lighter) and served well throughout the first game. Then Eddie did the same in the second. The lead changed eight times in the final game. Matthews reached 13-10 before having to choose the tie breaker set as five. The Fork went up 4-1. Eddie matched to 4-4 and then lost the serve. A late last-second tactical demand for a new ball did the trick as Fast got the serve back and proceeded to win his dinner before an enthusiastic crowd.

· Tom Price, a new Racquet Club of Philadelphia enthusiast, had a great tournament: eliminating Tanfield, then surprising Lucas Walsh (and possibly himself) and finally losing very creditably to Tom Spurling.

In the semi-finals of the singles, Meringoff had an easy time with Philadelphia’s rising star Jonathan Crowell, winning 3-0. (Jeff Yager had conceded the quarter-final to Jonathan after his food was poisoned.)

In the other semi-final, Tonbridge first pair, Jack Shields and Tom Spurling faced off against each other. Jack had spent three months in Philadelphia this autumn which earned the crowd’s backing, but Tom’s beautiful two-handed, cricket-based backhand and his wonderful footwork drew lots of applause. Tom’s score line of 15-11, 8-15, 14-17, 15-12, 15-11 (total= 67-66) was interspersed with flying champagne corks properly reflecting the gallery’s great enjoyment of this very tight match. We should see more of Jack and Tom who are now on their way as Fellows to Montreal and Chicago respectively.

In the doubles semi-final Todd Meringoff and fellow Bostonian, Lucas Walsh, disposed of Jamie Dodderidge and Greg Gross. In the second semi-final Greg Van Schaak kindly filled in for Yager and played with Oliver Sloane (Malvern and NYU) against Jack Shields and Tom Spurling. It was certainly an entertaining match with GvS, as usual, demonstrating his ability and Oliver hitting lots of highly imaginative shots. These two took the third game having caught up with the pace but the outcome was never in much doubt.

Saturday evening was spent the champagne in the gallery followed by a lively dinner at The Parc restaurant on Rittenhouse Square and topped off with dancing at Philadelphia institution, D’Angelo’s.

On Sunday morning in the singles final, Todd Meringoff played a beautifully controlled match winning 15-6, 15-10, 15-10. Tom Spurling was surely disappointed, but he played many delicious shots and innumerable fine rallies. He tried hard to break Todd’s composure, even bowling a googly to him at one point, but Todd varied his serves cleverly including several into the nick by the door and a hammer that Yager clocked at 326mph. Your correspondent bitterly regrets that Matthews once again cleaned up at his expense but otherwise loved Meringoff’s precise, clinical use of length and direction. Philadelphia is proud to welcome him as the first US born Amateur champion in more than forty years.

In the doubles final Meringoff and Walsh startled everybody by taking the first game 15-10. Todd hit perfect returns off every single service while Shields and Spurling struggled to avoid errors. However, Jack and Tom are players of high quality and an experienced pair from their years together at Tonbridge and so they took the next three games 15-7, 15-8 and 15-10. Lucas’ youth prevented him from being happy to just lean against the door and watch his partner, but he held up well against the pace and contributed at some key moments. Todd looked good enough to be allowed to play alone. He had success moving well up against Jack’s sharp, left-handed, serves; his soft reverse-corners showed wonderful touch; and he always made it difficult for the other pair in the rallies.

Singles and doubles play will commence on Friday January 15^th. Some rooms pre-booked in club (less than hotels).

The Squash Doubles and Court Tennis courts will be reserved Saturday afternoon for anybody unlucky enough to need such activities.

Neil Smith & James Stout beat James Coyne and Alistar Orchard 15-11, 17-14 and 15-4

If James Stout were a horse then Secretariat might have considered becoming a plow horse in light of Stout’s perfect performance at the US Open Rackets Championships held Jan 10th through the 13^th at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. Early on, punters were only getting 1 to 2 odds on Stout even with Neil Smith, James Coyne and Alex Titchener-Barrett (ATB) getting the next three seeds.

