The often rain delayed STRATFORD TENNIS LEAGUE completed its regular season this week. The early game saw Snap’d take on Sunrise Health Services. Play began with Sunrise taking the #1 Ladies Doubles as Marta Andrekovic and Naomi Lange downed Linda Doig and Deb Murphy 6-4  6-3. Snap’d rebounded winning the #2 Ladies Doubles with Marilyn Leasa and Michele Thomson taking out Erma Weernink and Marilyn Holmes 6-1 6-2. The #1 Men’s Doubles had teams split sets as Grant McPherson and Chris Parson of Snap’d took the first set 6-3 before Paul Coates and John Fischer of Sunrise responded with a 6-1 victory in the second set. Snap’d dominated the #2 Men’s Doubles as Luke Fischer and father Stephen Fischer rolled over Ryan Lay and Cameron Kramer 6-1 6-1.

The #1 Mixed Doubles went to Sunrise as Andrekovic and Coates edged Doig and McPherson 6-4. Lange and John Fischer took the #2 Mixed Doubles for Sunrise doubling up Murphy and Parson 6-3. Sunrise continued its success with Weernink and Lay winning the the #3 Mixed Doubles 6-4 over Leasa and Luke Fischer. The #4 Mixed Doubles went to Snap’d with Thomson and Stephen Fischer taking out Holmes and Kramer 6-1. The match ended with each team winning 6 sets.

The late game was not as close. Auto Works got their game in gear and dominated Donkers Agri. The #1 Ladies Doubles saw Johanna Billings and Cox Wensink of Auto Works defeat Sandie Ennett and Maria Donkers 6-4 6-3. Auto Works also took the #2 Ladies Doubles with Nancy Chung and Cathy Mowbray scoring a 6-3 6-0 win over Lindsay Murray and Debbie Mitchell. The #1 Men’s Doubles saw Richard Bast and Brent Hiller of Donkers win the first set 6-2 while Jeremy Chisholm and Murray Schiedel of Auto Works took the second set 6-1. The #2 Men’s Doubles went to Todd Chisholm and Mike Schiedel of Auto Works who downed Lanny Hoare and Stuart Arkett 6-4 6-4. 

Donkers took the #1 Mixed Doubles as Ennett and Bast edged Billings and J. Chisholm 7-5. Auto Works won the #2 Mixed Doubles with Wensink and Murray Schiedel scoring a 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) victory over Donkers and Hiller. Chung and Todd Chisholm of Auto Works won the #3 Mixed Doubles 6-3 over Murray and Hoare. Auto Works completed their domination in the #4 Mixed Doubles with Mowbray and Mike Schiedel shutting out Mitchell and Arkett 6-0. In their best result of the season, Auto Works cruised to a 10 sets to 2 sets victory.

The regular season ended with Snap’d holding onto first place. Donkers Agri and Auto Works tied for second place in number of sets won, but Donkers won the spot with a better games won/games lost differential. Sunrise Health Services finished one set behind to finish in fourth place. Next week, the playoffs begin with the early game seeing first place Snap’d facing fourth place Sunrise Health Services. The late game is second place Donkers Agri taking on third place Auto Works. 

Week 5 in the Stratford Tennis League saw a couple teams score impressive wins and take a significant step up in the standings. The early game saw Donkers Agri flatten Auto Works 9 sets to 3 sets. The beating started in the #1 Ladies Doubles as Donkers’ Sandie Ennett and Maria Donkers scored a 6-2  7-6 (7 points to 2 in the tie-breaker) win over Johanna Billings and Cox Wensink. Nancy Rheaume and Liz Yundt of Donkers took the #2 Ladies Doubles 6-2  6-4 over Nancy Chung and Sandra Hofing. The #1 Men’s Doubles had a split of sets as Auto Works’ Jeremy Chisholm and Murray Schiedel cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set before Donkers’ Richard Bast and Pat McCarroll rebounded to take the second set 6-4. The #2 Men’s Doubles also had a split of sets with Todd Chisholm and Gary Henry of Auto Works winning the first set 6-4 and Wayne Carney and Bill Steele of Donkers taking the second set 6-4.

