Singles - Bob Shearer
Doubles - Son To & Michael O'Connell
Captain - Dean Berry!
Bob, a long-time 3.0 legend, enjoyed the best tournament run of his illustrious career in taking home the 2010 Akron Open singles title in his fourth attempt! A record holder unlike any other, Bob's decade-plus service at the 3.0 level, combined with his support of the granddaddy of Ohio 3.0 tennis tournaments, the Akron Open, are just some of the reasons why you can't spell "3.0" without Bob! Indeed, with over 14 years of 3.0 play and well over 60 wins to his name, Bob's 3.0 tennis career is not just Player of the Year worthy, but Hall of Fame worthy as well! As such, when you add it all up, Bob was clearly a deserving candidate for the most coveted of all D.F.O. awards, the 2010 D.F.O. 3.0 Player of the Year award! Congratulations Bob on an amazing career and an equally amazing 2010 Akron Open tournament title winning run!
Son To/Michael O'Connell
After the voting smoke had cleared, Son and Michael earned the most coveted doubles tag team award the DFO HAS EVER OFFERED! Son and Michael, a long-time tournament tested doubles tandem, enjoyed their a finals run at the biggest tournament of the season, showing much improvement from their previous run the year prior. Making their journey all the more impressive is that Son and Michael, after falling in the finals, rededicated themselves and ook the Cobra Kai motto to heart, showing the 3.0 world that "DEFEAT DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS (tennis) DOJO!" Congratulations on earning the 2010 DFO 3.0 Doubles Team of the Year award, gentlemen!
Dean Berry
Leading Cleveland Racquet Club to Nationals is impressive, but even more impressive considering Dean had to rally his troops from a runner-up Flight finish, navigate the harrowing trip that is the Qualifying Round, and then run the table at Districts, State, and Midwest! When the season was all said and done Brian had done more than rally his squad - he had lead them all the way to Nationals!
2010 D.F.O Player of the Year Nominees
* = Years at 3.0; Nomination Criteria
Tournament Qualifiers
Chad Allan*6
Tournament: Akron Open Semi-Finalist (2-1), Western Reserve Finalist (1-1)
Timothy DeWeese*3
Tournament: Western Reserve Champion (2-0)
League: 1-4 Doubles
Brian Dominguez*5
Tournament: Paramount Winter Consolation Finalist (1-2), Akron Open Round of 16 (1-2), Western Reserve Consolation Finalist (0-2), Paramount Fall Round of 16 (1-2)
League: 0-1 Singles, 2-3 Doubles
Atahan Koymen*2
Tournament: Paramount Winter Champion (3-0), Washington Court Champion (2-0), Paramount Fall Champion (4-0)
Ganesh Palaniappan*3
Tournament: Paramount Winter Consolation Finalist (1-2), Washington Court Consolation Champion (1-1), and Paramount Fall Consolation Champion (3-1)
League: 3-1 Singles, 2-2 Doubles; Playoffs: 1-1 Singles
Bob Shearer*14
Tournament: Akron Open Champion (4-0)
Richard Steiner*5
Tournament: Paramount Winter Consolation Title (1-1), Washington Court Finalist (1-1), Akron Open Semi-Finalist (2-1)
League: 1-3 Doubles
Vikram Kashyap*2 (Cleveland Racquet Club)
League: 2-1 Singles, 0-1 Doubles; Playoffs: 3-0 Singles, 8-1 Doubles
Kevin S. Adelstein*4 (Cleveland Racquet Club)
League: 4-0 Singles, 0-1 Doubles; Playoffs: 2-5 Singles, 2-0 Doubles
Howard Krantz*2 (Cleveland Racquet Club)
League: 5-0 Singles, 0-1 Doubles; Playoffs: 4-2 Singles, 2-1 Doubles
Doubles Team of the Year Nominees
Tournament Qualifiers
Son To*3/Michael O'Connell*3
Tournament: Akron Open Doubles Finalist (3-1)
Vikram Kashyap*2/Bradley J. Schlang*7 (Cleveland Racquet Club)
League: None; Playoffs: 4-1 Doubles
Voting Notes
In what turned out to be a loaded group of singles finalists, Bob won over the hearts of the D.F.O. voters and looked to take home the accolades against a jam-packed group of deserving nominees. But Atahan, though seeming the slam-dunk choice as he set 3.0 history in winning three tournament titles in one season, deserved recognition as well. However, some of the panel believed his 3.0 status was questionable not only due to his undefeated run, but also due to the fact that he enjoyed post-3.0 success in future years as well, winning several 3.5 events in the years to come (let that be a lesson to any aspiring Player of the Year candidates ... if you are too good, you may play better tennis, but you'll never get this pretend award!). Not only that, he didn't play in the one tournament Bob entered. Hmmmmm? Meanwhile, Howard and Ganesh, who had the most singles wins, put themselves in the conversation as well. However, Bob, in winning the biggest and most historically significant event on the 3.0 tour, combined with his sponsorship of said event over the years, impressed the Voting Panel so much that in the end, Bob was chosen as the clear* cut choice for an award that no one actually knows exists!
It was in the doubles voting, however, where controversy and angst led the day. In what should have been an easy vote, as the Blevins Brothers won the only event of the season, a season in which no tournament qualifying doubles tandems played 3.0 league with one another, the vote instead became muddied when it became known that the Blevins Clan were one-and-done, which, unfortunately, is a disqualifying factor (and once again shows where the focus of the DFO is in that you can get penalized if you're TOO good). Plus, when knowledge broke that Kevin may in fact have been rated a 3.5 during his 3.0 play, well, at that point, the DFO Voting Panel was in a state of confused, possum-like shock, not really knowing how to proceed. In the end, the Panel decided to reward the team that had the most tag team wins and had reached the finals of the sole doubles Major* of the year, thus earning Michael and Son their first ever DFO hardware!
Thankfully, when it came to voting for Captain of the Year, the voting was easy peasy as Dean had done what only two captain's before him had accomplished - finishing their season's at Nationals. All the more impressive is that Dean became the first to do so without winning a Flight championship, showing he had the inspirational chops necessary to inspire his team of 3.0ers to 3.0 greatness!
Ineligible Nominees
Kevin Blevins*/Randy Blevins*
Tournament: Akron Open Doubles Champion (3-0)
**Kevin = 3.5
Notes: The Brothers Blevins enjoyed a 3.0 title ... while being 3.5's!
Matt Birkbeck*8/Ananth Murthy*
Tournament: Akron Open Consolation Title (2-1)
Notes: Few 3.0 greats have graced the finals courts as much as Matt!
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