Third annual Don James Memorial Doubles Tournament a smash hit
Carey Cox and John Beck won the two-day Don James Memorial Doubles Tournament last weekend.
Courtesy photo
On Friday and Saturday, Aug. 21-22, 20 players making up 10 teams took part in the third annual Don James Memorial Doubles Tournament. For this year, the tournament was split over two days so all teams would have an opportunity to play each other, with the top four teams making the semifinals.
Friday play was fierce with the teams of Andy Howe and Debbie Pauls and Scott Fontenot and Sharon Helms putting the hurt on all of their opponents. The teams enjoyed the cool, mostly bug-free night and we were able to get four rounds in on Friday night.
Saturday morning started with John Beck and Carey Cox and Kip Hartman and Cat Abrego coming on strong. As the morning wore down Marty Silvestri and Julie Newhouse made a strong run for the last semifinal spot. When the round robin play ended, there was a tie for first with the teams of Howe and Pauls and Hartman and Abrego each having 30 points. The team of Beck and Cox were a solid third with 27 points and Silvestri and Newhouse had forged a tie with Fontenot and Helms.
In order to seed the top 4, head-to-head matches were counted. Howe and Pauls had beaten Hartman and Abrego 3-2 so they received the top seed. Fontenot and Helms had defeated Silvestri and Newhouse 3-2 so they locked up the 4th seed.
In the first semifinal, Fontenot and Helms held off a comeback from Howe and Pauls and earned their spot in the finals. In the second semifinal, Beck and Cox were able to pay back an earlier loss to Hartman and Abrego, winning the semifinal handily.
The Finals came down to the final game with Beck and Cox defeating Fontenot and Helms 5-4. The win gave Carey Cox her second victory in a row having won the title with Fontenot last year.
A great time was had by all. As usual there was good food, good fellowship and good tennis. Once again, Rory Helms took to the grill and the players, family and friends enjoyed another delicious barbecue.
The final tournament of the season will be the Jim Albrecht Memorial Wooden Tennis Classic at the end of September.