Texas Shines at Intersectionals

“In the finals against the Southern section, we went 2-1 after singles,” she said. “Both doubles teams stepped up in pressure situations to bring home the title for Texas in deciding fashion.”

 

Thu said she and her team were appreciative of the support the section provides sending teams in all age divisions to this event, which is the largest age-level women’s tournament of the year with over 350 participants ages 35-90. 

 

“The fact that we could represent the high level of tennis in our section and bring home gold in the 45s age division is a great source of pride,” she said.

 

In the 85s, Captain Chris Smith of Corpus Christi, said she and some of her team have been competing in Women’s Intersectionals every year since 1992.

 

“We were very happy to come in second this year as our youngest teammate was 87,” she said. “We have won some, come in second many times and lost a few times. At this age we have many challenges, sore back, knee problems and new 85’s coming in.”  

 

Team captain Monica Salazar said the results are a testament to Texas developing its process for identifying and recruiting strong players to participate in these unique events. 

 

“Over the past few years Texas team selection has improved and other sections have taken note,” she said. “Texas overall is strong since we have several current and former cup players on the 35, 45, 55 and 85s teams.” 

 

Because it is age-based, there is always churn across divisions. Salazar said this has both pros and cons. 

 

“The younger divisions will benefit from new players coming into 35s and others will transition into the next age division,” she said. “Unfortunately, next year we will be losing some players on 75s, 80s and 85s due to age, surgeries, and injuries.” 

 

Men’s Donoff Cup

 

After a dominant result in last year’s edition of the event, Texas faced the tall task of defending titles across five of the seven divisions. Ultimately, they weren’t able to retain the title of champions, but nearly every team posted strong results. 

 

Paul Cass, who competed in the 75s, said he was thankful for his team, captain Dick Fikes, and the memories made during the competition this year in Columbus, Ga. He noted his team faced some injury challenges, but battled back for third place. 

 

“We have a stud Tony Dawson playing #1 singles and he won his match easily,” he said. “Thank goodness our doubles came through and won both lines to give us a 3-2 win and Bronze.”

 

But the event is about more than results, it’s about the relationships built between players both within and across section lines. Max King, who competed this year in the 65s, recalled competing against the Donoff Cup’s namesake, Keith Donoff from Midwest in his first experience at the tournament 21 years ago.

 

“Singles were played first and I drew Keith Donoff. He was a nice guy with weird strokes and wicked spins,” King said. “After the match I heard he was battling cancer and admired his fighting spirit who was still competing while fighting cancer. It’s very appropriate that the tournament is now named after him.”

 

Looking Forward

 

While slots on the Women’s Intersectionals and Men’s Donoff Cup teams are limited, 

applications for the 2026 teams will open for players to apply in May. Additionally, many Texas adult tournaments are offering age-based competition which features higher-level competition not restricted to NTRP rating. You can search tournaments by age-level offerings on USTA.com.

 

Results: 

 

2025 Men’s Donoff Cup - Columbus, Ga.

45s - 4th place

Gonzalo Anderson, Robert Collins, Guillermo Cosson*, Ricardo Rivas, Travis Wagner, Michael Wesbrooks 

55s - 4th place

Luis Cobo, Juan DeKruyff, John Hernandez, Peter Krulevitch*, Kline Sack, Misha Yevtich

60s - 6th place

Douglas Anderson*, Javier Bustos, Scott Howell, Agustin Mena, Patrick Rea, Leland Rolling*

65s - 2nd place

Mike Burch, Neil Carpenter, Max King, David Luedtke, Rick Perry*, Doug Walker, Rick Wertz

70s - 3rd place

Robert Barrie*, Tony Brown, John Foster*, Mark Harrison, Gary Jenkins, William Koster, Tom Morley

75s - 3rd place

Paul Cass, Tommy Connell, Tony Dawson*, Cecil Eager, Richard Fikes*, Kimm Ketelsen, Dennis Reblin

 

2025 Women’s Intersectionals - Phoenix

35s - 4th place

Maria Cortes, Anna Eberhardt, Rachel Janssen, Erin Portman, Julie Schiller, Mariel Tinnirello*, Alina Mihailescu

45s - 1st place

Wilson Johnson, Maria Lopez, Stacy Marks, Kaysie Smashey, Julie Thu*, Katherine Wallin

55s - 3rd place

Vicki Buholz, Kristen guszak, Lori Johnson, Leeza Morris, Stina Mosvold, Holly Perry, Teri Ware

65s - 12th place

Gina Agurcia, Lori Johnson, Teal Lang, Debra Lindquist*, Lynn Mangus, Holly Perry, Kathy Vick

75s -  9th place

Luz Cantor, Patricia Crosby, Gloria Melendez, Janet Rice*, Susan Thurber

80s - 7th place
Lindsay Barton*, Pat Campbell, Kay Hendrix, Katharine Meyering, Jane Morrill

85s - 2nd place
Mary Ann Winden, Kathy Langer, Mary Lynch, Katharine Meyering, Chris Smith*

 

Captains: Monica Salazar, Teresa Merklin

 

*-Captains