Sunday marked another day disrupted by weather at the 2020 USTA Florida Mixed 40 & Over 7.0/9.0 Sectional Championships, held on the ground of the USTA National Campus. 

While the 7.0 competition will continue through Monday, the 9.0 schedule was reduced and concluded on day two, as the group from Pinellas (Innisbrook Resort – Palm Harbor) emerged victorious.

There will be only one squad that will enter Monday without a loss – the 7.0 Broward (Midtown Athletic Club – Weston) crew in Flight 1. They sit atop the standings at 2-0 overall, while both Duval (Huguenot Park – Jacksonville Beach) and Sarasota (Cy Walton Racquet Center – Bradenton) hold a record of 1-1, leaving them in the mix to advance to the semifinals either automatically by taking the flight or by earning the wild card slot.

Additionally in 7.0 action, Flights 2 and 3 ended with a three-way tie for first, meaning the tiebreaking procedure was needed to determine which squads would move on to the semifinal stage. In the end, Volusia (Florida Tennis Center – Daytona Beach) from Flight 2 and Orange/Seminole (USTA National Campus – Orlando) of Flight 3 secured the spots, meaning the rest of the teams will need to count on being the wild card entrant to keep their hopes of a sectional title alive.

Due to the inclement weather the 9.0 schedule, which was originally a double round-robin format, was sliced in half. That meant the sectional crown came down to the dual between Pinellas (Innisbrook Resort – Palm Harbor) and South Miami-Dade (Ron Ehmann Tennis Center – Miami). 

In that contest, it was Pinellas who prevailed on all three courts, sweeping aside their opponents in straight sets. Chris Canfield and Avery Zercoe teamed up for a 6-4, 7-5 victory at line one, while teammates Mike Moenter and Kim Cashman-King took line two by the same margin. Ignacio Molina and Jude Alford locked in the Pinellas sweep with a 6-3, 7-5 effort at the third spot.

The full Pinellas roster includes captain Michael Erbe, Molina, Canfield, Cashman-King, David King, Zercoe, John Hollis, Rhett Rollyson, Linda Thomson, Michele Ironsmith, Moenter, Marcy Rooks, Alford, and Andre Herke.

The remaining round of flight play for the 7.0 division will begin at 7:30 a.m. Monday, with the semifinal and championship rounds to follow. For more information on the 2020 USTA FL Mixed 40 & Over 7.0/9.0 Sectional Championships, click here.