Donkers’ Ennett and Bast won the #1 Mixed Doubles 6-3 over Billings and Jeremy Chisholm. The #2 Mixed Doubles also went to Donkers as Donkers and McCarroll dominated Wensink and Schiedel 6-1. Rheaume and Carney of Donkers won the #3 Mixed Doubles 6-4 over Chung and Todd Chisholm. Auto Works took the #4 Mixed Doubles as Hofing and Henry downed Yundt and Steele 6-3.

The late game also saw a decisive victory as first place Snap’d doubled up second place Sunrise Health Services 8 sets to 4. Sunrise got off to a good start as Krista Plociennik and Nicolle Crowley won the #1 Ladies Doubles with a 6-3  7-5 victory over Linda Doig and Naomi Lange. The #2 Ladies Doubles went to Snap’d as Marilyn Leasa and Michele Thomson topped Erma Weernink and Marilyn Holmes 7-5  6-4. The #1 Men’s Doubles had Chris Parson and Grant McPherson of Snap’d take the first set 6-4 before falling to Paul Coates and John Fischer of Sunshine 6-4 in the second set. Snap’d swept the #2 Men’s Doubles as Luke Fischer and Steve Fischer scored a 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) 6-4 win over Steven Schwartzentruber and Ryan Lay.

The Mixed Doubles opened with a 6-4 win for Sunrise as Plociennik and Coates defeated Doig and McPherson in the #1 match up. The #2 Mixed Doubles saw Lange and Parson of Snap’d cruise to a 6-2 victory over Crowley and J. Fischer. Leasa and Luke Fischer won the #3 Mixed Doubles for Snap’d edging Weernink and Schwartzentruber 6-4. Snap’d sealed their big win taking the #4 Mixed Doubles as Thomson and Steven Fischer crushed Holmes and Lay 6-1.

After 5 weeks Snap’d continues to hold down first place in the standings. Donkers Agri has moved into second place with Sunrise Health Services falling to third place and Auto Works sitting in fourth place. Next week will see the same teams face each other again in a rained out game from earlier in the season. The early game has Snap’d facing Sunrise Health Services and the late game has Auto Works taking on Donkers Agri.

Bill White

Maria Donkers of Donkers Agri connects on a backhand in the ladies doubles.

The Stratford Tennis Club held a junior doubles tournament this past weekend. With the Club Championship tournaments approaching, players got some valuable doubles experience. Nicolle Crowley and mixed doubles partner from last season Ryan Lay decided to enter the boy’s doubles to prepare them for the tough matches they will see in the Club Championship mixed doubles events. Players ranged in age from 8 to 15 years old and experience level but the matches were close and played at a high level.

The girl’s doubles saw Ashley Humphrey and Isabelle Thibeault continue their 2014 success. Playing each other in the final of both junior singles tournaments the girls teamed up in the doubles and went on to win the championship with an 8-6 victory over Crowley and Amelia Jackson. The final was highlighted by many great rallies and dramatic moments. Humphrey and Thibeault proved steadier at the end leading to their title.

The girl’s ‘B’ final had Megan Furlong and Mackenzie Dumais take on youngsters Lauren Okrainec and Alison DeJong. Furlong and Dumais were able to hold off the future stars taking the ‘B’ title with an 8-3 victory.

The boy’s doubles final had Crowley and Lay facing Luke Fischer and Evan Moorehead. The calibre of play was exceptionally high and had several momentum shifts. Close right until the end eventually Fischer and Moorehead were able to edge Crowley and Lay 8-6 to take the championship. The boy’s ‘B’ final was even closer. A tie breaker was needed to determine the winner with Jared Larder and Matthew Vandewiel scoring a 7-4 win in the tie breaker to win the title over Luke McCarroll and Collin Rose. Another close final was held in the boy’s ‘B’ event. Kadin Dench and Marcel Lundrigan were able to hold off Michael Vandewiel and Marcus Nicholson taking the title with an  8-6 win.