James went 15-0 in singles matches and breezed to replace World Champion Harry Foster (who did not enter) as US Open Champion. If you throw in a 12-0 thrashing of doubles opponents, the NY Racquet & Tennis professional completed the perfecta with a 27-0 whitewash of the field. No small feat in light of this talent-rich field.

In the upper half bracket, semi-finalists ATB and Stout produced several cracking good rallies. ATB bravely used several “hammer” serves but got only a few aces from them. The first game was tied at 13-13 and the battle of these two lefties went to Stout 18-16. Stout started putting the “nails in the coffin” (or was he shrink wrapping that coffin?) as he routed ATB 15-2 and all seemed fait accompli going into game three. No scribe in the world could possibly make a 15-2 score scintillating.

In game three and down 1-7 ATB cranked out yet another “hammer serve” and clawed back to 10-7 up. Was it possible to take the patient off of life support by winning game three? ATB returned to the hammer but faulted and Stout went up 11-10. Regaining serve, ATB gambled with another hammer to tie the game at 11 and eventually took a 13-11 lead. With the game in extra time, ATB faulted while down 15-14 and ended up on the short end of a 16-14 thriller. Game, set and see you next year. Thanks for playing. We have a lovely parting gift for you at the door.

The lower bracket had semi-finalists Smith and Coyne (the sole right-hander of all semi-finalists) demonstrate two disparate styles with the ball-destroying Coyne (reminiscent of the Boonatick?) and the wonderful shot-making, court-covering Smith contesting the right to play Stout in the finals. Coyne, the current under 24’s champion (T&RA’s Swallow Cup) and former World Champion Smith (1999-2001) battled until Smith held off Coyne in an epic 3-1 match. Game scores were 10-15, 15-10, 16-13, and 17-14. Check please! And please leave all sharp objects, belts and shoelaces at the proshop. Taxi!

In the weekend’s most anticipated game, the singles final, Smith could get really no closer than a 4-4 tie in the first game as Stout won 11 of the last 12 points to win game one 15-5. The second game was only marginally better but the outcome was the same as Stout cranked out a 13-3 lead and won handily 15-8. Neil, however, remained unrattled in the third game and took mid game leads 8-6 and 10-9 and regained serve being down 12-14 and aced Stout for a 13-14 interim score. On the next point Neil buried the ball into the tin, lost serve and ultimately the game and match 15-13. Time of match 43 minutes. Here’s your hat. What’s your hurry?

The afternoon featured the formidable duo of James Coyne and Alistar Orchard against Smith and Stout in the US Open Doubles Championship. A remarkable skill set for sure on the court with these four. The marker and referee for both finals were Robbie Whitehouse and David Makey.

Coyne and Orchard shot out to an 8-0 lead in the first game but the favored Smith and Stout team were able to tie the first game at 8, at 10 and at 11. Smith/Stout won the opener 15-11 as Neil served out from 11 all. Game two also saw the Coyne/Orchard pair jump out to leads of 5-0 and 10-5 but, again, the opponents were able to tie the game at 10 all and actually took a 12-10 lead. With side out now, Coyne served to 12 all, lost the serve and the next two points and now were down 14-12 but fought to 14 all after Orchard served a winner to get to a tie break situation. Smith/Stout called for set three and regained the serve after a misfire by Coyne. Smith served up an ace and served out again to win 17-14.

Game three proved to be an uneventful one with Smith/Stout putting up a 15-4 pasting for the Championship exclamation point. Time of the match was 46 minutes. How about a Champagne game?

Certainly the most thrilling match (quarterfinals) of the weekend came via the USA’s up and coming Todd Meringoff (Boston) who pushed 4^th seed Titchener-Barrett to 4 match points but, unlike UPS, failed to deliver. Meringoff stunned a disbelieving gallery with 15-6, and 15-7 opening game wins, lost the third 15-12, was annihilated 15-0 in the fourth for a two games all heart pounding fifth game. ATB also put up two match point serves before delivering the KO to the gutsy Bostonian. Oh well, at least the Foxboro Patriots beat Jacksonville in the AFC playoffs over the weekend. Todd did manage an excellent upset in the prior round by beating Tonbridge professional David Makey, the fifth seed. The rackets world, at least in North America, better pay attention to this homegrown phenom.

