Tournament Recap: USTA National Hard Court Championships
Various Authors
DATES: October 21-27, 2025
LOCATION: Mission Hills, CA
DIVISIONS: Level 1, 35-85
The 2024 National 65 Hard Courts are in the books! They were held October 21-27 in Rancho Mirage, CA at the lovely Mission Hills Country Club, which has fifteen hard courts along with twelve grass and four clay courts. (The L1 grass court evens championships are also held here each September). No matter which court you are on, you are surrounded by lush greenery with beautiful mountains visible in nearly every direction. If you have never been to the desert, come check it out! There are numerous flights into the Palm Springs airport (PSP), or you can fly into LAX or San Diego and make the scenic ~2-3 hour drive. A couple of players even drove over from the Phoenix area. And, Susan Wright drove all the way from Florida - crossing the country in an amazing two long days of driving!
A big thank you to the Mission Hills Country Club, Andi Polisky, Lis Andrade and many others for running a very smooth event. Off the courts, the player party was quite fun with a delicious meal and a DJ who got folks up and dancing. If you have never played this event, I highly recommend it as both a fun and competitive event. Next year the dates will be October 27 to November 2, 2025. - Anne Frautschi
85s by Ingrid Rehwinkel
A good time was had by all the ladies in the desert tournament starting on October 21.
Roz King sealed the deal and won the gold ball in singles at the 2024 USTA National Women’s 85 Hard Court Singles and the gold ball for doubles with Dorothy Wasser. Sheila Palmer defeated Ingrid Rehwinkel in singles and won the silver medal. Judith Smith and Michaelin Watts won the silver ball in doubles and the bronze ball went to Sheila Palmer and Ingrid Rehwinkel.
The tennis was great with a lot of tough matches. It was much fun to meet a lot of players, all of whom love the sport of tennis. It was my first tournament in the desert and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about playing tennis not to wait - just pick one tournament and start. I think you would have the same great experience I had.
75s by Leslie Pixley
The draw was small but mighty. There were great matches and joy was had by all! In the quarters, 2 seeds were defeated: #4 Carter fell in 3 sets in a very hot 3-hr match to Pisani. #3 Kimball fell to Gay who always brings her steadiness. #1 Dixon and #2 Ward advanced. In the semis, Pisani continued her fine play but Ward prevailed in 3 sets. Dixon advanced with her winning formula. Dixon defeated Ward with many great points 6-1, 6-1. Pisani received the bronze.
In the doubles, #1 seed Dixon/Bryson and #2 seed Ward/Kimball advanced to semis along with Polisky/Padberg and Pixley/Carter. Dixon/Bryson and Ward/ Kimball advanced to the finals. Bryson/Dixon prevailed in finals 6-3 6-0. Pixley/Carter took the bronze.
It was sizzling on the court but very fun and cool off the court. Thank you to Andi and all her helpers for making this tournament special. My first time here - I’ll be back!
65s by Anne Frautschi
The 65 field came from near and far with Californians well represented, but there were participants from many other sections including New England, Southern, Florida, Texas, Southwest, Intermountain, Midwest and Canada.
The 65s singles had a strong field with 18 players entered. In the morning matches, usually at 8:00 or 9:30 AM, in addition to the opponent across the net, the players had to contend with both the low angle of the bright sun and/or the rapidly increasing heat. Susan Wright upheld her top seeding to advance to the finals, defeating Shannon-Gordon-Carney in straight sets in the semis. In the bottom half, unseeded Erin Boynton was the disrupter, defeating the 4th seed Pat Purcell in the quarters and 2nd seed Ann Young (in a four-hour marathon match!) in the semis to reach the final. In the final, Wright prevailed 6-2, 7-6 (3) in a well-played battle where the heat just started to become a factor towards the end.
Gordon-Carney defeated Young for the bronze (6-2,4-6,7-5) in a second, consecutive four-hour match for Young. (Ann definitely got her money’s worth this year!) In the consolation, Kim Dean methodically made her way through the back draw to beat Leslie Croyder 7-6,7-6 for fifth place. Sherri Bronson and Debbie Crowley rounded out the top 8 finishers.
In the doubles, the 3rd seeds Wright and Gordon-Carney came back from the brink of defeat, even saving a match point, to take down top seeded Boynton/Anne Frautschi in the semis (6-4,2-6,7-5) in a 3-hour match. They then continued their strong play in the final with a straight set victory over 2nd seeded Purcell and Carolyn Lane. Boynton/Frautschi defeated Colleen Clery-Ferrell and Leslie Airola-Murveit (6-4,6-3) for the bronze. It was great to see Leslie back on the courts with her two new knees. She is moving well! In the 65D consolation, Shelley Goodson and age-level newcomer Tina Giubilato dropped only one game while cruising into the finals, where they defeated Dean and Young (6-1, 6-4) for fifth place. Dean and Young defeated Norri Collier and Lori Johnson (6-3,6-3) in the consolation semi-final.
