This past weekend the Stratford Tennis Club held its annual men’s and ladies doubles championship tournaments. The large number of entries and spectacular weather made for a busy and wonderful weekend for both players and spectators.
A deep field of contenders in the men’s doubles had some top flight matches all through the weekend. The top half of the draw had top seeds and defending champions Bob Tamblyn and Kurt Eickmeier face former finalists Nathan Duh and Greg Vivian in the semifinals. The dramatic first set had Duh and Vivian get a break of serve to take a 4-3 lead but this sparked the 2012 champions to up their game. Breaking right back Tamblyn and Eickmeier went on a roll winning 9 straight games to advance to the final with a 6-4 6-0 victory. The bottom half of the draw had second seed and former champions John Noble and Richard Bast face third seed Spencer Trachsel and Shannon Dyke in the semifinal. The dramatic match went to a tie-breaker in both sets. Trachsel and Dyke scored a 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tiebreaker) 7-6 (7 points to 3 in the tie-breaker) victory to advance to their first men’s doubles final. The Tamblyn/Eickmeier – Trachsel/Dyke final was the match of the weekend.
Both teams had spurts of momentum only to have the other team respond with their own run of games. Tamblyn and Eickmeier took a quick lead in the first set but Trachsel and Dyke made a run to close the gap. In the end Tamblyn and Eickmeier managed to close out the set scoring a 6-4 win. Trachsel and Dyke rebounded to take the second set by the same 6-4 score setting up a third and final set for the title. The deciding set went on serve until the ninth game. The long game saw both teams have multiple game points. Eventually Tamblyn and Eickmeier converted a break point for the lead. Eickmeier’s big service game closed out the match giving the defending champions a 6-4 , 4-6, 6-4 victory and their second straight championship.
The men’s ‘B’ doubles final had teenagers Travis Hiller and Jeremy Chisholm take on Pat McCarroll and Graham Heaton. Hiller and Chisholm knocked off defending champions Mike Furlong and Jagdish Patel in their semifinal match, while McCarroll and Heaton took out brothers Christopher and Cory Smith in their semifinal. The final was dominated by the youngsters as Hiller and Chisholm scored a 6-2, 6-2 win to take their first championship.
The ladies doubles event was dominated by Krista Plociennik and Claire Scott. Plociennik and Scott eased to the final with a 6-1 6-2 win over Sandie Ennett and Nancy Chung in their semifinal. The other semifinal had mother and daughter team of Marta and Sonja Andrekovic take on 11 time former champions Ginny Smith and Linda Doig. The Andrekovics were able to hold off Smith and Doig scoring a 6-2 6-4 win to advance to the final. In the final Plociennik and Scott once again proved to be to tough, using power and touch to cruise to a 6-2 6-1 victory. This is the fourth straight ladies doubles championship for Plociennik and Scott.
The ladies ‘B’ doubles had 2009 and 2010 champions Marilyn Leasa and Lise Couture take on Annette Garneau and Heather Henke. Leasa/Couture advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Caryn Scott and Noella Schiedel. Garneau/Henke went to the final after downing Allison Hiller and Julie Drake 6-1 6-0 in their semifinal. The final saw a tense, close first set with Leasa and Couture able to score a 6-4 win. The momentum was all with Leasa and Couture in the second set as they cruised to a 6-0 victory to take their third ladies ‘B’ doubles title in the last five years.
Bill White
Ladies ‘A’ Winners: Claire Scott & Krista Plociennik
Mens ‘A’ Winners: Bob Tamblyn & Kurt Eickmier
Ladies ‘B’ Winners: Marilyn Leasa & Lise Couture
Mens ‘B’ Winners: Jeremy Chisolm & Travis Hiller