Players came from many venues including, but probably not limited to, Chicago, Colorado, Montreal, Boston, NYC, London, Detroit, Monaco (Andrew Ness), Morocco (James Bailey), Tuxedo Park. NARA thanks the many professionals who made time to help with the running of a great event. Thanks are due to John Cashman (Chicago), David Makey (Tonbridge School, UK), Steve Toseland (Detroit), Ryan Tulley (Montreal), Neil Smith and James Stout (both NYC T&R). Of course a special thanks to Robbie Whitehouse and Barney Tanfield of the host club for their tremendous help.

As for the social side, the stag was held on Thursday evening at the Philadelphia Club where 60+ gentlemen gathered for a splendid evening that had all the attributes of only the finest stags ever. The head table introductions included Norb Madison (Detroit), Keene Addington (NARA President; Chicago), John Prenn (Queen’s Club), Todd Meringoff (Boston), Greg Van Schaak (Tuxedo), Karel Nemec (Montreal), Kendrick de Koning (Colorado) and introducing himself as emcee was Jeff Yager (Tournament Chairman). Friday was an “open” date where various groups split off to various local dining establishments and a group of six went to the Wachovia Center to witness a Chicago Bulls win over the 76ers but hurried back to the Club to check out some of the finest Friday night rackets ever.

The NARA Board held a meeting on Saturday in the Sailing Room of the Club. Immediately following that meeting the Annual Meeting was held. There were no questions. No non-Board members present even though President Addington mentioned it at the stag dinner and on the NARA website.

On Saturday, everybody thumbed their noses at Mr. Hangover and attended a wonderful black tie ball in the entryway of the Club and the two adjoining rooms. In the Reading Room, a fantastic 14 piece band entertained the swells to the sounds of a big band. No shortage of beautifully attired women was there either!

In the end, Tournament Chairman, Jeffrey Yager and his committee produced and executed a flawless weekend, especially because of what a 50+ person singles draw can drop on organizers. Club Manager, Ed Noll and his staff really created an environment that was spectacular. Next stop. Montreal, eh?

2006 Jock Soutar Tournaments

The Racquet Club of Philadelphia hosted the annual Jock Soutar Singles and Doubles Championships. Combined with the Jimmy Dunn court tennis tournament and an invitational squash tournament, the Jock Soutar weekend is massive whirlwind of racket sports and parties.

With frequent champion, Drew McGowan, out of the draw this year due to injury, the field was a bit more open than usual, as 15 players battled for the singles title and 8 pairs in the doubles.

In the singles, Dom Wright, visiting from Queen’s club, beat Jeremy Wintersteen in a close semi-final. Wintersteen struggled with Wrights superior serving in the first game, before getting a handle on it. After registering only a handful of points in the first game, Wintersteen came back to win the second and force a deciding 3rd game. But Wright’s serve proved the difference as he edged Wintersteen in a tie breaker to earn an appearance in the final.

On the other side of the draw, Dick Tanfield came through to the semi-finals after Jamie Dodderidge withdrew in the quarters while being ahead 14-6 and one game all. Always the gentleman, Dodderidge had a prior commitment that would prohibit him from playing in the semi-finals, so he graciously conceded the match to Tanfield. In the semi-final match against Jeff Yager, Yager was able to turn the tables on Tanfield. After losing to Tanfield in the doubles on Friday due in no small part to Tanfield’s brilliant serving, Yager was able to out serve Dick for 2-0 victory.

