Tournament Recap: Level 1 USTA National Hard Courts
DATES: May 15-21, 2023
LOCATION: La Jolla, CA
DIVISIONS: Level 1, 50-80
50s by Amanda Parson Siegel
The La Jolla 50s Nationals started with overcast skies but beautiful temperatures for tennis. Every time I come to one of the national tournaments, I say to myself: “It’s always amazing to see these women.” It’s great to not only reconnect with women I played with in juniors and college, but also to make new friends and acquaintances. It’s truly an honor to be here at La Jolla with multiple generations who have wonderful stories and experiences to share. The Tournament Directors, referees, staff and volunteers were lovely, and it is always a pleasure to play at The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. For me, the tournament started like a party and ended with a warm hug that leaves you looking forward to coming back every year!
60s by Shelly Works
Sunny California was not so sunny for the week of the tournament. The weather was pretty chilly for this Texas girl. The tennis, on the other hand, was tough. With 35 singles players (including one from Great Britain) and 25 doubles teams, the draws were heavy with so many great players. It was great to see the formidable team of Dailey and Smith back in action! We had chair officials for several matches. What a treat! I didn't have to worry about keeping score after 30 ball rallies! With so many tough and talented players, the singles draw was tough from the first rounds on. Gillian Brook (from Great Britain) and Elissa Burke (from Seattle) were first-timers to the tournament and made a splash with some super good tennis for all to watch. In the quarters, Judy Newman and Gayle Prejean provided 3 sets of nail-biting tennis. Prejean won 4 in the 3rd. No. 2 seed Vicki Buholz was set to play Ellie Hammargren but Ellie had to pull out due to an injury. No 1 seed Fran Chandler had a tough battle with Burke but came out on top. I played Colleen Ferrell. I had to put my track shoes on to run down all the drop shots and spectacular forehands Colleen hit. I somehow managed to pull it out. In the semis, I played Vicki Buholz. She played flawless tennis and won 0 and 2. Fran and Gayle battled in the other semis. The points were exhausting to watch! Chandler won the battle 3 and 6. In the finals, Buholz continued her laser-like focus and her accurate execution of shots to take the gold. For the 3/4 playoff, Gayle Prejean and I battled it out for 3 sets with me winning 6-1 in the 3rd.
In dubs, the draw was full of great seeded players and several sleepers! Maria Nunez, who partnered with Terry Thyseen, had an unfortunate injury before the tournament started, so Christina Kaus stepped in to play for Maria. The quality of tennis really heated up in the quarterfinals. Dailey and Smith took out the No.2 seeds Lori Robertson and Angie Williams in a marathon match winning 6-4 in the 3rd. No 5 seeds Ellie Hammargren and Christine Paulson won a tough 2-set battle over the very formidable team of Jenny Keller and Gillian Brook by a score of 6 and 4. No 1 seeds Buholz and Prejean and No 5 seeds Thyssen and Kaus won their matches to set up some tough semis. Buholz and Prejean won 6-3 in the 3rd over Thyssen and Kaus. The points were unbelievable to watch! Paulson and Hammargren won their match over Dailey and Smith 6-1 6-2. The first set of the finals between Buholz/Prejean and Paulson/Hammargren was full of great net points. In the end, Paulson/Hammargren won 5 and 0. It was the first time they had ever played together and it was Chrstine's first gold ball!!! Congratulations!
With so many good players and teams, consolation was tough with several matches going to a 10-point match tiebreaker! Dorian Sailer won 10-5 in a 3rd set breaker against Genny Benke in one semis. Anna Tessadro won 10-4 in the 3rd set breaker over Christy Foreman in the other semis. Sailer won the consolation in a 10-4 3rd set breaker over Tessadro. Consolation doubles were just as tough. My doubles partner, Rainy Miller, and I I had a tough match in the quarterfinals against Robertson/Williams winning 6 and 2. We then met Brook/Keller in the semis and won 4 and 1 though the score does not reflect the quality of tennis played in the 2nd set. We won the finals by walkover due to injury over Tracy Price and Cherise Meoli.
The highlight of the tournament was having ball kids for our 3/4 playoff. Jane, Lainey Roshni, Rohita, Nula, Kevin, and Eden--Thank you! You did a fantastic job! Drake Piper--kudos to you for preparing them for the competition. They did you proud! Thank you Bill Kellogg, Conan Lorenzo, Marilyn Baker, the officials, and all of the volunteers and staff, and Don who took care of us all week! Another great Hard Court Championships in beautiful La Jolla!