Bill White

THE WINNERS

After another rain out last week, the Stratford Tennis League got back to action this week. The early game saw Auto Works take on Sunrise Health Services. The match began with a split in the #1 men’s doubles as Tom Warnock and Steven Schwartzentruber of Sunrise edged Luke Fischer and Jeremy Chisholm 7-6 (7 points to 3 in the tie-breaker), but Fischer and Chisholm rebounded getting Auto Works on the board with a 6-4 win in the second set. Sunrise swept the #2 men’s doubles match as Tyler Kocher and Cameron Kramer downed Todd Chisholm and Gary Henry 6-2 6-2. The #1 ladies doubles had Johanna Billings and Naomi Lange of Auto Works win the first set 6-4 , while Krista Plociennik and Ginny Smith of Sunrise took the second set 6-4. There was another split in the #2 ladies doubles as Nicolle Crowley and Marilyn Holmes took the first set 6-4 for Sunrise before Cathy Mowbray and Sandra Hofing secured the second set for Auto Works with a 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) victory.

The #1 mixed doubles went to Sunrise as Plociennik and Warnock cruised to a 6-1 win over Billings and Fischer. Lange and J. Chisholm hammered Smith and Schwartzentruber 6-1 to take the #2 mixed doubles for Auto Works. Auto Works also won the #3 mixed doubles match as Mowbray and Todd Chisholm nipped Crowley and Kocher 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). Auto Works continued their hot streak when Hofing and Henry scored a 6-2 win over Holmes and Kramer in the #4 mixed doubles. The mixed doubles success allowed Auto Works to come back and tie the match as each team won 6 sets on the night.

The late game was a battle for first place. Going into the match Snap’d and Donkers Agri were tied for top spot in the standings. The match began with the #1 men’s doubles splitting sets. Snap’d took the first set as Grant McPherson and Chris Parson scored a 6-3 win but Donkers responded by taking the second set as Richard Bast and Wayne Carney scored a 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) win. The #2 men’s doubles saw Larry Shurrie and Stephen Fischer of Snap’d sweep Mike Furlong and Bill Steele 6-4 6-0. Donkers dominated the #1 ladies doubles as Krista Plociennik (subbing in for her second match of the night) and Maria Donkers clobbered Linda Doig and Deb Murphy 6-0 6-0. Snap’d won the #2 ladies double with Marilyn Leasa and Michele Thomson downing Lindsay Murray and Liz Yundt 6-2 7-5.

The #1 mixed doubles went to Donkers as Plociennik and Bast scored a 6-2 win over Doig and McPherson. Donkers took the #2 mixed doubles with Donkers and Carney downing Murphy and Parson 6-1. The #3 mixed doubles went to Snap’d with a 6-3 victory by Leasa and Shurrie over Murray and Furlong. Thomson and Fischer scored a 6-2 win over Yundt and Steele to give the #4 mixed doubles to Snap’d. The match ended with Snap’d winning 7 sets to Donkers 5 sets, giving Snap’d sole possession of first place.

 Week 5 will see Auto Works take on Donkers Agri in the early game , while Sunrise Health Services will face Snap’d in the late game.

Bill White

This past weekend the Stratford Tennis Club held its annual Super Set Tournament. A record number of entries led to a change in the length of the match for the men. With 36 male entries the usual 8 games in a set was reduced to a regular set of 6 games. The ladies remained at 8 games for a set.

The Ladies ‘A’ final had Marta Andrekovic face Johanna Billings. Andrekovic had played great tennis all day and it continued in the final as she took the title with an 8-3 victory. The Ladies ‘A’ consolation title went to Erma Wernink who defeated newcomer Rileigh Jackson 8-5 in the final. Maria Donkers won the Ladies ‘B’ championship by downing Cox Wensink 8-3 in the title match. The Ladies ‘B’ consolation final saw Margreit Wensink edge Vanessa DeGroot 8-6 for the title.

The Men’s ‘A’ competition was dominated by Max Besworth. Besworth, the former Club Pro, was in town for the weekend and decided to join in the tournament.  Besworth cruised through the event winning the championship over Richard Bast by a 6-0 score. The ‘A’ consolation title went to Zdenko Andrekovic who crushed Tom Warnock 6-0 in the final. The ‘B’ championship went to Steven R. Schwartzentruber who out steadied Jim Wilson in the title match winning 6-2. The ‘B’ consolation title match saw two future stars of the Club face off. Evan Moorehead topped Kadin Dench 6-4 to win the championship capping an impressive day for the youngsters.

