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2017 ITF Super-Seniors World Individual Championships

American Players Earn 11 Titles on Friday

October 20, 2017
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Friday marked the finale of the 2017 ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships, held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. It was a frenetic day to wrap up the prestigious international event, as a total of 22 finals across singles, doubles and mixed doubles competition was played.

 

Men’s singles winners on Friday included Aussie Andrew Rae (men’s 65), Spaniard Jorge Camina Borda (men’s 70), Dutchman Eltjo Sasker (men’s 75), and American King Van Nostrand (men’s 80). On the women’s side, Jana Sedlackova (women’s 65) of the Czech Republic, Ellie Krocke (women’s 70) from the Netherlands, and Donna Fales (women’s 70) representing the United States claimed singles titles.

 

Team USA had tremendous success in doubles and mixed doubles finals on Friday. All-American duos George McCabe/John Powless (men’s 85), Frederick Drilling/Michael Stewart (men’s 75), and Richard Johnson/James Parker (men’s 70) took home divisional crowns. Meanwhile Van Nostrand teamed up with Peter Froelich of Australia to win the men’s 80 trophy while Daniel Grossman paired with Rae for a triumph in the men’s 65 draw.

 

American players were also part of three winning tandems in women’s doubles championship contests. Dorothy Wasser and Canadian Inge Weber won the women’s 80 title, while Fales combined with Orth to prevail in the women’s 75 draw. Additionally, Team USA duo Brenda Carter and Betty Wachob took the crown in the women’s 70 division. Rosemarie Asch of Canada and Margaret Fisher from Australia earned women’s 85 top honors; Aussies Kerry Ballard and Susanne Lynette Walter won the women’s 65 title.

 

Fales ended the day going three-for-three, as she partnered with Drilling to come away with the mixed 75 championship. The remaining mixed doubles title winners were Aussies Fisher and Max Byrne (mixed 85), Germans Elisabeth van Boemmel and Silvio Linzbauer (mixed 80), South African Petro Kruger and Swiss Petr Kolacek (mixed 70), and Adrienne Avis of Australia and Bruno Renoult of France (mixed 65). 

 

With the 11 titles won on Friday, Team USA wrapped up the 2017 ITF Super-Seniors World Individual Championships with 13 total, the most of any nation.

Below are the results from the 2017 ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships: 

 

Men’s 65 Singles: No. 1 seed Bruno Renoult (France) and No. 2 seed Andrew Rae (Australia) each had to survive an early scare before squaring off for the men’s 65 singles title. Renoult dropped the opening set he contested in the event, forcing him to rally to defeat American Gert van den Heever 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Rae, meanwhile, outdueled 26th-seed Keith Porter of Canada 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 in the round of 16. That would be the only time either player dropped a set before Friday, where Rae managed to pull out an extended first set 7-5 and ran away with the second 6-1 to earn the title.

 

Men’s 65 Doubles: Rae made the most of the last day of play, teaming up with American Daniel Grossman to win the men’s 65 doubles title as well. The top-seeded pair came through a tricky semifinal matchup with No. 8 seeds Phil Landauer and Tom Smith 2-6, 6-3, 10-5. They had a much easier time dispatching of the 16th-seeded Ukrainians Iurii Krolenko and Vladimir Nazarenko 6-2, 6-1 in the final.

 

Men’s 70 Singles: Spaniard Jorge Camina Borda came into the week as the world’s top player in the men’s 70 division. He looked the part immediately, posting consecutive 6-0, 6-0 results to reach the round of 16. There he ran into No. 25 seed Aussie Wayne Hassett, who forced a third set against Camina Borda when he won a lengthy second-set tiebreak nine points to seven. The Spaniard responded in a fashion expected by the No. 1 seed, blitzing through the decisive set 6-0. That would be the lone test Camina Borda faced, as he capped off his title run with a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 31 seed Peter Keller of Australia.

