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Florida Players Successful at ITF Super Senior Int. Team Chps.

October 27, 2010 08:35 PM
The USA Bitsy Grant Cup champions: Powless, Van Nostrand, Hammes, and Nelson
The USA Crawford Cup runners-up: Bachmann, Hernando, Sack,
and Farzanegan
 The USA Gibson Cup champions; Fales, deVries, Wood, and Graham
The USA Godfree Cup runners-up: Delfausse, Steel, Hillebrand,
and Wachob
The USA Marble Cup champions: Carter, Clay, Young, and Downing
The USA Mulloy Cup runners-up: Hopp, Bradshaw, Seymour, and Russell
The USA Queens Cup champions: Van Nostrand, Matthiessen, Herrick,
and Boswell
The USA Von Cramm Cup champions: Turville, Newman, Bolton,
and Cheney
By Carolyn A. Nichols

The USA put in perhaps its best-ever performance in international senior team play at the 30th annual International Tennis Federation (ITF) Super Senior International Team Competition in Antalya, Turkey, Oct. 11-16, 2010, winning six of the nine cups contested and reaching the final of the remaining three cups.

The USA won the men's 60 (Von Cramm), 65 (Britannia), 75 (Bitsy Grant) and women's 60 (Alice Marble), 70 (Althea Gibson) and 75 (Queens) Cups, and finished second in the Men's 70 (Jack Crawford), 80 (Gardnar Mulloy) and Women's 65 (Kitty Godfree) Cups.

Florida players on the U.S. teams were Carol Clay, Ft. Lauderdale; Kerry Young, Maitland; Betty Wachob, Panama City; Donna Fales, Coral Gables; Ria Graham, Port Richey; Boots Van Nostrand, Vero Beach; Larry Turville, Naples; Rudy Hernando, Ft. Lauderdale; Fred Farzanegan, Tampa; Joe Bachmann, Sarasota; King Van Nostrand, Vero Beach; and Clem Hopp, Sarasota.

The event is the senior equivalent of Davis or Fed Cup. The USA were the defending champion of the Britannia Cup for men 65 and over, and the Bitsy Grant Cup for men 75 and over.

The final day started ominously, with a thunder and lightning storm and heavy rains, and finished under lightning-splashed skies, but in between the skies cleared and the Cups were completed just before the second deluge hit.

Clay and Young were members of the victorious Alice Marble Cup for women 60 and over. Clay was the playing captain and Young was the #2 single player. Neither lost a singles match all week, in fact Young won her singles match against France in the final 6-0, 6-0! They were joined by Martha Downing (Calif.) and Brenda Carter (S.C.). It was the first win for the USA in the Alice Marble Cup since 1997. Seeded second, they beat Great Britain in the semis and then France for the Cup. France beat top seeded Australia in the semifinals.

Wachob was the playing captain for the Kitty Godfree Cup for women 65 and over and played #2 singles and doubles. The USA upset Germany 2-1 in the semifinals, with Wachob playing an inspired match at #2 singles against Renate Schroeder, winning 6-0, 6-2, and combining with Charleen Hillebrand (Calif.) to win the deciding doubles over Schroeder/Heide Orth. In the final, the USA played Great Britain, and Wachob won a tough three-set match over Sue Hill to get the USA off to a good start; Hillebrand lost a tough match at #1 singles, which set the stage for the deciding doubles match for the Cup. After discussion, the team decided to play Hillebrand/Wachob in the final against Maclennan/Hill, under the lights. The Americans and British split sets and though the third set had a lot of close games, the British won them all and the Cup.

Fales and Graham were members of the Althea Gibson Cup for women 70 and over. Fales was the playing captain and top singles player. Graham was playing on her first Cup team. They were joined by Carol Wood (Md.) and Dori deVries (Nev.). Fales went undefeated during the week. The team finished third in 2009 in Perth, but with the addition of Fales, were top seeded in Turkey. In the final, against Germany, deVries lost a tough match to Renate Castelucci, but Fales tied the match with a straight set win at #1 singles over Sigrun Furmann. Fales/deVries took the court for the deciding doubles and were up 4-2 against Nanda Fischer/Furmann, when Furmann fell and broke her arm, ending the match and giving the tie to the USA.