Bill White

 (l to r)  Ladies ‘A’ champions Marta Andrekovic , Ladies ‘A’ finalist Johanna Billings

 Men’s ‘A’ finalist Richard Bast , Men’s ‘A’ champion Max Besworth   

After being rained out the last two weeks, the Stratford Tennis League resumed its schedule this week. The early game had Donkers Agri facing Sunrise Health Services. The #1 ladies doubles went to Donkers with Sandie Ennett and Maria Donkers taking out Marta Andrekovic and Ginny Smith 6-1 6-4. Sunrise responded by taking the #2 ladies doubles as Erma Weernink and Marilyn Holmes scored a 6-4 6-1 win over Gail Shelton and Deb Mitchell. The #1 men’s doubles was a split of sets as John Fischer and Tom Warnock took the first set 6-3 for Sunrise but Richard Bast and Pat McCarroll prevailed 6-2 in the second set for Donkers. The #2 men’s doubles also split sets as the Sunrise team of Steven Schwartzentruber and Cameron Kramer won the first set 6-2 before falling in the second set in a tie breaker 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) to Donkers’ team of Mike Furlong and Wayne Carney.

The match was tied heading into the four mixed doubles matches. The #1 mixed doubles went to Donkers with Ennett and Bast doubling up Andrekovic and Fischer 6-3. Sunrise’s Smith and Warnock defeated Donkers and McCarroll 6-2 in the #2 mixed doubles match up. The #3 mixed went to Donkers as Shelton and Furlong edged Weernink and Schwartzentruber 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker). Holmes and Kramer of Sunrise defeated Mitchell and Carney 6-3 to take the #4 mixed doubles. The nights match ended in a 6 sets to 6 sets tie.

The late game was a match up of first place Snap’d and fourth place Auto Works. The #1 Ladies Doubles went to Snap’d as Linda Doig and Deb Murphy scored a 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) 6-4 win over Johanna Billings and Cox Wensink. The #2 ladies doubles was a split with Nancy Chung and Sandra Hofing of Auto Works taking the first set 7-5 while Marilyn Leasa and Michele Thomson responded with a 6-4 win in the second set for Snap’d. The #1 Men’s Doubles went to Snap’d as Grant McPherson and Chris Parson downed Jeremy Chisholm and Murray Schiedel 6-3 6-3. Auto Works romped in the #2 Men’s Doubles as Todd Chisholm and Gary Henry dominated Ric Oliver and Stuart Arkett 6-1 6-1.

With Snap’d leading 5 sets to 3 heading into the mixed doubles matches Auto Works caught fire. The #1 mixed doubles went to Auto Works as Billings and Jeremy Chisholm beat Doig and McPherson 6-4. Auto Works also took the #2 mixed doubles with Wensink and Schiedel scoring a 6-4 win over Murphy and Parson. Chung and Todd Chisholm doubled up Leasa and Oliver 6-3 in the #3 Mixed Doubles for another Auto Works victory. The mixed sweep was completed when Hofing and Henry of Auto Works took out Thomson and Arkett 6-4 in the #4 Mixed match. After roaring through the four mixed doubles sets, Auto Works secured a 7 sets to 5 sets victory on the night.

After three weeks of completed matches there is a tie for first place as Donkers Agri and Snap’d have 19 points, closely followed by Sunrise Health Services with 18 points and Auto Works at 16 points. Week 4 will have Auto Works face Donkers Agri in the early game and Snap’d takes on Sunrise Health Services in the late game.

                                                                         

The Stratford Tennis Club’s “Morning Group” celebrated Canada Day by holding a tournament and pot luck lunch. The usual round robin format of the group was replaced by set partners and a tournament format. 17 teams took part in the event.

The ‘A’ championship had Judy Nussey and Gary Henry take on Sheila Knechtel and Ric Oliver with Nussey and Henry coming out victorious for the title. The ‘A’ consolation final saw Carole Ann O’Connell and Dennis Tuling win the division by downing Julia Vryheid and Tom Warnock. The ‘B’ title went to Nancy Chung and Wilf Smyth who defeated Gail Shelton and Dale Bast in the final. Pat Koch and Bernie Laws won the ‘B’ consolation title with a win over Michele Thomson and Peter Stam in the final.