 

Men’s 70 Doubles: After upsetting the top seeds 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, American duo Richard Johnson and James Parker did not allow that fantastic performance to go to waste. The No. 5 seeds handled the third-seeded Swiss pair Rene Bortolani and Petr Kolacek 6-3, 6-3 to make the final, where they were too strong for the No. 4 seeds Mark Cox and Richard Tutt (Great Britain); Johnson and Parker claimed the title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

 

Men’s 75 Singles: The division’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, Jaime Rene Pinto Bravo (Chile) and Eltjo Sasker (Netherlands), had not dropped a set prior to their championship clash in the men’s 75 singles draw. In what appeared on paper to be an even battle, Sasker grabbed momentum early on and never looked back, posting a convincing 6-2, 6-3 final score line.

 

Men’s 75 Doubles: After the men’s 75 doubles division saw its top four seeds fall prior to the semifinals, the title was up for grabs. The highest remaining seeded tandem, No. 5 Frederick Drilling and Michael Stewart of the United States,

took full advantage of the opening. The fought past Niels Menko and Sasker 7-6(4), 6-4 in the semifinal stage and came away with a thrilling 6-2, 6-7(6), 10-7 triumph in the final over No. 7 seeds Bob Howes and Bruce Rehn from Australia.

 

Men’s 80 Singles: Top seed American King Van Nostrand was rarely challenged on his path to claiming the men’s 65 singles title. He played just two sets closer than 6-2 in his five matches, toughing out a tight second set against No. 10

seed Wilfried Mahler in his 6-0, 7-5 round of 16 victory before securing the trophy with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 2 seed and teammate Lester Sack in the final.

 

Men’s 80 Doubles: Much like his run in singles, Van Nostrand and partner Peter Froelich (Australia) cruised through the competition in the men’s 80 doubles draw. They surrendered a mere five games in two matches to reach the championship round, where they efficiently handled top seeds Tony McBride and Donald Shears of Great Britain by the margin of 6-4, 6-2.

 

Men’s 85 Doubles: No. 1 seeds George McCabe and John Powless lived up to their top billing in the men’s 85 doubles draw. They breezed past the fourth-seeded team in the semifinals to book a place in the final, where they came up against No. 3 seeds Adrian Alle and Max Byrne of Australia. McCabe and Powless came away with a tense opening set 7-5 before putting away the second with ease, 6-1.

 

Women’s 65 Singles: While Dutchwoman Nora Blom came in as the top seed, it was actually No. 3 seed Jana Sedlackova of the Czech Republic who reached the women’s 65 final without giving away a single set. That included an impressive 7-5, 7-6(3) take down of No. 2 seed Kerry Ballard, who had only lost two games to reach that stage. Sedlackova made quick work of Blom to claim the trophy, posting a 6-0, 6-2 margin of victory.

 

Women’s 65 Doubles: Unseeded American pair Judy Dixon and Molly Hahn was looking to complete a miraculous Cinderella run in the women’s 65 doubles division on Friday. They had gotten past the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds in consecutive matches that were decided by a match tiebreak to advance to the championship. However, the third seeds Kerry Ballard and Susanne Lynette Walter of Australia, who had experienced far less drama en route to the final, were awaiting them. The Aussies closed out their week in style, securing a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dixon and Hahn.

 

Women’s 70 Singles: It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 dual in the finals of the women’s 70 singles draw. Top seed Ellie Krocke (Netherlands) and second seed Sylvie Galfard-Kirsten (France) were each coming off convincing semifinal wins while also having been pushed to three sets earlier in the tournament. The Frenchwoman gained the upper hand early by taking the first set 6-2, but Krocke would come back to win the second 6-3. In the end it was the Dutchwoman who proved the steadier of the two, posting a 6-3 score in the third and decisive set.

 

Women’s 70 Doubles: Top seeds Carol Campling (Australia) and Frances MacLennan (Great Britain) appeared poised to take the women’s 70 doubles title, but No. 3 seeds Brenda Carter and Betty Wachob of the United States had other ideas. The Americans had not lost a set in advancing to the championship stage, and they did not do so in claiming the divisional crown, prevailing 6-1, 7-6(5) over the No. 1 seeds. 