Van Nostrand was the playing captain for the Queens Cup (75+) team. The USA was seeded #1 out of nine teams. There were three groups of three teams; the top finishers in each group then played for the Cup. Those teams were New Zealand, Great Britain and the USA. The USA beat Great Britain and then New Zealand to win the Cup.

Their only moment of worry on the final day was when no one could find #2 singles player Burnett Herrick (N.C.) when the rain delay was nearing an end. Van Nostrand had her teammates, Mary Boswell (Md.) and Dorothy Matthiessen (Calif.) and her husband, King, all out looking for Burnett. The tournament site is quite large (three restaurants, a spa, 60 courts) and so it wasn't an easy task. Matthiessen ultimately tracked her down at the spa where she was having a rub down, and Burnett bolted out of the spa, grabbed her playing gear and ran for the courts with King following with her racquets. She won her match, as did Matthiessen, in straight sets.

The Von Cramm Cup for men 60 and over had the most dramatic finish of the week. Turville was joined by Brian Cheney (Ariz.), Padg Bolton (La.), and Neal Newman (Ohio). They played Spain in the final in a repeat of last year's final, which was won by Spain 2-1. This year Cheney, playing #2 singles, played an excellent match against Luis Flor, mixing up spins and patiently waiting his opportunities to attack. Jorge Camina took on Turville and edged him in two tight sets in heavy conditions (due to the rains earlier).

By this time dusk was approaching. Newman/Turville took on Camina and Jairo Velasco for the Cup. Velasco is a former Davis Cup player. USA rallied from a set down to win the first set; got down a break early and didn't come back in the second, setting the stage for the final set of the last match being played. There was a good crowd for this match and it was worthy of one; the points were fabulous despite the poor lighting. The U.S. was down a break early and Spain led 5-3 with Turville serving. No worries, the U.S. held, broke Velasco and held again to lead 6-5. Spain held to force a tiebreak won 7-4 by the USA.

Hernando, Farzanegan, and Bachmann were all members of the Crawford Cup team for men 70 and over. Lester Sack of Louisiana was the fourth member of the team and Farzanegan was the playing captain. The team reached the semis without incident, where they faced a tough German team. Bachmann won at #2 singles over Ruediger Schoening. Farzanegan played a good match against German #1 Klaus Klein but lost 6-2, 7-6.

The deciding doubles was played by Bachmann/Hernando against Kline/Zimmers. Bachmann got everything back and Hernando hit some great forehands and volleys, but the Germans evened the match at a set apiece. The Americans came out steaming in the third, winning it so decisively that one onlooker commented that it was a good thing there was no testing since the players were so dominant in the third set. The next day the USA played Austria, led by Peter Pokorny. Bachmann won at #2 singles over Peter Kruck; Sack fell to Porkorny at #1 singles and Pokorny/Kruck were too tough in the doubles winning it over Farzanegan/Hernando in straight sets.

Van Nostrand led the USA's Bitsy Grant Cup team for men 75 and over. He was joined by John Powless (Wisc.), Gordon Hammes (Mass.), and Chuck Nelson (Calif.). The only tense moment was in the round robin stage for this team. They played Netherlands and Van Nostrand lost at #1 singles, to Michael Van Berckel, a rarity. The team agreed to play Powless/Van Nostrand in the deciding doubles and after a tense first set in which the Dutch team had a set point, the Americans won 7-6(13), 6-1. In the final they beat Germany 3-0 with Powless and Van Nostrand each allowing their opponents a mere game.

Hopp was a member of the Mulloy Cup team for the third straight year and once again the team finished second, this year to Canada. Hopp's teammates were Russell Seymour (Tex.), Jack Bradshaw (Ind.) and Joe Russell (Ohio). The USA easily won their round robin group and played a three-team round robin for the Cup. They beat France 3-0 and then played Canada, led by 12-time world singles champion Lorne Main, and Ken Sinclair. Sinclair edged Russell 7-5, 7-5 at #2 singles and Main allowed only a game to Hopp in clinching the Cup.






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