Week 3 of the Stratford Tennis League is in the books. The early game saw PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES regain their winning form as they scored a  9 – 3 win over JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET. Richard Bast and Tom Warnock of PHYSIO took the #1 men’s doubles 6-1  6-2 over Nathan Walsh and Paul Barclay. The #2 men’s doubles also went to PHYSIO as Todd Chisholm and Gary Henry downed Cameron Kramer and Stuart Arkett 7-5  6-1. JOLANDA’S #1 ladies doubles team of Krista Plociennik and Deb Murphy got their team on the scoreboard with a 6-0  6-0 pasting of Johanna Billings and Annette Garneau. PHYSIO’s Ginny Smith and Marilyn Leasa got PHYSIO back on the winning track in the #2 ladies doubles with a 6-2  6-3 win over Jolanda Vandereigk and Monica Eickmeyer.

JOLANDA’S took the #1 mixed match as Plociennik and Walsh dominated Billings and Bast 6-1. PHYSIO’s Garneau and Warnock scored a 6-3 win over Murphy and Barclay in the #2 mixed match. Smith and Chisholm won the #3 mixed for PHYSIO with a 6-3 downing of Vandereigk and Kramer. PHYSIO completed their impressive victory with a 6-0 win by Leasa and Henry over Eickmeyer and Arkett in the #4 mixed match. The 9 sets to 3 sets victory by PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES moves them back into second place in the Startford Tennis League standings.

The late game saw DONKERS AGRI’s winning streak get snapped as SNAP scored a 7 – 5 victory. The #1 men’s doubles was a split as SNAP’s Chris Parson and Greg Vivian took the first set 6-3 , while DONKERS’ Bob Tamblyn and Bill White rebounded to take the second set 6-2. Jack Watson and Larry Shurrie of SNAP won the first set of the #2 men’s doubles 6-4 but Mike Furlong and Brian Arens of DONKERS evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. SNAP took the first set of the ladies #1 doubles as Marta Andrekovic and Nancy Rheaume edged Linda Doig and Maria Donkers 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) while Doig and Donkers scored a 7-5 win in the second set. Nancy Chung and Cathy Mowbray of SNAP won both sets of the ladies #2 doubles , scoring a 6-1  6-4 victory over Lise Couture and Sandra Darby.

Doig and Tamblyn won the #1 mixed match for DONKERS with a 7-5 victory over Andrekovic and Parson. SNAP’s Rheaume and Vivian took the #2 mixed 6-4 over Donkers and White. The #3 mixed also went to SNAP as Chung and Watson defeated Couture and Furlong 6-3. DONKERS took the #4 mixed as Darby and Arens edged Mowbray and Shurrie  7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). The 7 sets to 5 sets victory for SNAP gave DONKERS their first loss of the season. DONKERS remains in top spot in the standings while SNAP’s first victory moves them 2 points out of third place.

Week 4 will see this week’s losing teams JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET and DONKERS AGRI face off in the early game; while PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES will take on SNAP in the late game.

  Week 3 of the Stratford Tennis League is in the books. The early game saw PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES regain their winning form as they scored a 9 – 3 win over JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET. Richard Bast and Tom Warnock of PHYSIO took the #1 men’s doubles 6-1  6-2 over Nathan Walsh and Paul Barclay. The #2 men’s doubles also went to PHYSIO as Todd Chisholm and Gary Henry downed Cameron Kramer and Stuart Arkett 7-5  6-1. JOLANDA’S #1 ladies doubles team of Krista Plociennik and Deb Murphy got their team on the scoreboard with a 6-0  6-0 pasting of Johanna Billings and Annette Garneau. PHYSIO’s Ginny Smith and Marilyn Leasa got PHYSIO back on the winning track in the #2 ladies doubles with a 6-2  6-3 win over Jolanda Vandereigk and Monica Eickmeyer.