This set up an exciting final with frequent changes of momentum between two closely matched players. Wright took the first game 15-6 as he served to great length particularly to the backhand court. Yager came right back and won the second game by a similar score after making more of an effort to volley Wright’s serves. After losing the 3rd game in a tie breaker, it looked like it was over for Yager as he was down 13-6 in the fourth. But with strong serving and good length he won 7 straight points to force a tie breaker, which he won after falling behind 2-0, set three. Tied at two all, the fifth game was very closely fought as both players tried to step up their game another notch. Tied at 11 all, Wright was able to break through by attacking more aggressively pushing ahead to 14-11. With a raucous crowd behind him, Yager was able to fight off two more match points, before finally succumbing to Wright 15-12.

In the doubles, there were many close battles and exciting finishes. In one of the bigger upsets, Dick Tanfield paired with newcomer John Broussard to upset favorites Jeff Yager and Brian Owens. Tanfield, the Tom Glavine of the rackets world, used his slow but perfectly placed serving style to repeatedly whiff his opponents. In the finals, it came down to the London duo of Dom Wright and Chris Herbert versus perennial contenders John Madzin and Lou “The Fork” Habina. Although the pre-match wagering was favoring the British pair, no one predicted the added dimension “The Fork” brought to his game. One observer commented that Habina looked like Carl Lewis out there. Habina’s newfound speed, combined with Madzin’s veteran big game experience, allowed them to pull out a 3-0 victory in a closely fought contest.

Between matches, players enjoyed the hospitality the Racquet Club of Philadelphia is known for. A large cocktail party was held at the club on Friday night before people headed out for dinner and late night revelries. On Saturday night, over 200 people from the rackets, court tennis, and squash worlds came together for the Racquet Club’s annual autumn black tie dinner dance, which, as usual, went until close to dawn for many. On Sunday, a champagne brunch was enjoyed by the sizable crowd who attended the finals.

On a final note, many thanks to Barney Tanfield, who in his first year as a professional, did an excellent job marking and getting people on court on time for their matches.

Jock Soutar Doubles: Jeff Yager & Jeremy Wintersteen def. Dick Tanfield and John Madzin 3-1

The Jock Soutar Weekend was held in conjunction with Philadelphia’s Court Tennis tournament the Jimmy Dunn Tournament and the 50^th Anniversary celebration of the United States Court Tennis Association (USCTA). On Friday night there was a very large Black Tie dinner celebrating the USCTA’s 50^th anniversary. Jamie Dodderidge, in his speech, read a letter from Bart Sambrook, NARA President, who recognized the milestone achieved by the USCTA as well as affirming the close relationship between the two organizations. Bart’s letter talked about the need of both organizations to work together in the promotion of both great games as both sports share many of the same players. After a series of speeches and presentations the players adjourned to some serious partying at Ted Manges’ apartment.

Saturday began the crunch time for matches for both the Jock Soutar and the Kendrick Cup. Spirited play marked the matches, which was then quenched by the pints from the 4^th Floor Pub Club drafts. This provided excellent preparation for the Racquet Club Fall Dinner Dance. The club was rocking with the ladies looking particularly stunning in their evening dresses. It was a merger of squash, court tennis, and racquets participants and the racquets players more than held their own. The night continued on at that ex UVM Hockey stalwart, Norris Jordan’s house. For those who kept up with Norris, the Sunday matches came on too early.

It is interesting to note that the finalists of the Kendrick Cup were from two clubs that also play court tennis. This is indicative of the point Bart Sambrook made in his congratulatory letter to the USCTA that both games draw from the same members at many of the clubs. We saw Ryan Brey of Philadelphia dashing the hopes of Arthur Drane of Boston winning 2 games to love. In the Jock Soutar singles we had Drew McGowan trouncing Jeff Yager 3 games to love as Jeff started slow and looked as though his tank was on empty. The Jock Soutar doubles was the best match of the day as a revived Jeff Yager teamed with Boston’s own Jeremy Wintersteen to beat Philadelphia’s seasoned team of Dick Tanfield and John Madzin 3 games to 1. Jeff found his serve and Wintersteen flew around the court retrieving every ball in the typical fashion of his mentor Jimmy Burke.

Many thanks go to everyone involved with special thanks to Rob Whitehouse and the rest of the professional staff at the RCOP. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year.