55s Kathy Settles
The Women’s 55’s singles had healthy draw sizes of 15 players representing California, Texas, South Carolina, New Mexico, and Washington. The doubles draw was made-up of seventeen teams from the above five states, plus Alaska. Many who were looking to use the Hard Courts as preparation for Inter-sectionals were not disappointed. The competition was friendly but fierce and as usual inspired by the play in both the younger and older divisions. The lingering desert heat made for challenging conditions, but the clear skies and beautiful surroundings makes Mission Hills one of the best stops on the Level 1 Women’s Senior Circuit. The clubhouse, locker rooms, massage therapist and availability of lunch in the player area made for a fantastic off-court experience. Additionally, the players were spoiled by a delicious tournament dinner complete with a DJ and dancing. If you’re looking to play a competitive tournament in a beautiful resort destination with great player amenities, add this tournament to your 2025 calendar.
45s Julie Thu
I was excited to return to the California desert this year to compete in this fun event. There’s nothing quite like the desert beauty we get to experience in Rancho Mirage. With blue skies, the surrounding mountains as a backdrop, and the horizon dotted with palm trees, it truly is a special place to compete. The air is dry and the temps are warm, but I for one enjoyed soaking in the heat before the cool temps of late fall and winter set in.
The 45s draw had 10 players in singles and 10 teams in doubles. The award for traveling the farthest goes to Silvina Delgado, an accomplished player ranked #4 in the ITF rankings who traveled all the way from Argentina. Several new players were competing for the first time at a Level 1 event and it was great to have them there. The semis proved tough matchups with German Cup Team Captain Isabelle Benoit and myself, and Amanda Parson Siegel and Francesca La’O playing in the other half. I got to play friend and great competitor Amanda in the finals. Congrats go out to Joanna Stewart who won consolation, beating Delgado 12-10 in a 3rd set breaker. The doubles finals with Thu/La’O vs Parson Siegel/Dina McBride was intense and filled with exciting tennis. We edged it out in a close match. Francesca and I are headed to Tokyo, Japan next week to compete on the 45s USA Cup Team and the practice we got at Mission Hills was the perfect way to get ready.
Thank you to all of the wonderful ladies in the 45s who made the effort to get out and play. And a big thanks goes out to Andi Polisky and the Mission Hills Country Club for hosting a great event!
35s by Kim Kauwabunpat
The legend herself, Andi Polisky, has done it again by delivering another wonderful tournament experience for the National Women’s Hardcourt Championships at Mission Hills Country Club. The 35 division included elite players from all across North America, representing Rhode Island, Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, California, and Canada!
Although we were hoping to enjoy cooler temps, our stacked 35’s certainly brought the HEAT this week! Mylene Martin and Kelly Buckley teamed up for the first time to take home gold in Doubles. Barbara Delmondes De Oliveira won gold in the Singles division. CONGRATS to all our gold, silver, and bronze ball winners!
Each year, I’m continuously inspired by the players we are so lucky to meet at these events. Behind each player is also a unique background that makes our sweet tennis community so colorful, vibrant, and awesome! What connects us all is this shared passion to fiercely compete on court… and what hooks us is this ubiquitous camaraderie and so many budding friendships. Even though I missed out on taking home a ball, I still feel like a winner with the new friends I met this week… Until next time... See you all again soon! :)
QUICK RESULTS→
🏆 W35
SINGLES: Gold Barbara Delmondes De Oliveira, Silver Mylene Martin, Bronze Kelly Buckley
DOUBLES: Gold Kelly Buckley/Mylene Martin, Silver Barbara Delmondes de Oliveira/Annick Gouin, Bronze Stephanie Newell/Ann Halbeisen
🏆 W45
SINGLES: Gold Julie Thu, Silver Amanda Parson Siegel, Bronze Francesca La’O
DOUBLES: Gold Francesca La’O/Julie Thu, Silver Dina McBride/Amanda Parson Siegel, Bronze Farrah Northcott/Silvina Delgado
🏆 W55
SINGLES: Gold Kathy Settles, Silver Manola Colter, Bronze Kathy Archibald
DOUBLES: Gold Gayle Prejean/Jennifer Beindorf, Silver Barrie Bulmore/Kathy Settles, Bronze Deanna Vroman/Karen Rothschild
🏆 W65
SINGLES: Gold Susan Wright, Silver Erin Boynton, Bronze Shannon Gordon-Carney
DOUBLES: Gold Susan Wright/Shannon Gordon-Carney, Silver Carolyn Lane/Pat Purcell, Bronze Anne Frautschi/Erin Boynton
🏆 W75
SINGLES: Gold Judy Dixon, Silver Gwenda Ward, Bronze Mary Alice Pisani
DOUBLES: Gold Liane Bryson/Judy Dixon, Silver Gwenda Ward/Susan Kimball, Bronze Leslie Pixley/Brenda Carter
🏆 W85
SINGLES: Gold Roz King, Silver Sheila Palmer, Bronze Ingrid Rehwinkel
DOUBLES: Gold Dorothy Wasser/Roz King, Silver Judith Smith/Michaelin Watts, Bronze Ingrid Rehwinkel/Sheila Palmer
FULL RESULTS HERE
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