The USTA Florida Adult 40 & Over 3.0/4.0/5.0 Sectional Championships played out on the grounds of the USTA National Campus July 17-19. Bringing home divisional titles over the weekend were the Broward (Midtown Athletic Club – Weston) 3.0 men, Miami-Dade’s (Kendall Tennis Training Center – Miami) 3.0 women, the Duval (San Jose Country Club – Jacksonville) 4.0 men, Hillsborough’s (River Hills Country Club – Valrico) 4.0 women, and the Broward (Oakland Park Tennis Center) 5.0 men.

Broward (Midtown Athletic Club – Weston) breezed their way through the men’s 3.0 field, posting a sterling 3-0 record on the weekend. In total, the squad claimed 10 court victories while dropping just five sets.

Captained by Saeid Sadoughi, the full Broward roster includes Jorge Alejandro Romo, Fernando Machado, Carlos Reyes, Alex Yokana, Lawrence Freni, Mario Correa, Deepak Ahya, Mitchel Boobinder, John Hingley, Alex Punsalan, German Avellaneda, and Samir Asaad.

A dominating effort in Flight 1 highlighted Miami-Dade’s (Kendall Tennis Training Center – Miami) run to the women’s 3.0 title. Sweeping through the flight, Miami-Dade earned all 16 courts while surrendering just one set; their players won a staggering 73% of the games they contested. Joining them in the divisional semifinals were Duval (San Jose Country Club – Jacksonville), Polk (Beerman Family Tennis Center – Lakeland), and Orange/Seminole (USTA National Campus – Orlando).

In those semifinals matchups, Miami-Dade bested Polk by a 3-1 margin to go along with Duval and Orange/Seminole ending in a 2-2 tie; Duval advanced to the championship dual based on the sets won tiebreaker, taking five sets compared to four for Orange/Seminole.

With the title on the line, Maira Maguire secured the lone singles position for Miami-Dade with a 6-3, 6-2 victory while teammates Lorena Guadiana and Marisabel de la Mora Villarroel paired up for a 6-3, 6-0 score line at the top doubles spot. The duo of Kelly James and Maggie Sanchez clinched the crown thanks to the 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 effort at line three. Heather Riley and Julie Boone got Duval on the board by taking the second doubles matchup 6-3, 6-4.

Jane Forman serves as the captain for the Miami-Dade crew that features Bertha Lowell, Rosana Weinstein Aronson, Angela Musso, Tiffany Ortiz, James, Ana Tirado, Sanchez, Guadiana, de la Mora Villarroel, Maguire, Gillian McKenzie, and Paola Campanella.

Shaking off an early loss in flight play, Duval (San Jose Country Club – Jacksonville) took home the men’s 4.0 title despite needing the wild card slot to qualify for the knockout stages after placing second in Flight 2. The final four included Pinellas (St. Petersburg Tennis Center), Broward (Lauderdale Tennis Club), and Escambia (Roger Scott Tennis Center – Pensacola) along with Duval. Broward stunned previously unbeaten Pinellas, 3-1, while the dual between Duval and Escambia came down to the games won tiebreaker after each team took two courts; Duval moved on with 39 total games compared to 32 for Escambia.

In the divisional final, Mario Rueda earned the lone singles contest 6-3, 7-6 for Broward, but it wasn’t enough, as Duval swept the trio of doubles courts. Eugene Kasper and Patrick Regan came through 6-3, 6-3 at line two while the tandem of Troy Bryant and Lee Braun took court three 6-4, 7-6. The first doubles position was the only one to split sets, with Eduardo Andrade and Lou Body prevailing 7-5, 2-6, 1-0.

Captained by David Boehm, Duval’s complete squad consists of Eric Leach, Kasper, Joseph Travers, Neal Milligan, Michael Halusek, Braun, Body, Regan, Hans Vanden Noort, John Setzler, Andrade, Bryant, Thomas Hack, Ramon Bescansa, and David Wise.

The women’s 4.0 final turned out to be the most dramatic match of the day, as Hillsborough (River Hills Country Club – Valrico) just edged out Polk (Country Club of Winter Haven) to take home the crown. At the semifinal stage, Hillsborough bested Alachua (D B Racquet Club – Gainesville) by a 3-1 final margin and Polk getting past Broward (Frank Veltri Tennis Center – Plantation) on the sets won tiebreaker, ending up with five sets to their credit.

It would come down to an even closer tiebreaking procedure in the final, as Hillsborough and Polk each won two courts overall and a total of five sets. Coming through for Hillsborough was Shannon Deck by a 6-4, 7-5 score line in singles plus the duo of Frances Swartz and Jackie Caouette 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 at line two doubles. Polk countered with a tough 7-5, 7-5 victory from Rebecca Henderson and Sonia Herring on court one to go along with Amanda Barritt and Misa Kawata holding off their opponents 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 at the third spot. The champion was ultimately decided by a single game; Hillsborough collected a total of 47, edging out Polk’s total of 46.

Angela Piche is the Hillsborough captain while the complete team roster includes Allison Townsend, June Rogers, Caouette, Alejandra Sanderson, Brigitte Paola, Ida-M Pedersen, Julie Martin, Deck, Christina Dorothy, Daphne Mahagan, and Swartz.

Battling their way to the 5.0 men’s title was Broward (Oakland Park Tennis Center), finishing the weekend with a 3-1 record despite having eight court losses to balance out their eight court victories. Playing the last match on Saturday, when action had gotten moved indoors for the evening, Broward produced a tightly-contested sweep over Duval (Florida Yacht Club – Jacksonville) to put them just ahead of runner-up Miami-Dade (Dante Fascell Park – Miami) to clinch the team title.

Mark Grnja is the captain of the Broward crew that consists of Dion Joannou, Matt Snetson, Michael Del Fierro, Scott Allen, Warren Grossman, Gary Feil, and Teddy Mebounou.

For complete results from the 2021 USTA Florida Adult 40 & Over 3.0/4.0/5.0 Sectional Championships, click here.