The USTA Florida Adult 40 & Over 2.5/3.5/4.5 Sectional Championships were hosted by the USTA National Campus July 24-26, with a total of five teams taking home a divisional title over the course of the three-day event.

The victorious squads included the Marion (Fort King Tennis Center – Ocala) 2.5 women, the Orange/Seminole (USTA National Campus – Orlando), 3.5 women, the Broward (Weston Tennis Center) 3.5 men, the Orange/Seminole (Azalea Center – Winter Park) 4.5 women, and the Broward (Parkland Tennis Center) 4.5 men.

In the women’s 2.5 competition, the decisive dual took place Sunday afternoon, where Marion bested Alachua (Hawkstone Golf & Tennis Club – Gainesville) by a 2-1 margin. That put the two crews atop the standings at 3-1 overall, with the tiebreaker going in favor of Marion.

Laura Roberson serves as the captain of the Marion team that features a complete roster of Melissa Lozano, Nancy Tuten, Monique Foster, Georgina Bumpas, Beth Arms, Nancy Godiska, Cindy Hinton, and Oksana Velis.

Orange/Seminole dominated the women’s 3.5 division, with the team representing the USTA National Campus posting a perfect 4-0 record out of Flight 2 while the crew from Orlando’s Lake Cane Tennis Center also went 4-0 to finish atop Flight 1.

Both would go on to produce a sweep at the semifinal stage. Lake Cane faced off with Alachua (Hawkstone Golf & Tennis Club – Gainesville), winning three courts in straight sets and getting a 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 comeback victory at the top doubles position; the National Campus group dropped a mere seven games in singles and the first two doubles courts versus Escambia (Roger Scott Tennis Center – Pensacola), finishing off the sweep thanks to a 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 effort at line three.

In the all-Orange/Seminole championship match, the National Campus once again proved too strong in singles plus the first two doubles spots, defeating Lake Cane three courts to one. Alisa Wolfe cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in singles; additionally, there was a pair of 6-1, 6-2 efforts by the tandem of Natalia Bonavia and Fabricia Funes along with the duo of Natalie Beavers and Amanda Barritt at lines ones and two, respectively. Jamie Roedig and Angela Tuckerman got Lake Cane on the board with a solid 6-2, 6-0 performance on court three.

Barritt is the team captain of the Orange/Seminole crew that is made up of Beavers, Gaby Hansen, Pamela Collins, Natasha Holland-Lobova, Leslie Hartog, Katie Wu, Cheryl Tolentino-Bernabe, Bonavia, Funes, Leslie Weeks, Jillian Baptiste, Kathleen Sipio, Wolfe, and Victoria Karen.

Broward (Weston Tennis Center) made the most of their second chance as the wild card entrant into the men’s 3.5 semifinals after finishing second in Flight 3 to Duval (Florida Yacht Club – Jacksonville). They found themselves locked in a battle with previously unbeaten Orange/Seminole (USTA National Campus – Orlando) in the semifinals, a dual that was ultimately decided by total number of games won after each team claimed two courts. Dominating efforts by Jorge Nieto Castellanos and Juan Macias at the top spot and Jorge Cortes and Alejandro Araya at line three proved the difference, with the Broward pairings prevailing 6-2, 6-0.

Polk (Lakeland Yacht & Country Club) was up against Duval in the other semifinal, overcoming a loss in singles by sweeping through the trio of doubles courts. They managed to win lines one and three in straight sets while hanging on for a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 score line on court two.

With the title at stake, Broward was too much for Polk, turning in a 4-0 result to clinch the team win. Marcelo Kuhn took the singles court 6-3, 6-3. At the doubles positions, Franco De Andreis and Roberto Palma came through 6-2, 6-4 on court two while Cortes and Araya fought for a 6-3, 6-4 result on court three. Castellanos and Macias were awarded the win when their Polk opponents retired despite leading 6-4, 2-5 at line one.

Captained by Jack Vargas, the complete Broward roster includes Andres Varela, Junior Carrasquero, Juan Gonzalez, Nieto Castellanos, Macias, Kuhn, Palma, De Andreis, Bruno Marsili, Franciso Garcia, Nicolo Safina, Araya, Gianfranco Bacigalupo, and Cortes.

Orange/Seminole (Azalea Center – Winter Park) was the class of the women’s 4.5 division from start to finish, breezing through Flight 1 by winning all four dual matches with just three courts and 10 sets lost. Their opponent in the final was Flight 2 winner Broward (Frank Veltri Tennis Center – Plantation), who put up a strong challenge, only to ultimately be swept.

JoAnn Mokris took care of the singles position for Orange/Seminole 6-2, 6-4 to go along with teammates Lindsay Puder and Pamela Saffran delivering a 6-3, 6-1 result at line three. The remaining two doubles courts were decided in a match tiebreak; Kristine Dionne and Kerry Sproles prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 at the top spot while Anne-Marie Miller and Tami Florin rallied 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 on court two.

Miller serves as the Orange/Seminole captain, which features a full roster of Dionne, Florin, Janet Lower, Kim Frilot, Mokris, Sproles, Maura Trubman Weiner, Christine Alfert, Becky Cusick, Saffran, Julie Humphreys, Terri Thomson, Elena Escamilla, and Puder.

In the men’s 4.5 division, Broward (Parkland Tennis Center) and Miami-Dade (Kendall Tennis Training Center – Miami) faced little resistance in getting through flight play to advance to the final. From there, all four courts ended in straight sets, with Broward winning singles plus courts two and three in doubles to clinch the crown. Robert Nickels toughed out a 6-4, 6-4 singles result to go along with Alejandro Cadena and Jay Graff prevailing 6-3, 6-3 at the second spot. The tandem of T Dienes and Giovanni Guido close out the win 6-3, 7-6 at line three. Miami-Dade’s Ricardo Matos Casas and Julio Moran claimed court one 6-4, 6-2 to set the final margin at 3-1 in Broward’s favor.

Les Liese is the team captain for the Broward crew that includes Guido, Graff, David Spohn, Dienes, Nicolas Lahaye, Evan David, Victor Albo, Bruce Kurtz, Cadena, Atif Raoof, Nickels, Brett Kurtz, and Ed Ellman.

For complete results from the 2021 USTA Florida Adult 40 & Over 2.5/3.5/4.5 Sectional Championships, click here.