JOLANDA’S took the #1 mixed match as Plociennik and Walsh dominated Billings and Bast 6-1. PHYSIO’s Garneau and Warnock scored a 6-3 win over Murphy and Barclay in the #2 mixed match. Smith and Chisholm won the #3 mixed for PHYSIO with a 6-3 downing of Vandereigk and Kramer. PHYSIO completed their impressive victory with a 6-0 win by Leasa and Henry over Eickmeyer and Arkett in the #4 mixed match. The 9 sets to 3 sets victory by PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES moves them back into second place in the Startford Tennis League standings.

The late game saw DONKERS AGRI’s winning streak get snapped as SNAP scored a 7 – 5 victory. The #1 men’s doubles was a split as SNAP’s Chris Parson and Greg Vivian took the first set 6-3 , while DONKERS’ Bob Tamblyn and Bill White rebounded to take the second set 6-2. Jack Watson and Larry Shurrie of SNAP won the first set of the #2 men’s doubles 6-4 but Mike Furlong and Brian Arens of DONKERS evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. SNAP took the first set of the ladies #1 doubles as Marta Andrekovic and Nancy Rheaume edged Linda Doig and Maria Donkers 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) while Doig and Donkers scored a 7-5 win in the second set. Nancy Chung and Cathy Mowbray of SNAP won both sets of the ladies #2 doubles , scoring a 6-1  6-4 victory over Lise Couture and Sandra Darby.

Doig and Tamblyn won the #1 mixed match for DONKERS with a 7-5 victory over Andrekovic and Parson. SNAP’s Rheaume and Vivian took the #2 mixed 6-4 over Donkers and White. The #3 mixed also went to SNAP as Chung and Watson defeated Couture and Furlong 6-3. DONKERS took the #4 mixed as Darby and Arens edged Mowbray and Shurrie  7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). The 7 sets to 5 sets victory for SNAP gave DONKERS their first loss of the season. DONKERS remains in top spot in the standings while SNAP’s first victory moves them 2 points out of third place.

Week 4 will see this week’s losing teams JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET and DONKERS AGRI face off in the early game; while PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES will take on SNAP in the late game.

Bill White

 This weekend the Stratford Tennis Club held the second leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam. The “French Open” had competitors in two age categories for the boys and one category for the girls. The Boys Under 18 category saw many of the younger players move up an age group and take on the older boys.

Grant McPherson, who won the Australian Open in the Under 14 category, showed he belonged in the older age group. McPherson advanced to the final where he took on Boys Under 18 Australian Open champion John Fischer. In the final McPherson scored an 8-5 victory to take the Boys Under 18 French Open title. The consolation title went to Ben Nelson. Nelson lost a heartbreaking first round match 8-7 to finalist John Fischer but won three rounds in the consolation division, taking the final 8-3 over Lukas Kaufman. 

The Boys Under 14 category saw the #1 and #2 seeds upset in the semifinals. Joe Yundt took out #1 seed Stefan Andrekovic in one semifinal, advancing to his first Grand Slam final. In the other semifinal #2 seed Luke McCarroll fell to Ryan Lay sending Lay into the final. Lay continued his stellar play downing Yundt 8-2 in the championship match to claim the Boys Under 14 title. The consolation final saw Michael Vandeweil take the title with an 8-0 drubbing of Dorian Redfern.

The Girls final once again saw a battle between sisters Sonja and Alexandra Andrekovic. Sonja continued her domination of Grand Slam events, winning the French Open final 8-5 adding to her Australian Open championship won last month. Australian Open finalist Nicolle Crowley fell to the consolation round this tournament where she defeated Jenna Lobsinger 8-3 to take the French Open consolation title. 

Next up for juniors at the Stratford Tennis Club is the Optimist Junior Tennis Day; Saturday, June 23. Open to members and non-members the Optimist Day should see many young tennis enthusiasts having a great morning of tennis fun. The Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam continues with the “Wimbledon” event on July 7. 

