Young players dominate at Tennis Club championship

The Stratford Tennis Club completed its 2008 club championship tournament last weekend.
Considering this season’s increase in membership, it was no surprise that the club championship tournament was the biggest in memory.

Over the past three weeks, 204 tournament matches were played in the four junior age categories and the Open A and B divisions. Several of last year’s champions were able to repeat their success this year but there also were several first time champions.

The Men’s A singles final saw Max Besworth successfully defend his title in a match up with Dave Brydges. Besworth downed Brydges 6-2, 6-3 in a very high calibre final.

The two players also met in the Men’s A doubles final, where Besworth and partner Shannon Dyke won their second straight doubles championship with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Brydges and Ryan Magagnin.

The A mixed doubles final saw the top two players meet again. This time Brydges and partner Linda Doig prevented the triple-crown attempt as they prevailed 6-3, 6-2 over Besworth and Heather Henke to win their first mixed doubles title.

The Ladies A singles champion is also a repeat winner. Krista Plociennik scored a 7-5, 6-4 win over Nancy Rheaume to successfully defend the title she won last season.

The best match of the A division championships was the ladies doubles. In a match that took almost three hours to complete, Lori McCabe and Johanna Billings outlasted the defending champions Doig and Ginny Smith in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 thriller.

This is the first ladies doubles championship for McCabe and Billings. Spencer Trachsel won his second straight Men’s B singles title spinning a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Shawn Flanagan. Jagdish Patel and Jack Watson won their first Men’s B doubles championship with a 7-6, 6-2 downing of Larry Shurrie and Paul Barclay.

First-time teammates Nikki Bowman and Ryan Magagnin scored a 6-3, 6-2 win over Donna Feore and Ric Oliver to take the B mixed doubles championship.

The ladies B singles champion is Marilyn Leasa. Leasa won her third all time B singles title with a 6-0, 7-5 downing of Donna Feore.

The ladies doubles was the most exciting event of the B division. Feore and partner Marta Andrekovic advanced to the final by upsetting Gail Shelton and Nancy Chung 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 in semifinal match that took three hours to play. Feore and Andrekovic followed that up by upsetting Plociennik and Katie Burton 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in another three-hour classic.

Junior Division
The under 18 junior age division saw the club’s top player, Max Besworth, win the triple crown. Besworth took the boys singles final 6-1 6-1 over Shannon Dyke. Besworth and Dyke won the boys doubles over Ryan Magagnin and Nathan Duh 6-2, 6-4.

Besworth completed the triple crown by teaming with Kourtney Gordon to dominate the mixed doubles, taking the final 6-0 6-0 over Plociennik and Alistair Sylvester. Plociennik downed Gordon 6-2, 6-1 to win the girls singles event.

Gordon teamed with Emily Ennett to defeat Plociennik and Katie Burton in the girls doubles final 6-4 6-4.

Plociennik, the club’s top female player, dominated the under-16 category taking all three titles. She won her second straight girls under 16 singles championship by downing Monika Andrekovic 6-4, 6-1. The doubles title was won by Plociennik and Burton 6-3, 7-5 over Danielle Chisholm and Connie Finlayson.

The mixed doubles final saw Plociennik and Alistair Sylvester edge Andrekovic and Nathan Walsh 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 to complete her triple crown.

Walsh won the boys single title for the second year in a row. Walsh scored a 7-5, 6-3 win over Sylvester, while Walsh and Jerry Ennett took the boys doubles by downing Cael Wishart and Cam Oliver 6-1, 7-5.

The under 14 age category provided the most drama of the tournament. There was a match-up of siblings in the girls singles with Monika Andrekovic facing her younger sister Sonja in the final. Monika won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Sonja, handing her sister the first singles loss of her tennis career.
Monika and Sonja teamed to win the girls doubles 6-1, 6-2 over Vienna Wilson and Olivia Kramer.

Sonja and partner Alistair Sylvester defeated Monika and Wishart in the mixed doubles final 6-4, 6-3.

Travis Hiller dominated the boys singles category which had 24 entrants and many thrilling early round matches. Hiller took the title with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Wishart.

In the boys doubles semifinals, youngsters John Fischer and Andrew Hancock survived five-match points to come back and upset Wishart and Craig Rice 1-6, 7-6 (15-13 in the tiebreaker) 6-4.

The final was even more exciting. Surviving 11-match points, Fischer and Hancock prevailed over top seeds Hiller and Cam Oliver. After losing the first set 7-5 the youngsters won two straight tiebreakers 7-6 (10-8) and 7-6 (7-5).

John Fischer won the under 12 triple crown. Fischer took the boys singles championship 6-1, 7-6 over Andrew Hancock. Fischer and Hancock won the boys doubles easily handling Cairan and Aidan Buckley in the final 6-1 6-1.

Vanessa Kramer and Fischer won their second straight under 12 mixed title by defeating Caitriona Buckley and Hancock 7-5, 6-4.

For the second year in a row Sonja Andrekovic is the girls singles champion. Sonja edged Anna Feore 7-6, 6-3 in the final. Sonja and Buckley took the girls doubles championship 6-1, 6-1 over Marley Hiller and Vanessa Kramer.

PHOTO: Singles A champions Max Besworth and Krista Plociennik proudly show off their hardware after winning their respective titles at the Stratford Tennis Club’s championship tournament last weekend. (Contributed)