A Look Back: First Annual Senior Women’s Intersectional Championships
Linda Burtis
Recap from the October 1987 NSMTA Newsletter
Florida and Southern Triumph at Virginia Beach 35’s and 45’s
Team Florida almost brought home all the booty from Virginia Beach on September 20, following four days of intense competition in the first annual Senior Women’s Intersectional Team Championships, a national Davis Cup style event.
The Florida Crackers’ 35 and over division, captained by West Palm Beach lawyer Margaret Cooper, defeated a strong field from Texas in the finals, winning four matches out of five.
The Southern section, led by Jane Crofford’s impressive win over 1966 US Open mixed doubles champion Donna Floyd Fales, took the 45’s title with a decisive victory over a tired Florida crew.
Florida’s 4-1 score in the 35’s was less lopsided than it sounds. With wins by Kerry Young and Captain Cooper and a three-set loss by Trish Faulkner to Shelby Torrance in singles, the historical first title depended on the outcome of the doubles. The Floridians only needed one victory to earn the Shirley Fry Irwin trophy, while a pumped up Texas contingent could clinch it by winning both doubles matches.
The pivotal #’s 1 and 2 doubles, like stereo speakers, played a duet, on neighboring courts…with the volume turned up high…like the music at a two-ring circus, complete with flying trapeze acts a la Jane Strnadel and screaming jungle cries from Kerry Young, who couldn’t resist verbally punctuating her punch volleys.
Both matches went the distance with three-setters, and the outcome seesawed between the rival sections. Sydney born Trish Faulkner, who was ranked in the world’s top 20 during Billie Jean King’s heyday, and the nation’s current 3rd ranked player in the 35’s, Kerry Young, beat the unranked but awesomely athletic team, Susan Bramlette and Jane Strnadel, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. Bramlette is an extraordinary example of a national caliber player who came late to the game. The mother of two young children acknowledged that she has no tennis history and has been playing the spot for a mere five years.
Cooper and Mary Seifer outlasted Texas Rednecks’ Diane Matzner and Judy Martindale, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Lest anyone think that the 35’s is for sissies gone over the hill, beware. Cooper, who was hit in the face and knocked down by a hard volley, required an injury time-out late in the match. She later joked that Texas’ philosophy was “if you can’t beat’em, beat’em.”
Seiferd, who played aggressive, all-over-the-court tennis, called the win, “the best match of my life.” She said that her improved play includes looking at the court from a bigger perspective, particularly as she comes in behind her serve. “This is the result of Nancy Reed’s coaching.”
The crown jewel of the 45’s, in which the USTA’s Southern section won all three of their singles encounters with Florida, had to be Jane Crofford’s match against Donna Floyd Fales. Fales no longer plays competitive tennis, so the fact that a newcomer to the sport like Crofford, can close the gap on a former world-class player should surprise no one. Fales’ willingness to compete, even though she no longer trains, was high-caliber sportsmanship. It has been said before that the 35’s at the US Open was canceled because of fear by former greats that they might lose to the hordes of no-names whose games and bodies are in better shape than their own.
Still, Crofford admitted after the match that she faced two opponents, Fales and her reputation. “I pretended I was playing a practice match indoors in Nashville,” she said, moments after the match ended. She certainly played confident tennis, zoning in the fast lane. Going up 5-2 in the first set, one of the tournament’s most popular players, hit two aces on har-tru, followed by a long rally in which both players moved the ball all over the court. Crofford won that point with a shot that put Fales into the metal supports that hold up the clubhouse roof.
It was not difficult to see glimpses of Fales’ former greatness. She seemed to be getting her rhythm, keeping the ball in play longer as the match went on. Taking Crofford’s shots off her shoelaces and hitting inside-out forehands down the line, Fales appeared on the verge of leveling the match. However, Crofford never cracked, returning a Fales’ drop shot with one of her own, for example whenever she had the chance. Crofford came away the victor, winning 6-3, 6-1.
Coming on the heels of the US Open, this national team competition brought together most of the top women 35 and over and 45 and over players from around the country. It caused a few spectators to note that the level of play was not so different from the early-round matches at Flushing Meadows, an inspiring thought when you consider that these women are giving away a few and even a pregnancy or two.
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