Early round singles action
Excellent serving form by an unidentified participant
John Brasch
It was one for the record books as the IronOaks Tennis Club hosted some of the finest local talent in this year’s Jason Morton Tennis Classic. From its beginning in 2004, the tournament has grown to this year’s record of almost 170 players competing in over 200 matches in four days for a total of $6,600 in total prize money.
Tournament Director Matt Gleason, assisted by Kwon Young and John Radcliffe, were benevolent overlords of an event that has become a spring tradition at IronOaks.
This year’s tournament went off without a hitch and featured different levels and age groups ranging from the Men’s 80-year-old Singles contest in which IronOaks resident Len Paulson was a finalist to the Men’s Open final featuring 19-year-old Hussein Elalami defeating 13-year-old Kai Mills for his second consecutive championship. Regarding Kai Mills in the final, spectators were heard muttering comments like, “I’ve got tennis shoes older than that!” and “My grandkids should be doing this rather than playing video games.”
A new wrinkle for the 2019 tournament was the addition of NTRP Level 3.5 and 4.0 events with the Men’s 4.0 Singles event attracting over 19 participants. Tournament Director Matt claimed the three hour-long 4.0 Men’s Doubles final late on Sunday and won by Carlos Rivas and Calvin Burns was the best match of the entire tourney and viewed by far too few fickle fans.
All in all, fans and participants walked away pleased with the entire tournament and looking forward to next year’s bigger and better Jason Morton Tennis Classic.
And now a word from our sponsors, the local businesses who graciously underwrite this fine event. The major Grand Slam Sponsors were local real estate firms the Young Home Team and the KOLB Team. Thanks to additional sponsors, 360 Physical Therapy, A-1 Golf Carts and the Sustainable Landscape Service. So much for the commercials, now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.