| ADULT ACHIEVEMENTS |
| Marc Mazo teamed with Bradenton's Jared Florian in the men's 60s to win the USTA Florida State Championship. Marc finished second in the state in 60 singles. Larry Turville won the men's 55 and Terry O'Grady was runnerup in the 45s. |
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| Shipwatch Tennis Club tennis director Kevin Manning competed in the USPTA World Conference Championships in Marco Island. Kevin reached the men's 50 semifinals. |
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| Kim Cashman and Ria Graham were among the players representing Florida in the USTA Intersectional Team Championships in Naples last month. Kim played on the women's 35 squad and Ria the 65. Kim played to a 3-2 overall record; Ria was 1-2 in singles. |
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| Santiago "Sandy" Benites nearly pulled out a three setter against the topseed in the USTA National Men's 70 Clay Court Championships in Pinehurst, NC. |
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| Rick Workman has been especially busy recently while directing the 1,900 player Eddie Herr Championships, but not too busy for him and his wife Mari to win the USTA Florida Husband-Wife Championship in the 45 division. Currently, Rick is the tournament director for the Maureen Connolly Brinker's Little Mo International Open in Miami. |
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| Donna Roberts finished fourth in the women's 45 singles division in Les Grandes Dames Fall Cup in Maitland. |
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| Competing in the 70-74 age division, Ed Klein and Charlie Wallace won the gold medal in the Tampa Bay Senior Games. Ed also collected the singles in the 70-74 division. |
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| ONE-ON-ONE DOUBLES |
| Konstantin Lazarov captured the One-On-One Doubles Tennis Shootout held at the HCC Tennis Complex in Tampa last month along with the $1000 prize. Konstantin, a NAIA National Doubles Champion and NAIA All-American for 3 years at Embry Riddle University, won 4 matches in route to the championship and beat former N.C. State standout Reinaldo Valor of Clearwater in the final. |
| All matches were one set matches played in the no-ad format with a 12-point tiebreaker played at 5-all. |
| The 4-hour tournament, directed by One-on-One Doubles creator Ed Krass, was played to Rockin' Blues music. There was a concert afterparty performed by two-time, IBC (International Blues Challenge) Winner, The Joey Gilmore Band. |
| "HCC has never quite experienced an atmosphere like the one created by this One-On-One Doubles Tennis and Rockin' Blues event," said Chad Berryhill, coach of the HCC women's team. "The tennis was competitive, the live band was phenomenal and everyone was having a great time. It is hard to beat great music and seeing players get to the net to volley! This was an event that every tennis player should experience. |
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| Reinaldo, Ed and Konstantin |
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| CHARITY RESULTS |
The 25th anniversary of the Raymond James Pro Am Charity Tennis Tournament benefiting All Children's Hospital was held at the Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club. The contest was directed by Maria Cercone with the winning women's Miranda Gutierrez and Linda Murray, followed by Gail Gibson and Turtle Burton.
Shikha Singh and Tom Grayson won the men's competition, followed by Devante Lindsey and Brett Hayman. |
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| Darlene Grayson, Tom James, Mary James and Hank Houser |
| Frenchy's 17th Annual Gumbo Tennis Classic was staged at the McMullen Tennis Complex for about 300 players competing in men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles. Nearly $24,000 was raised to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas County. |
| Claiming the men's open-division money tournament was Nickolaus Rachidi, who trains with Robert Carlbo at the Suncoast YMCA in Lansbrook. Erika Ramirez won the women's open and Dani and John Hollis the mixed open. |
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| Nickolaus and Frenchy |
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| In mixed doubles action, C.C. Walker won the 3.0 with Mary Halliday and the 3.5 with Jan Williams. Karen Kelly-Brenneman teamed with Jerry Kelly to win the 4.0. |
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| Mary and C.C. |
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| Doubles winners among the women included Pattie and Susan McHenry in 4.0, Jill Panella and Lori Hanson 3.5 and Helene Newsome and Sherry Knitter 3.0. |
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| Men's doubles winners included John Miller and Terry O'Grady in 4.5, Shawn Craig and Ken Emery 4.0, Kris Szeszko and Sten Tallarida 3.5 and John Forester and Jim Hadley 3.0. |
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| John and Terry |
| Frenchy's tournament, started in 1992 by Michael "Frenchy" Preston, is a three-day event that has become the largest charity contest in the area. |
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Seven teams in the women's 3.5 and 10 more in 4.0 competed in the one-day Pretty in Pink doubles contest at Countryside Country Club. The event was a benefit for breast cancer patients in the area. At least $4000 was raised through entry fees and raffle tickets.
Kelly Wilhite and Gina Larue won the 3.5 and Mary Jacobs and Sonya Thatch were second. Mary Gordon and Stephanie Geshel were first in the 4.0, followed by Debbie Hobbs and Julie Holcomb in second. |
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| JUNIORS |
| Among the 1200-plus juniors in this week's Junior Orange Bowl 48th International Tennis Championship in Coral Gables are area players Jacqueline Lazaro, Anastasia Nefedova and Chaoyi Chen in girls 12; Angel Deng and Kimberly Herrock 14; Andre Schoeman boys 12; Ganesh Rajaram and Nathaniel Diehl 14. Follow the competition at www.jyorangebowl.com. |
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| Seminole Lake Tennis Center started the month with its Local Christmas Classic for juniors. Claiming first-place were Kelley Taylor in girls 14, topseed Parker Hayslett boys 14 and Ricky Symanski 18 and Kento Tagashira 16. Finishing second were Jabilayh Asante in girls 18 and William Maizel boys 14. |
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| No. 6 seeds Jacqueline Lazaro and Alexis Franco reached the girls 12 semifinal in last month's USTA National Open Championships staged in Tallahassee. |
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| Super Series tournament action at East Lake Woodlands last month resulted in second-seed Mason Beiler upsetting the No. 1 seed to win the boys 12 singles and teaming with Aaron Carey to collect the doubles title as well. Daniela Bellini defended her topseeding in the girls 10 and paired with Bradenton's Anastacia Parkin to win the doubles. Jacqueline Lazaro reached the girls 14 semifinal round and won the doubles with Jessica Ho of Pennsylvania. |
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| Collecting singles titles in Seminole Lake Tennis Center's super series contest were topseeds Julia Jones in the 18 and Agatha Ambrozy the 16. Julia played with Emily Dvorak to claim the 18 doubles. Other doubles winners included Melanie Gray with Ashley Bongart of Bradenton (girls 16), Aaron Carey and Russell Berdusco of Bradenton in boys 12 and David Teytlebaum and Miles Holvoet in 16. |
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| David Teytlebaum upended boys 18 topseed Ricky Symanski in a three-set final in the Clearwater Holiday Local Junior Classic. Other local winners included Parker Hayslett in boys 14, Kento Tagashira 16, Peter Litsky 12, Dunja Kisin in girls 14 and Ava Sowell 14. |