Western Reserve leads Flight 1, it's a Border War in Flight 3, and LaTuchie reigns supreme amongst them all!
18+
40+
18+ Records & Recaps
Flight 1 Standings
W. Reserve 3-1
CVAC 3-1
CSC 2-2
Mayfield 2-2
Green 2-2
Fairlawn 0-4
Flight 1 Recap
In a matchup of the two top teams in Flight 1, Western Reserve got off to a fast start on the road to leapfrog CSC to remain atop the Flight 1 table! In singles, Chris and Mike continued their winning ways as the two are now a combined 5-0 on all courts for their team this season, while in doubles Steve and Andrew clinched the team score with their combined 5th straight victory as well. WHOA! CSC wasn't about to just throw in the white tennis towel, however, and one of the best doubles teams in Flight 1 got their team on the scoreboard with some fantastic play as Jack and Jacob, or team JJ as they like to be called (we assume they like to be called that) won their third doubles match together in as many outings!
Looking to continue their place atop the Flight 1 standings, the rapidly improving CVAC team headed south to face a Fairlawn squad hungry for their first team win of the year! The road show drew first tennis blood as David won his second 3.0 singles match on the year, while Fairlawn quickly countered as Tom enjoyed his first singles win of the year versus that pesky and crafty player N.A. De Fault. Congratulations Tom! With the match all evened up, CVAC's Steve and Paul gave their team a slight lead before Fairlawn's Captain Mike called his own number, winning his second straight doubles match, to even the team score at 2-2. WHOA! #3 doubles would determine the outcome of this back-and-forth, tug-o'-war, see-saw [insert even MORE metaphors!] match, and in the end CVAC's Jeff and Mike not only enjoyed their first 3.0 wins on the season, but enjoyed helping their club take the team match as well!
Two teams coming off two combined wins last week looked to keep their win streaking alive as Green travelled to Mayfield. In singles, Neema started the scoring for the travelling Green Team with his second straight 3.0 singles victory while that darn Frenchman N.A. De Fault once again let yet another team down with a lackluster effort, getting bageled by the now 4-0 John T. King, Jr. (Note: because there are sooooooooooo many Kings on this team the USTA has mandated that every King, in Mayfield and beyond, display their middle names as a possible and potential way to figure out who is who). MVRC's R.J. and Phil gave their club a 2-1 lead with their #1 doubles win, but Green's Elbert and David held back a hard-charging, come-from-behind Karl and Rick to even up the match. Meaning ... #3 DOUBLES FOR THE WIN! Green got out to the early lead, but if you know anything about John J. King (as opposed to John T. King), he never gives up (not that John T. King does give up, but every one of John J. King's doubles matches this season have got to a SUPER TIE-BREAK third set, so you KNOW he's in it for the long haul!), and the match was soon evened at a set a piece. But Green's Captain Rob is nothing if not a leader of men (and possibly women), and he led his #3 doubles team through the MVRC fire to not only win his third 3.0 match in the Flight, but also clinch the team win for his team!
Flight 2 Standings
LaTuchie 5-0
Mentor 2-2
NCRC 2-3
P.Medina 2-2
Wembley 1-3
CRC 1-3
Flight 2 Recaps
In the upset of the evening in Flight 2, Wembley earned their first team victory of the season over a very strong Paramount team! In singles, a barn-burner of a 3.0 match took place as Wembley rookie - and captain! - Brandon took on one of the hardest hitters around, Matt, in a three-set slug-fest! And while Brandon fell for the first time this 3.0 season, he certainly did better than that Frenchman N.A. De Fault, who once again let his team down by winning nary a point (also, didn't he just get done "playing" for CVAC and MVRC?! SOMEONE NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THIS!). Down 0-2, Captain Brandon called on one of the best doubles pairings to ever be paired, J.P. and David, who took on two of the tallest and most powerful players ever to be paired, Patrick and Jonathan (in full disclosure, we've never seen Jonathan play, but for the purposes of this made-up narrative, Jonathan is now at least 7' tall). Despite being down a set, J.P. and David absorbed early body blows (quite literally, as it turns out) to stage a second set comeback to get their team on the scoreboard! Inspired by J.P. putting his body on the line (or at least parts of his body), the Men of Wembley rallied (which is a tennis thing, actually) and swept the remaining doubles courts to give their team their first team win of the season!