 

Women’s 75 Singles: The draw’s top two seeds had easily navigated their way to the final, as No. 1 seed Heide Orth of Germany and No. 2 seed Donna Fales from the United States battled for women’s 75 singles supremacy. Orth had lost only 16 games going into the match while Fales surrendered a mere 15. In their championship showdown, the American moved out in front after the opening set went her way, 7-5. However, Orth evened the match by winning the second frame 6-4. Fales was not deterred by the change in momentum, hanging tough and managing to hold off Orth 6-3 in the decisive set.

 

Women’s 75 Doubles: Opponents just hours earlier, Fales and Orth found themselves on the same side of the net in their women’s 75 doubles final against the American pair of Charleen Hillebrand and Suella Steel. It would be another marathon encounter for Fales and Orth, as the No. 4 seeds were forced to stage a comeback after losing the first frame 6-4 to the third-seeded Americans. On the brink of defeat, Fales and Orth clawed their way to a second-set victory in a tiebreak, seven points to five, before holding off their opponents 10 points to eight in the match tiebreak.

 

Women’s 80 Doubles: In the lone championship match featuring no seeds, American Dorothy Wasser and Canadian Inge Weber breezed past Ursula Blecking and Elisabeth van Boemmel of Germany 6-1, 6-1 for the women’s 80 doubles title. Both tandems were extended to match tiebreaks in their semifinal upsets over seeded opponents, but the American/Canadian combination proved to be too strong for the Germans on Friday.

 

Women’s 85 Doubles: The women’s 85 doubles final pitted the top two seeds against each other. No. 2 seeds Rosemarie Asch (Canada) and Margaret Fisher (Australia) won the first set 7-5 against No. 1 seeds Margaret Canby and Angie Ray of the United States. In the second, Asch and Fisher remained in control, winning it 6-3 to clinch the match.

 

Mixed 65: Having been denied the men’s 65 singles crown that morning, Bruno Renoult paired with Aussie Adrienne Avis to win the mixed doubles 65 division. The duo narrowly avoided defeat in the semifinals, slipping past No. 3 seeds Marjory Love (Great Britain) and Quentin Maisey 7-5, 5-7, 10-8. Renoult and Avis, seeded second, the duo earned the victory in the final with a 6-1, 6-3 score line against No. 6 seeds Sandra Tritt (New Zealand) and Porter (Canada).

 

Mixed 70: No. 8 seeds Petro Kruger (Republic of South Africa) and Kolacek (Switzerland) stunned the competition in the mixed doubles 70 draw. They came up with a 6-3, 6-3 upset against top seeds Brenda Carter and Hugh Thomson of the United States to move on to the final. There they had little trouble defeating No. 7 seeds Campling and Alan Gooch from Australia, 6-3, 6-0.

 

Mixed 75: Donna Fales was simply unstoppable on Friday. She walked away with a remarkable three championships on the day after combining with Frederick Drilling to win the mixed doubles 75 division. Drilling ended up with a pair of titles on the day after also winning the 75 doubles. Fales and Drilling were perhaps the most lethal tandem in the tournament, losing four games in three matches, which included a 6-2, 6-1 victory in the championship match over Aussies June Simpson and Don Biddle.

 

Mixed 80: Coming up short in the women’s 80 doubles final, Elisabeth van Boemmel got her revenge as she partnered with fellow German Silvio Linzbauer for the mixed doubles 80 title. They earned the divisional trophy after beating Kiwi duo Jean Stevens and Evan DeLaRue 6-2, 6-4.

 

Mixed 85: Not satisfied with one championship win on the day, Margaret Fisher helped Max Byrne put aside the disappointed he faced after losing in the men’s 85 doubles final. The duo from Australia engaged in a spirited battle with Joyce Cutts (Canada) and Gordon Oates (Great Britain) for the mixed 85 title, with the Aussies emerging victorious 5-7, 6-2, 10-7.

 

For full results from the 2017 ITF Super-Seniors World Individual Championships, click here.