This week the Stratford Tennis League completed week 2 of its 9 week regular season. The early game saw last weeks winners face off against each other. Last week both PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES and DONKERS AGRI scored impressive victories. This week is was all DONKERS AGRI. DONKERS got the winning started with its #1 ladies doubles team of Linda Doig and Maria Donkers taking down Johanna Billings and Annette Garneau 7-5  6-4. The #2 ladies doubles also went to DONKERS as Sandie Ennett and Louise Lever scored a 6-4 6-2 over Ginny Smith and Marilyn Holmes. The #1 men’s doubles had Bob Tamblyn and Bill White of DONKERS double up Richard Bast and Tom Warnock  6-3  6-3. DONKERS completed the sweep in the #2 men’s doubles with Brent Hiller and Mike Furlong scoring a 6-3  6-4 win over Todd Chisholm and Garth Nussey.

PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES finally got on the board in the mixed doubles matches. The #1 mixed match was won by PHYSIO’s Billings and Bast as they downed Doig and Tamblyn  6-4. PHYSIO’s Garneau and Warnock then took the #2 mixed 6-3 over Donkers and White. Smith and Chisholm won the #3 mixed for PHYSIO as they defeated Ennett and Hiller 6-4. DONKERS finally got back on the winning side as Lever and Furlong topped Holmes and Nussey in the #4 mixed match. This was the second straight 9 sets to 3 victory for DONKERS AGRI putting them in first place in the league standings.

The late game also saw one team dominate as JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET easily handled SNAP. The #1 ladies doubles had JOLANDA’S Krista Plociennik and Deb Murphy winning 6-1  6-3 over Marta Andrekovic and Nancy Chung. Gail Shelton and Monica Eickmeyer won the #2 ladies doubles for JOLANDA’S 6-2  6-1 over Cathy Mowbray and Noella Schiedel. The #1 men’s doubles went to JOLANDA’S 6-1 6-1 as John Noble and Nathan Walsh crushed Chris Parson and Greg Vivian. SNAP got their first wins in the #2 men’s doubles as Jack Watson and Larry Shurrie took down Pat McCarroll and Kosmo Kramer 6-4 7-5.

The #1 mixed doubles went to JOLANDA’S with Plociennik and Noble beating Andrekovic and Parson 6-1. Murphy and Walsh scored a 6-2 victory over Chung and Vivian to take the #2 mixed doubles set for JOLANDA’S. The #3 mixed also went to JOLANDA’S as Shelton and McCarroll took out Mowbray and Watson 6-1. The #4 mixed was won by SNAP with Schiedel and Shurrie defeating Eickmeyer and Kramer 6-2. The 9 sets to 3 victory for JOLANDA’S moves the team into second place after two weeks of play.

Next weeks match ups will see PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES take on JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET in the early game and SNAP will face DONKERS AGRI in the late game.

This weekend the Tennis Access Tour made its annual stop at the Stratford Tennis Club. Players from across the province made their way to the Stratford Club for rain delayed men’s and ladies doubles on Saturday, and battled the heat on Sunday to compete in the mixed doubles event. Players from the host Club had a great weekend with winners or finalists in 5 of the 6 events, making this the most successful tennis access event for Stratford players in history.
For the first time in over 25 years a Stratford player was on the winning men’s ‘A’ doubles team. Max Besworth and his partner Matt Jaekel (London) dominated every match they played on Saturday including the ‘A’ final where the scored an 8 – 3 victory over Scott Barrett and Colin Doll of Toronto. The men’s ‘B’ final saw Stratford’s John Noble and Richard Bast get off to a great start before running out of gas and falling 8 – 5 to Collingwood’s Paul Cornfield and Bob Coady.
 The Ladies ‘A’ championship went to Sandra Barrett and Sue Scharlach of Toronto who downed Sara Arashmin and Cheryl Burrows of Ajax in the final 8 games to 5. The ladies ‘B’ final was an all Stratford affair, and the closest final of the weekend. Johanna Billings and Deb Murphy were able to edge Maria Donkers and Sandie Ennett 8 -7 (7 points to 1 in the tie-breaker) to take the title.
 Stratford took a part of the mixed ‘A’ title as the home club’s Bob Tamblyn teamed with Barrett to defeat Scharlach and Doll 8 – 6 in a well played final. Stratford’s Grant McPherson, at 13 by far the youngest competitor in the event, put on a great display in the mixed doubles. Grant teamed with Cheryl Burrows (Ajax) to have one impressive win after another, advancing to the mixed ‘B’ final where they fell 8 – 0 to Porjai Jansresattana and Steve Rumazza of Milton.