Two clubs looking to keep pace with Flight 2 leader LaTuchie faced off in tropical Mentor, Ohio, with NCRC's Captain Benjamin starting the scoring for his team with his second 3.0 singles win on the season while singles teammate Munir enjoyed his fourth overall 3.0 singles win on the year! Despite the early deficit, Mentor responded, as Mike and Shane enjoyed their third 3.0 doubles victory together! Mentor's Mark and Nick evened the team scoring with their combined sixth 3.0 doubles win on the season, meaning the entire match would
(We all know which court is actually the supreme court)
come down to the most important court of all the courts (we're looking at you, Supreme Court!), #3 doubles! Captain Benjamin, a veteran of the 3.0 wars if there ever was one, paired Skip and Tom to get the job done, and if the job was to win a 3.0 doubles match, job well done, gentlemen!
The hottest team in all the (Cleve) land grabbed their whitest white tennis outfits as they travelled up north to the fanciest club in all the area, CRC! LaTuchie, undefeated in EVERY SINGLE MATCH THEY'VE EVER PLAYED (this season), started off strong as Scott continued his awesome pace, racking up singles win numero tres for his 18+ club while free agent DReddy earned his third overall win on the year, this one in #2 singles. LaTuchie's Captain Jeff decided to take matters into his own amazing tennis hands in #1 doubles, earning win number quatro on the season as he and Jeff (wait ... another J&J?!) sealed the deal to keep LaTuchie's undefeated team streak alive! Special shout out to LaTuchie's Chris for earning his first win on the season, in #2 doubles, all the more impressive after three straight three set heart breakers ... congrats Chris on 3.0 win #1!
Flight 3 Standings
Force 3-0
Bay 2-1
Towpath 2-1
Springside 1-3
P. Westlake 0-3
Flight 3 Recap
In a Flight 3 matchup of undefeated squads, Rocky River's Force welcomed border rival Bay to the unfriendly confines of, well, Force, the nicest indoor tennis facility in ALL of Rocky River (all of it!). Due to injuries, Force's Captain Jeremy had to call upon the raw free agent signees Adam and Travis. Meaning that Captain Jeremey's legacy was on the line! Adam made his tennis sensei Jeremy proud with a solid win versus Bay rookie Nathan while turncoat Travis, a one-time Bay player and also a current Bay player who also plays for Force, used mental gymnastics to confuse his opponent (and teammate?), Bay's Ted to the point Ted exclaimed, "Can we talk about which team you are on after the match? This is confusing." SUCCESS!
(Top: Force's Jim versus Bay's Brian; Bottom: Bay's Ted confused by which team Travis really plays for while both border rivals celebrate round one of their intense rivalry)
With the team score 2-0 for the home team, Force sent their #1 doubles duo John and James to take on Bay's #1 doubles team Brian and Tony, and while the Force team continued their undefeated pairing, the highlight of the match consisted of a marathon point won by Bay, in which Tony sprinted from his court to the adjoining court to get the ball back, and did so, leaving Brian playing solo against two of the best players in the Flight, who adeptly fended for himself until Tony sprinted back to recover a drop shot to not only return the shot but to win the point as well ... to the applause of the other four courts (who probably should have been paying attention to their own matches)! While the team result had been decided, Bay Captain Mark, the winningest captain in all of Bay 3.0 history, teamed with rookie Patrick, but were unable to thwart the winning drive of Anthony, who was looking for, and found, his first 3.0 win of the year! Meanwhile, in #3 doubles, former Bay Captain David teamed with family member Ben, and their family connection and communication gave them an early lead before Sreeramesh and Mark both enjoyed their first wins for the 18+ team!
Home cooking proved to be the order of the day in Flight 3 as Towpath hosted fellow Akron'ites Springside in their fancy new facilities! Towpath rookie David enjoyed his first career 3.0 victory while veteran George evened the score with his second straight 3.0 singles victory on the year! Towpath, though, is renowned for their doubles prowess (in fact, is "Towpath" but an anagram for "two path"? HMMMMMMMMMM?? Which means ... um ... well ...), and it was in doubles where the home team took control of the team match as Captain Frank's three doubles courts went 3-0 on the night to seal the team deal for Towpath. Special congratulations to Jason and Scott who both earned their first 3.0 doubles wins on the year!
