It may be one of the coldest months of the year but thanks to the play of some all-star 3.0ers the 3.0 play was hot hot hot!
In our second monthly installment, we'll cover all the 3.0 news there is to cover, including the biggest tournament of the 3.0 tour. Which is pretty much the ONLY 3.0 news there is to cover!
So who won the NTRP Championships? Who was the master of Fast Four first to four sets tennis? And who was able to withstand the mental pressure of no-ad scoring?! FIND OUT! (or just look at the picture we posted above)
Tournament Play: NEO Dominates the Midwest NTRP Section Championships 18+!
The biggest 3.0 event on the 3.0 tour took place at the posh confines of CVAC and it was a local kid (if "local" means "Ohio" then Abe is as local as they get!) who took home all the glory in dramatic 3.0 fashion!
For the biggest event on the 3.0 tour, four Round Robin Fast Four Groups were created and set with four 3.0ers a piece ... but with Group Four having ... five 3.0ers! WHOA!
In Group 1, Medical Mutual's Jeffrey won the day defeating Medical Mutual teammate Abe in two tough Fast Four sets, the first of which saw what very well could be the longest Fast Four tiebreak of all time! But as the top two finishers in each group advanced to the finals, the teammates (or foes?) both advanced to the finals!
Group 2 also saw two more locals, Adithya and Jason, finish 1-2 as the second seeded Jason went three tough sets versus eventual Group 2 winner Adithya! But in a twist of fate Adithya fell to the Gardner Twins ... but no wonder ... it was two against one?! SOMEONE CALL THE USTA!
Group 3 saw was pretty straight forward as third seeded Aldo did what he does so 3.0 well - win! - but Group 4 was another nailbiter as Michael held on for the upset over fourth seeded Jim to win the Group!
With the knockout stage set, it was time to see who would claim the biggest 3.0 singles title of 2025! And already this event had a number of surprises as two of the top four seeds had already been upset (in terms of tennis but not in gamesmanship for losing to any of these 3.0 stalwarts is clearly an honor rather than a curse!). Taking advantage of the draw, second seeded Jason showed great mental fortitude to enact 3.0 revenge versus Adithya, who he had fallen to previously in the group stage, and then third seeded Aldo, to advance to his first ever tournament final!
At the bottom of the bracket, teammates Abe and Jeffrey faced off again, and once again it was a back-and-forth brother-v-brother match, but in three (emotionally!) tough sets, it was Abe who was able to get the win, and then, thanks to another dramatic tie-breaker, advance to his first ever NTRP final!
In said final, the one-handed backhand of Jason took on the lefty craftiness of Abe and despite several powerful shots, it was the defensive prowess of Abe who was able to win not just the day, but also a no-expenses paid ticket to the National Championships in April! Congrats, though, to Jason for improving upon his 2024 performance and ALSO earning a no-expenses paid trip to Nationals! BUT SUPER 3.0 CONGRATS to Abe for not only winning his first ever 3.0 tour title, but doing so at the biggest event of them all!
In doubles, it was a mix of newbies and veterans as last year's champ and National's Runner-up Ram returned to the event! But with a 3.0 target on his back, Ram and Sayyad fell early, paving the way for a new title holder! And the key match would be in the final match of the Round Robin, as Ryan and Ryan (what?!) from Michigan took on 3.0 vets Dustin and Chris for all the 3.0 marbles!
But it was the vets from O-H-I-O who convincingly won the day, earning what is no doubt their most cherished team title trophy ever!
NO DOUBT!
And congrats to Chris who, thanks to winning the Akron Open singles title last summer, now has entered rarified ground as one of the very few to win both solo and with a tag-team partner! Congrats, Chris, on becoming only the ninth 3.0er in 3.0 history to conquer both singles AND doubles!
League Play
The NEO Spring League (which started, ironically, in the dead of winter), is off to a fast and furious start as the three SubFlights are already rocking the three-court league! In SubFlight 1, Medical Mutual is off to an early lead ... but which Medical Mutual?! It turns out that of the three MM teams, MM1 is in first (which is kind of interesting ... what confidence to name their team MM1 before the season even started!). However, Western Reserve is right on their 3.0 tails, only behind via a tiebreaker! Meanwhile, last season's SubFlight - and District - champions, Paramount Westlake, are holding strong in third, getting an early win versus MM3 before falling to MM1. Next up for them? MM2 of course!
In SubFlight 2, Green has the early SubFlight lead while in SubFlight3, it's LaTuchie and their long-time leader, Captain Eric, who have run off to a quick 3-0 record on the season, showing their strength by taking down the clubs right behind them, Western Reserve and CVAC!
Quail Run Racquet Club has started 2025 perfect, going 5-0 as Ohio Valley is halfway through their Winter League season! Captain John, one of the winningest captains in O-H-I-O, has his club off to a strong start but needs to keep his eye out for current runner-up - and perennial Flight Champion - Captain Tim! Indeed, Captain Tim's Schroeder Tennis Center is only one match behind at 4-1. Their second meeting - which QRRC won 4-1 in late January - takes place at the end of March and looks to be the key match-up to decide who may take home all the 3.0 Winter League honors!
March Events
The third event of the 3.0 tour takes place at the pristine Towpath Tennis Center. Will Ram repeat his title from 2024?! We'll have to wait to find out!