Defending Champions Chip Graddy and Geoff Negin will attempt to make it two in a row in the All Aces Division, but reigning Ladies Champions in that division, Jemin Martinsen and Kathy Lanzalotta, have chosen different partners for this year’s event. Last year's Finalists, Carole Shapiro and Janie Heck, will pair up once again for a run at the top woman’s prize in the event.
In the Ball Bashers Division, Triple Crown Winner Maxwell Thompson is moving up so won’t be able to defend the title he won with John Hess last season. However, John may be back in the Ball Bashers mix (depending on Seeding Committee placements), this time with Bruno Glavich.
The same applies to Judy Wilson, who claimed the Women’s Ball Bashers crown last season with Lili Canfield. Judy will be playing with Jemin Martinsen in the All Aces Division this time around. Lili has not entered the event as of this writing, and the Women’s Ball Bashers draw appears to be wide open.
There will be no defending Men’s Champions in the Court Crashers Division either, as Tom VanWyk, who teamed with Manny Lima to win that Division in 2010, will be attending the Super Bowl to cheer on his Green Bay Packers. Manny will be moving up to challenge for the Ball Bashers Championship with PJ Jensen. Tony Cupaiuolo, who was a Court Crashers Finalists along with Peter Malen, will challenge once again; this time with Ted Poppinga.
Sally Mellendorf will try to repeat as Women’s Court Crashers Champion, albeit this time with Meg Jacobs, who was a Division Finalist last season with Jayme Lewis. Coming off her Singles Finalist finish in the singles, Meg will be hungry to nab her first Division Championship. Jayme will team with Linda Gardiner in her attempt to capture a companion trophy for the Singles Championship she won this season.
If the Doubles tourney is anything like the Singles event, then we should have some very exciting tennis this coming weekend. Hope to see you there.
Memorial Foundation
In case you haven’t already put it on your calendar, let me remind you that we have one of our biggest events coming up on Sunday, February 20th. The Gulf Harbour Memorial Foundation charities benefitted handsomely from the generosity of our tennis members last season, when our members' efforts generated over $17k for the Foundation.
I understand that Jim and Kathy Masiello have gotten us off to a great start by agreeing to be Title Sponsors of the event to the tune of several $k. According to event organizers, Connie Hess, Lili Canfield and Tim Baldwin:
“On Sunday, February 20th, the tennis community will once again sponsor the events that generated over $17,000.00 in contributions towards the 2010 Gulf Harbour Memorial Foundation. We will kick off this year’s activities with two "grab bag" round robin mixed doubles. Each round robin will be for three rounds for about 1 1/2 hours at a cost of $20.00. Each participant will receive an event goodie bag. There will also be fun fast serve and target tennis competitions at a cost of $10.00 a try. The tennis finale will be $5.00 a person for some really fun play with the pros that includes a funny twist as the moderator decides.
Concurrently, there will be a raffle for local goods and services, a separate 50-50 raffle and a bake sale provided by the awesome cooks of Gulf Harbour. An auction of donated boat rides, airplane rides, a week end at the beach and who knows what else will be held with Bill Wright as the primo auctioneer of all these wonderful donations. The Club will provide food and beverages to sustain you throughout this fun event. Please come join the tennis fun, eat lots of food and win some wonderful prizes.”
Pro LeagueThe Fort Myers Ritzman Tennis USPTA Pro League is in the final third of the season, and Boston Retirement Advisors (BRA), Mike & T. A.’s team, has made up the deficit on Johnny Malloy’s (JM), Joel’s team, and now sits in front by 3 points. Posting two strong weeks in a row, claiming nine of 10 possible points both weeks, BRA is poised to go into the playoffs in fine fashion.
In yesterday’s matches, all three Gulf Harbour pros emerged victorious in straight sets, although Joel and T. A. had to win tiebreaks to do so. The top two teams will face each other in the next Pro League chapter at Shadow Wood on February 11th, just three days after Mike turns 38. Hopefully Father Time won’t have slowed down “Da Dawg” too much over the next two weeks and we can build a commanding lead. I owe Joel one (wink) from last time.
Your Teams
About halfway through our league season, Gulf Harbour’s women’s and men’s teams are more than holding their own. On the strength of five sweeps, our 3.0 Double Trouble team is in 1st, but only by a slim four-point margin over Paseo. Double Trouble plays at home again on Monday, February 21st so make a calendar entry and come see our potential Division Champs play.
Our 3.5-Minus Sure Shots had been holding on to first for a few weeks, but because they have played two matches fewer than Cape Coral Yacht Club, the standings show them in second. I suspect that once rained-out matches and an equal number of matches have been played, our Sure Shots will once again sit atop the leaderboard. The Sure Shots next play at home on Wednesday, February 9th.
Our Defending Champion 3.0-Minus Dream Team has slipped to 4th, but is only six points out of 3rd. Given the current standings, it appears that 3rd is the best that the Dream Team can hope for after the triumphant run of last season. Third or 4th among ten teams is still an excellent showing. The Dream Teamers next play at home on Thursday, February 10th against the second-place Park Meadow team.
Other ladies teams maintaining top-five berths include our Bronze Stringers who sit in third-place, four points ahead of the fourth-place team, and our Gold team, which holds the fifth spot. The Stringers play this coming Wednesday the 2nd at home against Lexington, and Gold plays at home next on Friday, February 11th.
Not quite in the top-five, but knocking on the door is our 3.5-Minus Power Shots who are tied for 6th. Given the standings, a strong second-half showing could vault the Power Shots into the top-three by season’s end. Our 4.0 Team also has clawed its way into top-five contention, sitting just five points out of fifth-place. A top-five finish is well within reach of our 4.0 ladies, but it will take some strong outings the rest of the way.
On the men’s side of things, Gulf Harbour has two teams leading their divisions and two of the other four teams amongst the top-five. Leading the way is our White-B team, posting a seven-point advantage over Fiddlesticks in second place. However, our guys have played one match more than Fiddlesticks so the substantial lead (each match counts for 1 point in this league) is misleading. Our division-leading White-B team will take to our home courts tomorrow at 2pm, so come on out to help them maintain the lead.
Our other men’s Division Leader is our Red C team. Our Red men hold a two-point edge over West Bay, with whom they split matches (2-2) this past Thursday to hold on to the lead. They are next at home this Thursday, February 3rd against Legends.
Top-five contenders include both our Blue-A Teams. Team Cupaiuolo is in 3rd, moving three points ahead of the 4th-place Team Masiello after the teams’ most recent matches. Both teams are well within reach of the top spot in the Division, with Cupaiuolo trailing the leaders by three and Masiello by six. Team Masiello plays at home this Tuesday the 1st, while Team Cupaiuolo doesn’t play at home again until the 22nd.
As usual, you can find out when the teams play, as well as where they stand, by going to the Tennis Page of your Club website and clicking on the provided links. That’s about it for now folks. I’ll be back with you soon. Tournament participants, you will get specific info regarding the tournament by Wednesday evening. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Game, set, match, Gulf Harbour….
Great Job, T.A. You're getting good at this!
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