 Bill White

                                                                         

The second Royal LePage Hiller Realty junior tennis tournament was held Saturday June 21st. The singles event saw the same finalists as the first tournament and the same winners prevailing as Ashley Humphrey and Ryan Lay repeated their championships.

The Girls Singles ‘A’ event was dominated by Ashley Humphrey and Isabelle Thibeault as they breezed to their second straight final. Humphrey once again proved too steady for Thibeault as she scored an 8-2 victory to take the championship. The Girls Singles ‘B’ title went to Rachel Nash as she downed impressive youngster Lauren Okrainec in the final 8 games to 3.

The Boys Singles ‘A’ event had Ryan Lay facing Collin Rose for their second straight final. Lay jumped out to a big lead before Rose mounted a comeback. Eventually Lay closed out the match taking the championship with an 8-5 win. Evan Moorehead took the ‘A’ consolation title by blanking Kadin Dench 8-0 in the final. The Boys ‘B’ final was the days closest championship match of the day as Marcel Lundrigan edged Jared Larder 8-6 to take the title. The ‘B’ consolation title went to Luke McCarroll as he downed Michael Vandewiel 8-3 in the championship match.

Bill White

   

The Stratford Tennis Club held its annual regional Men’s and Ladies Doubles Tournament this past weekend. For 46 years the Club has held this event on the second Saturday in June. This tournament, founded and the format invented by Ray Cornish, drew players from the region for a full day of tennis and a barbeque in the park. After 10 years of being a part of the Tennis Access Tour, the Club struck out on its own to recapture the southwestern area feel to the event. Players from Waterloo, Cambridge, and London joined teams from the host club in this 2014 tournament.

The Ladies Doubles saw 9 teams compete in the round robin portion which determines whether teams advance to the ‘A’ or ‘B’ playoff. The ‘A’ playoff had two teams from Cambridge, 1 from London, and the Stratford team of Marta Andrekovic and Ginny Smith compete for the championship. In the semifinals, Andrekovic and Smith fell to Gwen Chaisson  and Kim Hutt-Taylor of Cambridge 8-4. The other semifinal saw Mary Ann Gaskin and Sue Ovenden of Cambridge top Donna Scott and Gail Lockyer of London 8 – 3. This set up an all Cambridge final. Gaskin has won this tournament more times than any other player in the history of the event. With usual partner Peggy Fairs of London unavailable this year, it was Ovenden’s turn to help Gaskin to another title. Gaskin and Ovenden took the championship match 8-4 over their fellow Cambridge players. 

The Ladies ‘B’ division saw a collection of Stratford teams in the running for the title. The first semifinal saw Stratford’s Sandie Ennett and Kaitlyn Mathieson take on Lisa Hoffman and Suzanne Edwards of Waterloo. The visitors prevailed, advancing to the final with an 8-4 victory. The other semifinal was a battle of Stratford teams. Johanna Billings and Deb Murphy downed Michele Thomson and Erma Weernink 8-1 to book their spot in the final. The championship match saw Hoffman and Edwards outlast Billings and Murphy scoring an 8-5 win to take the title.

The Men’s Doubles event also had 9 teams competing during the day. The ‘A’ playoff had defending champions Matt Brown and Sung Min Yoon of Waterloo joined by Marcel Rydenski and Bob Boudreau of Cambridge and two Stratford teams; John and Luke Fischer as well as Grant McPherson and Paul Coates. The semifinals saw the defending champions Brown and Yoon take out Rydenski and Boudreau 8-1 to advance to the final. The all Stratford semifinal was dominated by McPherson and Coates as they dispatched the Fischers 8 games to 1. In the championship match, the defending champions could not be stopped. Brown and Yoon cruised to their second consecutive title with an 8-0 shutout of McPherson and Coates.

The Men’s ‘B’ playoffs had several Stratford players vying for the title. Both semifinals were the closest matches of the day with both ending in tie-breakers. The first semifinal had Graham Heaton of Stratford and partner Dominik Sadowski of Burlington edge out Zdenko Andrekovic of Stratford and Miki Susic of Oakville 8-7 (7 points to 3 in the tie-breaker) to advance to the final. The other semifinal was a battle between Stratford teams as Nathan Duh and Greg Vivian took on Pat McCarroll and Murray Schiedel. McCarroll and Schiedel were able to outlast Duh and Vivian 8-7 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) setting their place in the final. The final belonged to McCarroll and Schiedel as they doubled up Heaton and Sadowski 8 – 4 to claim the championship.