Men’s Doubles ‘A’ Champions (l to r) Matt Jaekel (London) and Max Besworth (Stratford)

Mixed Doubles ‘A’ (l to r) Champions Bob Tamblyn (Stratford) + Sandie Ennett (Toronto), Finalists Colin Doll + Sue Scharlach (Toronto)

Ladies Doubles ‘B’ (l to r) Finalists Maria Donkers + Sandie Ennett (Stratford), Champions Johanna Billings + Deb Murphy (Stratford)

Bill White

The Stratford Tennis League began this week with the first week of a nine week regular season. The early game had PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES face off against SNAP. The #1 men’s doubles saw PHYSIO’s Richard Bast and Murray Schiedel down Chris Parson and Spencer Trachsel 6-2 6-3; while the #2 men’s doubles team of PHYSIO, Todd Chisholm and Garth Nussey  dominated Gary Henry and Sing Chung 6-0 6-3. The ladies of SNAP faired a bit better as their #1 ladies doubles team of Nancy Chung and Nancy Rheaume scored a 6-4 6-3 win over Johanna Billings and Annette Garneau. PHYSIO got back on the winning track in the ladies #2 doubles with Ginny Smith and Marilyn Leasa edging Cathy Mowbray and Liz Yundt 7-5 6-4.

The mixed doubles matches also saw PHYSIO in control. The #1 mixed went to PHYSIO with Billings and Bast outlasting Chung and Parson 7-5; SNAP took the #2 mixed match as Rheaume and Trachsel routed Garneau and Schiedel 6-2; PHYSIO’s Smith and Chisholm scored a 6-4 victory over Mowbray and Henry in the #3 mixed match; PHYSIO’s #4 mixed team of Leasa and Nussey had an easy 6-1 win over Yundt and Chung giving PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES a convincing 9 sets to 3 sets victory over team SNAP.

 The late game was a match up between DONKERS AGRI and JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET. The #1 men’s doubles saw a split of sets as JOLANDA’s John Noble and Nathan Walsh pounded Bill White and Brent Hiller 6-0 in the first set only to see DONKERS White and Hiller return the favour scoring a 6-0 win in the second set. The #2 men’s doubles went to DONKERS as Mike Furlong and Jagdish Patel defeated Pat McCarroll and Cameron Kramer 6-4 6-3. The #1 ladies doubles split sets with Linda Doig and Maria Donkers of DONKERS taking the first set 6-2 and JOLANDA’S Krista Plociennik and Deb Murphy taking the second set 6-4. DONKERS took the #2 ladies doubles 6-3 6-1 as Lise Couture and Sandie Ennett downed Jolanda VanDerEijk and Ivy Chung.

JOLANDA’S took the #1 mixed match as Plociennik and Noble topped Doig and White 6-4; DONKERS #2 mixed team of Donkers and Hiller easily downed Murphy and Walsh 6-1; Couture and Furlong took the #3 mixed match for DONKERS 6-2 over Vandereijk and McCarroll; and Ennett and Patel of DONKERS won the #4 mixed match 6-1 over Kramer and Chung to finalize a 9 set to 3 set victory for DONKERS AGRI.

    Play resumes next week with the early games seeing PHYSIOTHERAPY ASSOCIATES face DONKERS AGRI while SNAP takes on JOLANDA’S DIET SECRET in the late game.

Bill White

This past Saturday the Stratford Tennis Club had over 80 junior tennis enthusiasts participating in a couple of the Club’s programs. The free Saturday morning progressive kids program had over 40 youngsters learning the basics of the game while 36 older kids took part in the first leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam.

The “Australian Open” saw the players divided into 3 categories on the boys side and 2 categories on the girls side. The Girls Under 18 event was dominated by Sonja Andrekovic. Sonja’s steady play lead her to the championship, this time over rising star Nicolle Crowley. Nicolle, the youngest competitor in the girls draw was no match for Sonja on this day as Andrekovic cruised to an 8-0 victory. The Girls Under 16 final was won by Jennifer Jaeger who downed Jenna Lobsinger 8-3 for the title.