70s by Margaret Machoian
Ah, La Jolla!
It was gray every day in La Jolla this year for the Women's 70 Hard Court event. There was one evening when we did have a lovely sunset filled with oranges and yellows. If you have never been to this tournament for the hard courts, you don’t know what you are missing. It begins with a beautiful hotel setting directly on the ocean with many rooms having a spectacular view of the Pacific. Every morning coffee is set up by 7:00 and every evening there is a happy hour with hors d’ oeuvres at 4:00! But wait! It only gets better! On Tuesday evening there is a beach dinner party with food cooked to order on the beach and on Thursday we are presented with a sit-down indoors or outside dining with a gorgeous display of salads, vegetables, fish, chicken and a roast beef slicing area where the chef cuts your slice, and for me, a piece of the crispy fat. The desserts were gone long before the lines stopped at the main dishes. That’s how good they were!
At the check-in, very nice long white-sleeved shirts were given out. There also was a box filled with free shirts for the taking. Towels are provided all week and there is a very nice heated pool to use for those tight muscles after matches.
The desk and referee worked very hard with scheduling matches and we had umpires in many of the matches during the entire week. The finals on court one also had ball kids which is a very rare event at senior tournaments. There are two warm-up courts provided for you to share every day. What have I missed!?!?
Well, fantastic play by all! The finals of the 70 singles with Tina and Gwenda was action-packed. The highlight replay would be when Tina took a dive onto the court only to rebound up and continue on in the fashion she plays in winning another gold ball. And the doubles! It was some superb play by the one and two seeds battling for the gold. The highlight? Tina is bumped by her partner and down she goes, again! However, the trainer was called out to bandage her hand and knees. But in the end, Tina and Jan again prevailed. The best part of watching so much tennis this week was the camaraderie that was witnessed and how many hugs were given out at the end of a match, not just a handshake.
The NWTO provided us with a free lunch. They also had a drawing for sun protection gloves for playing tennis. The NWTO recruited many more new players this week but the main reason to visit the table daily was to get a piece of candy or the need to find out information pertaining to future tournaments or news of other players.
So will I go back next year? You can bet your bottom dollar and you should too if you want to play a National tournament in a resort area!
80s by Sheila Weinstock
The National Hard Courts in La Jolla this year was a “banner” tournament” as usual; with one of the largest draws in the 80s since Covid hit us. There were 16 entries in the singles & 11 teams in the doubles!
Instead of giving all the playing results of the 80s, which you can find online, I‘d like to share with you what the players had to say while interviewing them, as to why and how playing has affected them in their lives.
Here are the majority of the comments I received from the various 80’s players:
We look forward to continuing to come and play in the tournaments because:
It provides lots of fun and gives us something to look forward to.
Now that Covid is over, we have more players playing in the tournaments, and getting more entries again gives everyone more matches, plus we get to see so many of the friends we’ve made from all the years we’ve played and it gives us an opportunity to “catch up” on what they’re doing.
It also helps to keep us in better physical shape and we look forward to the camaraderie it provides for all of us.
We also get to go to various parts of the country and look forward to the travel to see different areas of the country and do new things.
Playing is an incentive for us to stay healthy.
Playing and competing is in our blood, but the friendships & experiences that we get from playing tennis are life-changing, and we hope the tournaments will continue forever!
QUICK RESULTS→
🏆 W50
SINGLES: Amanda Parson Siegel over Pernilla Putnik
DOUBLES: Amanda Parson Siegel / Dina McBride over Pernilla Putnik / Quynh Le
🏆 W60
SINGLES Vicki Buholz over Fran Chandler
DOUBLES: Christina Paulsen / Eleanor Hammargren over Vicki Buholz / Gayle Prejean
🏆 W70
SINGLES Tina Karwasky over Gwenda Ward
DOUBLES: Tina Karwasky / Jan Kirkland over Masako Beppu / Liane Bryson
🏆 W80
SINGLES: Cathy Anderson over Charleen Hillebrand
DOUBLES: Suella Steel / Roz King over Jean Ainger / Lorna Brooks
