Friday: Heard 'Round The Courts
Rain Hits The Island
Approaching match point, women’s 60s 4.0 teams from North Carolina and
Tennessee were enrapt in a tight second set when the rains came. Sort of.
Seems the sprinklers at Point Royal Racquet Club went off a little bit early
and right in the middle of a point. The resilient and nearly waterproof ladies
continue to hit four shots as they danced around the shoots of water before
the point was decided.
Obviously, the court was unplayable so the match was moved to Palmetto Dunes
Racquet Club. After a short warm-up, the teams resumed, split set and
proceeded to a match tiebreak.
Almost Sweet Caroline
Overhead at breakfast in the Crowne Plaza dining room: A couple was discussing an article listing Yahoo’s most searched athlete for 2011. You know you’re in a tennis crowd when people just refer to persons athletes with just first names … Maria and Serena. But poor Caroline was identified by the diners as Wozniacki. She’s No. 1 but still gets no respect.
Looked Like The Tournament
This reporter was doubling as the tournament photographer this afternoon and
scouting out senior matches to take photos for the tournament Facebook page
photo galleries. I came across four gentlemen all seemingly above the age of
60. Out came my camera and away I clicked as the quartet played a few points
and knocked off a couple of crisp volleys. One player asked if I snapped his
down-the-line winner and more banter ensued with the other competitors. “Gee,
these guys are pretty loose,” I thought.
Then, Dennis Malick, a well-known writer and HHI tennis player, came over and
said Hi. He informed me that no matter how accomplished the teams seemed, they
were just playing a recreational match and weren’t in the tournament.
I tried unsuccessfully to take the egg off my face!