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USCTA
Hickey Cup winner Dana Kopald with Gabe Kinzler and Rich Smith.
photo by Jane Lippincott
Page 28
and Fliflet jumped
to a nice lead in
the first set, but
East and Mulcahy
chipped away,
convincing the
gallery the match
would be close.
Murphy and Fliflet
went on to win the
set 6/4. East and
Mulcahy won the
next set 6/5, primarily exploiting weakness in Fliflet’s game.
In the third set, East and Mulcahy led 3/1 when several
unexpected (given East and Mulcahy’s steady play) errors
allowed Murphy and Fliflet to take the lead 4/3 with Murphy
leading the way and Fliflet showing a bit of resurgence.
Murphy and Fliflet never looked back and won the final set
6/4. Spectators commented afterward that it was a steady
battle played at a high level (meaning keeping the ball off
the roofs), with a modest number of spectacular shots.
However, these shots were greatly rewarded with loud applause
from the gallery. The final score was 6/4, 5/6, 6/4
for Murphy and Fliflet.
During this past winter, our court roof repairs were
completed. It is nice to know that modern waterproofing
techniques can be applied successfully to a 113-year-old
building, at a reasonable price. It is also nice that we can
now play our indoor game, even when it rains outdoors!
In January 2009, Aiken hosted the Junior National
Championships for the first time. We used a system, new
in America, which maximized participation from all players
in the earlier round-robin format, before the finalists were
determined for each age group. In the 12 and Under Combined,
Alex Handy scored a win over Charles Bostwick 6/4
6/2. The 15 and Under Girls final went to Dana Kopald,
over Caroline Lippincott of Newport, 6/1, 6/5. The 15 and
Under Boys Champion was George Handy, Jr., after his
6/1, 6/0 win over Zach Harrington. The 18 and Under
Boys Champion was Philadelphia’s Dylan Ward, after his
6/3, 6/0 win over Tristan Young. The 18 and Under Girls
Championship was a rematch of the 15 and under final,
with Dana Kopald winning over Caroline Lippincott 6/2,
6/4. The 21 and Under Open USCTA Junior Champion
this year was Newport’s Pat Winthrop, as he won the final
over Dylan Ward 6/2, 6/0.
In February, we hosted the Hickey Cup Level National
Championship for handicaps in the 60+ range. This year’s
event drew a small contingent of local players. Five of our
players were fresh off the Junior Nationals, and ready for
more singles play. Only one of the adult players in Aiken
could be convinced to try their hand at singles, most of our
players prefer the more casual pace of doubles play.
In the opening match, Zach Harrington, age 13, defeated
Francois Verglas, considerably older, in a thriller 6/5,
5/6, 6/5. Alex Handy won in a walk over against Charles
Bostwick, who came down with the flu just a day before
the event was to start. Meanwhile, Dana Kopald defeated
Hope Blalock quite handily, and Zach Harrington continued
his winning ways with a 6/1, 6/1 victory over Alex Handy.
In the consolation final, Francois Verglas defeated Alex
Handy 6/5, 5/6, 6/4. The final pitted Zach Harrington
against Dana Kopald. Zach took the opening set 6/1, as
he controlled the service side with an overhead spinning
serve, which Dana had a hard time reading and reacting
to. Dana turned the second set around, and went up 3-1,
before Zach came back and tied it at four all. Dana won
the next critical game involving three chases, with each
player defending a game point. Dana, with the momentum
on her side, closed out the set 6/4. At one set each, the
players’ exerted control of the service side. They were never
more the one game apart as the score became knotted at
five all. Dana was on the hazard side and laid down a chase
1 and 2, at 30 all. She forced Zach to make a racket error
with a nice force to the dedans, up 40–30, then the players
changed sides. Zach made a valiant effort to cut the ball
on Dana’s serve; it landed at better than two. Game set,
match, and The Hickey Cup 2009 to Dana Kopald.
If it is April in the south, it has to be the Masters in
Augusta, followed up by the Knox Handicap in Aiken. The
2009 Knox Doubles drew twelve teams, a smaller field than
normal. Nonetheless, we divided the teams up into four
pools of three teams and played two round robin matches
per pool, before the semi finals.
The RTO handicaps were used, and organizers used
the better of a player’s singles or doubles handicaps. In the
majority of cases, those who had more than six recorded
matches in the last 3 months, ended up with what we considered
at a reasonable handicap. A notable early upset in pool
play was the victory by Alec Spence and Dan Villiers, over
defending Champions George Handy and Ben Cook 6/5,
6/3, which vaulted Spence and Villiers into the semifinals.
Spence and Villiers met wily veteran Ed Hughes and
local up and comer Rakish Jasani, who prevailed 6/4, 5/6,
6/2 in one semifinal. Dacre Stoker and his partner from
Boston, Jeremy Wintersteen, defeated locals Rick Preston
and Paul Sauerborn 6/2, 6/4 in the other semifinal.
In the finals, Wintersteen just had too much for Hughes
and Jasani to handle. Stoker was consistent enough in a supporting
roll to edge the team to a 6/2, 6/5 Knox title.