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Steve Baldwin
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David Gant
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The 2011 tournament was a great success! It was held at the beautiful Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Portland, Oregon. The tournament is run by the Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Association (NWTA).
A total of 26 players participated. There were 9 in the Open Division, 7 in the A Division, 6 in the B Division and 4 in the C Division. They represented Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Florida, British Columbia and Turkey. Of the 28 players, 9 of them were playing our tournament for the first time. The weather was absolutely perfect all 3 days, with temperatures in the 80’s and very little wind.
The Open Singles bracket was hotly contested. Three of the four seeded players breezed into the semi-finals. Our #1 seed, Anthony Anderson (Snohomish, WA) ranked #9 nationally, played Marcus Causton (Palo Alto,CA) in the first semi-final and prevailed 7-5, 6-1. In the second semi-final, #2 seed Steve Baldwin (San Diego, CA) ranked #19 nationally beat #4 seed Jerome Bouvier (Coquitlam, British Columbia) 6-1, 6-1.
Baldwin went on to prevail in the final, beating Anderson in well-played match, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
In the Consolation bracket, Ali Ataman (Izmir, Turkey) came through with 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Phat Mai (Camano Island, WA).
In the Open Doubles bracket, Anthony Anderson and Marcus Causton beat Ali Ataman and Patrick Jacobson (Renton, WA) 6-2, 6-1.
The A Division was very competitive. In the final, our #1 seed and defending champion, Randy Corbett (Boise, ID) went up against Pat Ryan (Kelowna, British Columbia). Corbett came through with the win in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Corbett also won the A doubles. He and his partner, Jim Carlton (Oak Grove, OR) beat Carl Backstrom (Redmond, OR) and Jesse Warren (Portland, OR) 7-6, 6-2 in the final.
The A Singles consolation final was won by Jim Ilg (Keizer, OR) in a walk-over.
The B Division consisted of 6 players with #1 seed, David Gant (Riviera Beach, FL) ranked #4 nationally, returning to defend his title. He lost in the final to #2 seed, Sergio Naduville (La Quinta, CA) 6-1, 6-2.
The B Singles Consolation was won by Denise Esrey (Grass Valley, CA).
In the B Doubles, there were 3 teams that played a round-robin format. David Gant and his partner, Makenzie Ellsworth (Boise, ID) went undefeated and won of their matches in straight sets.
The C Division was a 4 player round robin – all playing in their very first tournament!
They had a great time and can’t wait to play in their next tournament.
Mike Meiers (Portland, OR) 3 wins / 0 losses
Makenzie Ellsworth (Boise, ID) 2 wins / 1 loss
Joanna Christianson (Portland, OR) 1 win / 2 losses
Bill Stackhouse (Portland, OR) 0 wins / 3 losses
The Friday evening Don Drake Memorial Up/Down Round Robin had a fabulous turn-out. Several local players teamed up with 16 of the tournament players to play four rounds of doubles. Everyone had a fun evening of tennis and enjoyed watching the top four players, Yuko Hopman and her wheelchair partner Ali Ataman defeat Alyssa Morrison and her wheelchair partner Phat Mai n the one set final, 6-4.
Everyone is looking forward to next year’s tournament, to be held August 17-19th, 2012. A heartfelt thanks to the USTA national and sectional offices, the numerous sponsors and countless volunteers that support this tournament year after year.