Stratford Tennis Club

The STRATFORD TENNIS CLUB held its annual Super Set tournament this past weekend. This event was for Club members only and required a lot of tennis play throughout the weekend. The beautiful, but hot weather brought out a record number of participants. Saturday was the day for the men’s and ladies’ singles events, while Sunday saw mens and ladies doubles play.

The men’s singles had 28 competitors, by far the most in the history of this event. The men’s singles A final was a rematch of last season’s Club Championship final, as #1 seed Bob Tamblyn faced #2 seed Richard Bast. Once again, the smart and steady play of Tamblyn was too much for Bast as Tamblyn won the championship with an 8-2 victory. The men’s A consolation final was a battle between youth and experience as 13 year old Luke Fischer took on crafty veteran Todd Chisholm. In a match that went back and forth with some great rallies, it was appropriate that it came down to a tie-breaker to decide the title. In the end youth prevailed as Fischer took the match 8-7 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). The men’s B championship also went to a teenager. 15 year old Collin Rose shut out Steve Gryba winning the title 8-0. The veterans got back on the winning side in the men’s B consolation category as Greg Misener edged Scott Landreth 8-7 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker).

The ladies singles A champion was Marta Andrekovic who scored an 8-5 victory over Johanna Billings in the championship final. The ladies B title went to Sandie Ennett as she downed Erma Weernick 8-5.

Sunday was doubles day with 14 mens and ladies teams entered, meaning 56 club competitors spent the day playing lots of tennis. The ladies doubles A final had the mother – daughter team of Marta and Sonja Andrekovic facing Johanna Billings and Debbie Murphy. The Andrekovics raced off to a big lead and couldn’t be caught scoring an 8-3 win to take the championship, giving Marta a sweep of the weekend’s ladies events.

The ladies A consolation title went to Carmen Miron and Jadzia Jenkens with an 8-5 victory over Annette Garneau and Liz Yundt. The ladies B final was won by Michele Thomson and Erma Weernick who defeated Lise Couture and Bev Paterson 8-3. The 84 year old Paterson was one of the most impressive players on the weekend, holding her own against the heat and younger competitors. Allison Hiller and Barb Thibeault took the ladies B consolation championship with an 8-4 victory over Michele Speak and Laura Martin.

The A final for men’s doubles was another rematch of last season’s club championship final. Bob Tamblyn and Kurt Eickmeier won the Club’s men’s double title last year, but in this event they could not hold off teenagers Grant McPherson and Travis Hiller. McPherson and Hiller fought out of a 7-4 deficit breaking the veterans serve two times to get to a tie-breaker where the youths won the championship. The 8-7 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) win for McPherson and Hiller was the match of the weekend and a real crowd pleaser.

The men’s A consolation title went to Bill White and Zdenko Andrekovic who scored an 8-6 victory over Brent Hiller and Murray Schiedel. Another tie-breaker was needed to determine the men’s B champions. Jim Wilson and Steve Scott took down Bill Steele and Stuart Arkett 7 points to 1 in the tie-breaker to win the B championship. Steven R. Schwartzentruber and Mike Schiedel took the men’s B title when their opponents could not continue.

The full weekend of tennis drew a good crowd of spectators who were entertained all weekend with the great play and close matches. The players now prepare for the Club Championship tournaments that take place in August.

Bill White