The Boys Under 18 winner was John Fischer. John took out Ciaran Buckley in the final 8-3 to take the gold medal. The Boys Under 14 event saw top calibre play all through the draw. The final was an one of the best matches of the day where Grant McPherson scored an 8-4 win over Luke Fischer. The consolation title in the Boys Under 14 category was won by Matt Vandewiel , defeating Ryan Lay 8-4 in the final match. The Boys Under 12 category saw close matches all day with several tie-breakers being needed to determine the winners. The championship match saw Stefan Andrekovic face Luke McCarroll, with Andrekovic taking the title with an 8-5 win.

The “French Open” will be the second leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam and takes place at the Stratford Tennis Club on Saturday, June 16.     

Picture 1 – (l to r)  Sonja Andrekovic , girls under 18 champion ; Nicolle Crowley , girls under 18 runner up  

Picture 2 – (l to r)  Luke McCarroll , boys under 12 runner up ; Stefan Andrekovic , boys under 12 champion

Picture 1-  (l to r) Ciaran Buckley , boys under 18 runner up ; John Fischer , boys under 18 champion

Picture 2 – (l to r)   Matt Vandewiel , boys under 14 consolation champion; Ryan Lay, boys under 14 consolation runner up

Picture 1 – (l to r)  Jennifer Jaeger , girls under 16 champion ; Jenna Lobsinger , girls under 16 runner up   

Picture 2 – (l to r)  Luke Fischer , boys under 14 runner up ; Grant McPherson , boys under 14 champion

Mother nature seems determined to curtail the play on our clay courts! It was however, a great Thanksgiving weekend weather wise, and many took advantage of that fact and got out to play. The club is now officially closed.

On behalf of the club members, I want to thank Bill White, for his dedication and commitment towards making our club the excellent facility that it is. Our clay courts are the best around this area, and our increasing membership is an indicator that our club is well managed and a fun place to be.

If you use the courts in the coming days, please use good judgement in determining whether they are playable. Also, if all the courts are in use, please be mindful of any members who may be waiting to play . See you in 2012!

Although the temperature outside has dropped considerably, some fine tennis weather is still to be had. This season has been an outstanding one and morning tennis and the round robins are still going strong, so come on out if you are still keen to play! The clubhouse will remain open until Thanksgiving. After that time the courts will be maintained and play will continue as long as the weather holds out.
A hearty thanks goes out to to Brent and Allison Hiller of Hiller Realty, for sponsoring all the Junior Grand Slam events this season. This event provided a marvelous opportunity for our younger members to play competitively and develop their skills. It was a very successful program and all the participants had a wonderful experience.
The Waterloo tennis club is again offering our club members a 40% discount off their regular winter rates. Some members took advantage of this offer last year and had a great time on the courts. Please contact John Noble or Richard Bast for further details.
Our president, John Noble, extended thanks to Bill for another year of dedication and commitment to making this the best tennis club on the planet. He said, ” It sounds grand in scale but I don’t think I am far off. Bill on behalf of the board and club members. Thank You!!!! Words alone can not possible describe what you mean to this club. The staff under your direction has been the best we have had since my association with the club. “
John has also made the difficult decision that this will be his last term as Club President. It has become difficult for him to find that healthy balance between work and play and still give the club the attention it deserves. He remarked that It has been a great experience sitting in this position and his passion and dedication to the club remains unchanged. He will still continue to assist in any way possible to keep this the best sports and family facility going.
During his term as president, John has certainly been a very enthusiastic and dedicated president and succeeded in implementing many changes that had a positive impact on our club. We will truly miss the guidance, insight and resourcefulness that he brought to the table. The AGM will be his last formal function as President and he will of course, provide the new President all the resources and assistance to make the transition a smooth one. He realizes that there are some great people at the club that can continue to lead the club in a healthy direction. If you are interested in this or any other board position, please contact a board member.
Bingos will continue to be an important means of fundraising for the club. If you can help out in 2012, please call Steve Fisher at 273 5123.