The Stratford Tennis Club closed out its competive schedule this weekend with the 8th annual Masters Doubles Tournament. 21 teams participated in the Men’s and Ladies events. Matches were ‘pro sets’, first team to win 8 games would take the match.  

The Ladies draw saw a couple first time partners making the ‘A’ final. Marta Andrekovic and Monica Eickmeyer took on Michele Thomson and Sandie Ennett in the championship match. Andrekovic and Eickmeyer pushed out to a lead but Thomson and Ennett climbed back into the match. With Andrekovic and Eickmeyer leading 7-6 Thomson and Ennett needed a service break to send the match to a tie breaker. Andrekovic and Eickmeyer stood strong taking the game and the championship with an 8-6 victory. This is the third Masters championship for Andrekovic and the first for Eickmeyer. The Ladies ‘A’ consolation winners are Erma Weernink and Maria Donkers who doubled up Carmen Miron and Janet Bradley taking the title with an 8-4 victory.

The Ladies ‘B’ final saw Johanna Billings and Deb Murphy in complete control as they scored an 8-2 win over Heather Henke and Nancy Rheaume. The Ladies ‘B’ consolation title went to Gail Shelton and Cathy Mowbray who downed Barb Thibeault and Allison Hiller 8-3 in the championship match.

The Men’s ‘A’ saw a changing of the guard with two teams making their first appearance in the championship match. John Noble and Kurt Eickmeier eliminated 4 time defending champions Zdenko Andrekovic and Bill White to advance to the championship match; while Jason Erb and Wayne Carney took out Jagdish Patel (who had won the first 3 Masters ‘A’ titles) and Mike Furlong. The Men’s ‘A’ final followed the pattern of the Ladies ‘A’ final. Erb and Carney took a 7-3 lead before Noble and Eickmeier made their run. Winning 3 straight games Noble and Eickmeier got back on serve and just needed a service hold to get to a tie breaker. But Erb and Carney would not be denied, they broke serve and won the championship 8 games to 6. This is the first title for Erb and Carney.

The Men’s ‘A’ consolation title went to Andrekovic and White as they downed Patel and Furlong 8-5 in the final. The Men’s ‘B’ championship went to Pat McCarroll and Paul Coates. McCarroll and Coates stormed back in the final against Brent Hiller and Murray Schiedel getting to a tie breaker where they triumphed 8 points to 6 points. The ‘B’ consolation title went to Jeffrey Sun and Stuart Arkett who dominated Mike Murphy and Rob Teasdale, winning 8-0 in the final.

 Bill White                                         Wayne Carney and Jason Erb (men’s ‘A’ champions) , Marta Andrekovic and Monica Eickmeyer (ladies ‘A’ champions)