Missouri Valley / St. Louis

St. Louis Plays Host to L4 Indoor Wheelchair Championships

Josh Sellmeyer | July 28, 2022


USTA St. Louis standout player Kevin Green — one of the premier wheelchair tennis athletes in the country — approached his friend and coach Mark Zolman about helping him develop a St. Louis-based wheelchair tennis tournament.

 

Green told Zolman about a wheelchair event that was formerly held in St. Louis. It had been more than a decade — possibly even 15 years — since this tournament’s last rendition. The duo wondered if that old event could be resuscitated and revamped to meet the needs of current wheelchair competitors. After some thought, they got to work.

A conference call in February with USTA Missouri Valley moved the ball forward, and Zolman and Green took off from there. Green and Casey Adams — another high-level St. Louis wheelchair player — talked up their upcoming hometown event to competitors at wheelchair tournaments around the Midwest.

 

Their recruiting efforts and Zolman’s work behind the scenes as tournament director culminated in the formation of the St. Louis Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Championships.

 

“I’ve been working with Kevin for about two years, and he felt we should get a tournament. We should try something,” Zolman said. “He told me about how it used to be here years and years ago. I said, ‘Sounds good to me. Why not? Let’s do it.’”

Zolman, a teaching pro at Chesterfield Athletic Club, proceeded to secure CAC as host facility and locked in the tournament date. Green and Adams spread the word at wheelchair tourneys in Nashville and Grand Rapids. The final result was a Level 4 tournament that took place July 22-24 with 18 participants competing.

 

“Wheelchair tennis is a very close-knit community,” Zolman said. “That number is a very good amount for a first tournament in wheelchair. We had good representation from all over. It was fun. Everybody really enjoyed themselves. It was a great event. All the feedback we got from everyone was good.”

 

Players from Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois and Missouri participated in the inaugural event. Entrants had the capability of playing coed singles or doubles in a multitude of draws with prize money on the line for champions and finalists. All revenue from entry fees was put right back into the tournament.

 

Zolman said Green and Adams had extra motivation to perform well with the event happening in their own backyard. The two wouldn’t be denied, as the top-seeded Green won his matches 6-3, 6-0 and 6-1, 6-2 to claim the Coed A singles title. The No. 2-seeded Adams collected 6-4, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-1 victories to earn the Coed B singles championship.

 

In doubles play, Green paired with Anthony Meadows of Tulsa for 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-1 wins to grab the Coed A doubles title. Adams, meanwhile, combined with Ann Arbor’s Matthew Fritzie to go 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2 en route to the Coed B doubles championship.

 

“This is their home. They wanted to make sure they won their home tournament,” Zolman said. “They were on fire, too. I was proud of them. It was impressive.”

 

Zolman said grants courtesy of USTA St. Louis and USTA Missouri Valley were a huge help this year and put the event in a strong position for next year as well. Green’s mother chipped in to take care of the food this year. CAC is attached to DoubleTree Hotel, which made lodging a breeze.

 

KSDK Channel 5 aired a two-minute segment previewing the L4 St. Louis Indoor Wheelchair Championships, which can be viewed by clicking here. The local network then filmed part of the tournament on July 23 to run an on-air recap.

 

“The weekend was a success, 100 percent,” Zolman said. “The players enjoyed it. We learned our lessons. We’ll make it better every year. Next year it’s going to be bigger. Everybody is coming back and is really going to push it big. We’ve got support from the USTA St. Louis district behind us.”

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