Many thanks go out to Rob and Chris Duh for their great help with the spectacular barbeque and Lynn Bast for purchasing the barbeque necessities. Thanks to Stacey Wilson and John Noble for the prize purchases and donations. Also a big thank you to Michele Thomson, Ginny Smith, Debbie Mitchell, Monica Eickmeyer, Nancy Chung, and Ruth Cornish for donating the delicious salads. Many positive comments were made by our out of town visitors about these salads, with even some requests for the recipes. A special shout goes out to Greg Misener ( The Fudge Guy ) for his generous donation to our gift packages. It was a very sweet gesture and greatly appreciated! The help of all our members has led to the Club having its most successful fundraising June doubles tournament in many years. A great day was had by all at the Club and it was also a great day for the Club!

The Stratford Tennis League played week 2 of its schedule June 10th. The early game saw Snap’d take on Auto Works. The #1 ladies doubles went to Snap’d as Linda Doig and Debbie Murphy swept Johanna Billings and Cox Wensink 6-2 6-3. There was a split in the #2 ladies doubles with Marilyn Leasa and Michele Thomson of Snap’d taking the first set 6-3 and Nancy Chung and Sandra Hofing of Auto Works taking the second set by the same 6-3 score. Snap’d took the #1 men’s doubles as Grant McPherson and Chris Parson downed Murray Schiedel and Jeremy Chisholm 6-2 7-5. A split in the #2 men’s doubles saw Larry Shurrie and Stephen Fischer of Snap’d blank Todd Chisholm and Stuart Arkett 6-0 in the first set before Chisholm and Arkett gave Auto Works the second set 7-5.

The mixed doubles opened with Auto Works winning the #1 mixed 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker) as Billings and Schiedel edged Doig and McPherson. The #2 mixed went to Snap’d as Murphy and Parson doubled up Wensink and Jeremy Chisholm 6-3. Auto Works won the #3 mixed as Chung and Todd Chisholm downed Leasa and Shurrie 6-2. Thomson and Fischer of Snap’d scored a 6-2 win over Hofing and Arkett in the #4 mixed match. In conclusion, Snap’d took 8 sets to 4 against Auto Works for a week 2 win.

The late game was a match up of Sunrise Health Services and Donkers Agri. The match up of #1 ladies doubles went to Sunrise as Marta Andrekovic and Ginny Smith swept Sandie Ennett and Maria Donkers 6-2 7-6 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker). Donkers took the #2 ladies doubles as Lindsay Murray and Monica Eickmeyer took out Erma Weernink and Marilyn Holmes 6-3 6-4. The #1 men’s doubles had a split of sets as Paul Coates and John Fischer of Sunrise won the first set 7-6 (7 points to 3 in the tie-breaker) and Richard Bast and Pat McCarroll of Donkers took the second set 6-3. Mike Furlong and Bill Steele of Donkers swept the #2 men’s doubles with a 6-4 6-3 win over Tyler Kocher and Cameron Kramer.

Sunrise scored a 7-6 (7 points to 2 in the tie-breaker) win in the #1 mixed as Andrekovic and Coates edged Ennett and Bast. Donkers dominated the #2 mixed with Donkers and McCarroll blanking Smith and Fischer 6-0. Murray and Furlong scored a 6-4 victory over Weernink and Kocher to give the #3 mixed to Donkers. Holmes and Kramer of Sunrise won the #4 mixed with a 6-2 downing of Eickmeyer and Steele. The match up for week 2 went to Donkers with a 7 sets to 5 sets advantage.

The standings after two weeks of the 2014 season, see Snap’d taking over first place. One point behind is Donkers Agri , with Sunrise Health Services falling to third place. Auto Works trails in fourth. Next week the early game will have Snap’d face off against Sunrise Health Services , while Auto Works attempts to get in gear against Donkers Agri in the late game.

Bill White