Jack Sanders and Len Paulson competing in the Southwest Adult and Senior Tennis Tournament
Denise Lott
The Southwest Adult and Senior Tennis Tournament was held in Tucson in early November. On the humorous side, Dana Billingsley of Scottsdale and Len Paulson of IOTC were the only entrants in the 80 age bracket singles, so they got permission to play the “final” at the new Ironwood courts. This was a first for both players – to be in the finals without playing another match! Dana prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Jack Sanders was another IOTC player in the tournament and he won the 75 plus age division round robin.
The annual Fiesta Bowl Tennis Tournament held at Scottsdale Racquet Club for many years moved to the recently renovated Phoenix Tennis Center (25 new hard courts) December 4-6. With this switch, the USTA Category II level was dropped, but will hopefully be restored for next year. A round robin was played in both 80 doubles and 80 singles. Len gained a little revenge (or maybe it was just his turn!) by defeating Dana 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the singles final and together they won the doubles title. Among the 138 players, IOTC members who also entered in the tournament were Bill Gurovich, Austin Mason and Dave Reddie.
The next important and fun USTA senior tennis event for several Sun Lakers (billed as the world’s largest adult/senior tournament) is the ASICS World Tennis Classic January 23-31 in Palm Springs CA. Their 2016 limit is 800 players.