They’ll be adding another year to the back of their shirts! For the fifth year in a row, USTA Mid-Atlantic Men's 55s team takes home the Atlantic Coast Cup. The Mid-Atlantic Men’s team won each of their three matches and paved their way to victory with a 19-2 record overall. 

 

This intersectional event, hosted this year by USTA Mid-Atlantic, was played July 27-28 at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Every year, for decades, USTA Eastern, Middle States, New England, and Mid-Atlantic have battled it out for the Cup and team Mid-Atlantic has successfully held on to the championship title for five years in a row. 

 

In their first match against New England, each Mid-Atlantic singles and doubles team won their matches in two sets compiling a 7-0 score over their opponent. The team took this victory and mimicked their performance with another 7-0 win against Middle States in the afternoon. ADVERTISEMENT It wasn’t until the last match, against Eastern, that the Mid-Atlantic team lost their sweep by losing two points but still came out victorious by winning the match with a 5-2 lead. 

 

According to the Co-Captains, Kevin Dowdell and Ken Brown, the winning Mid-Atlantic team was led by Dan Waldman of Washington D.C., who has won five world age-group singles titles and won four world age-group doubles titles over the last several years. At the #1 singles spot, Dan won all three of his matches. His most notable triumph was over John James, from Eastern, who was ranked as high as 52 in the world for singles, won two tour-level doubles titles, and made it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in doubles. 

 

It is the team’s overall attitude toward the game that helped them secure their Atlantic Coast Cup five-peat this year. “Of course we enjoy winning,” Kevin Dowdell and Ken Brown explained. They continued, “The best part of our team is the camaraderie and energy. We have a great group of talented and team-oriented guys!” 

 

The USTA Mid-Atlantic Men’s 55s team had a great performance at the 2019 Atlantic Coast Cup and look ahead to keeping the Cup in the Mid-Atlantic. Join us in celebrating the Co-Captains, Kevin Dowdell and Ken Brown, and the rest of the team in their victory: Dan Waldman, Lynn Bybee, Drew Robinson, Kenny Day, Jim Miller, Brian Campbell, Vaughn Gatling, Dean Packard, John Olson, Gil Schuerholz, Jim Scharfer, Joe Mesmer, and Tom Mitchell. We can’t wait to see what next year’s competition brings. 

 

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