40+ Records & Recaps
Flight Standings
LaTuchie 5-0
P. Medina 3-2
P.Westlake 3-1
Wembley 3-1
Force 1-3
NCRC 1-4
CVAC 1-4
Towpath 1-2
Bay 1-2
Flight Recaps
Two of the top teams in the Flight went at it as undefeated LaTuchie hosted undefeated Wembley. The top singles player for LaTuchie made Herb LaTuchie proud once again, earning another Flight leading singles victory! Wembley leader, Captain J.P., showing the soft and gentle soul that he is, gave N.A. De Fault a chance to prove himself, but the Frenchman once again put in a horrific effort (though, in the European's defense, perhaps he struggled due to the fact it was his fourth match of the week for multiple teams in multiple locations), falling to Ernest, who logged his first USTA 3.0 victory on the season! Down 0-2, Captain J.P. was forced to split up the doubles dream team of himself and David, instead putting 17' tall of tennis tandem together, James and David, to get his club back in the match, and back in the match they did, as both players earned their third victories on the season for their beloved 40+ club. Captain J.P. tried to carry forward this winning momentum but, perhaps emotionally torn being split from his longtime tennis companion David, he fell to doubles stalwart Alan, who enjoyed his first 3.0 doubles win on the year, and, more importantly, kept LaTuchie's undefeated streak alive!
On a hot and muggy evening, hometown Bay looked to get their first win of the season by pulling off all the stops, first by giving NCRC the wrong GPS directions to their home courts and then by playing outside in the oppressive conditions. Unfortunately for Bay, long-distance travelling NCRC was more than capable of finding the outdoor courts of Bradley and, to Captain Erik's dismay, SHOWED UP (which immediately gave NCRC the advantage)! Thus the match would go on, but Bay took the early lead as free agent Ted and former captain Mike got Bay on the scoreboard as both remained undefeated in doubles with their #3 doubles victory! NCRC's Rex and Matt, though, teaming up for the second straight time on the season and earned their second straight win in as many 3.0 tries with their #2 doubles victory. Bay Captain Erik responded by sending out BFF's Brian and Tony to get the winning back, but NCRC Captain Tim countered by teaming with rookie Tony, and Brian, confused as to which Tony was actually his partner Tony, fell to the mental warfare Tim threw his way! Down 1-2, Captain Erik thus sent in two of the most Teutonic players in the entire Flight, Travis and Dietrich, to play singles while Captain Tim sent in two of the most accurate players in the Flight, Sebastian and Munir. In a slice and dice special in which all four players did all they could to keep the ball in bounds as much, and as slowly,
(Munir and Dietrich, two doctors dedicating their professional lives to curing 3.0 tennis)
as possible (which, generally speaking, is usually a good strategy, but when it's 17,000 degrees outside, staying on the court as long as possible may be in fact a questionable strategy), Travis and Dietrich, after more than two hours of play and losing more than 40 pounds of sweat, were able to wait out Sebastian and Munir in a tennis war of attrition (mostly because Sebastian and Munir wanted to go home as they had a near 80' commute back to tropical North Canton). Thus, once again, Bay had to thank the two most important factors on their team for their first victory of the season - their oppressive outdoor courts AND the ridiculously long commute of their opponents!
Force travelled east in search of their first team win of the season, but were initially blunted as CVAC's Mark earned his third 3.0 singles win in as many tries this season! Free Agent Abhi, though, answered back, showing why Captain John signed him to Force in the first place. Speaking of Captain John, he put in one of the most improved doubles players in the Flight in James, with grizzled elderly veteran Scott, and the pair earned the #1 doubles victory, James' fourth on the season! To seal the deal, the tag team of Denis and David took the courts for the second time this season, and for the second time, they left the courts as winners, helping to give Force their first team win on the year! Also getting their first wins of the year, shout outs to Timothy and Robert for doing so in their doubles match as well!
Towpath, perhaps drained from their non-finished match at Bay the week before, hosted one of the top teams in the Flight in Paramount Medina. Medina's Jonathan bounced back from last week's singles loss to one of the top players in the Flight to maintain his star-struck composure to win a SUPER TIE-BREAKER versus on of the top players OF ALL-TIME in Ron! Meanwhile, Dustin continued his fantastic season, this time earning his first 3.0 singles victory! Down 0-2, Captain Frank called in one of the biggest tennis guns around - HIMSELF - and with the help of Tim took home victory #71 on his 3.0 career! Inspired, Dennis and Rich teamed up for the second time this season, earning their first doubles win together, and evening up the match at two wins a piece! Thus, like it always seems to do, #3 doubles would determine the fate of the entire match (if not, and this is no exaggeration, THE WORLD!). And not only did doubles stallion Denny help win the match for himself and his team, but he also entered rarified 3.0 air as he earned his career 50th 3.0 win! Congrats Denny on joining an elite group of 3.0 rec league players!
Bay v. Towpath - Rain Delay Special!
This match, scheduled a few weeks ago, was rained out mid-match, meaning these two teams in Flight 3 would have to wait for an ideal weather day to get this re-match in. And what's a more ideal day than near 90 degree heat with oppressive humidity!
Kommentare