2017 APTA Husband/Wife and Mixed Nationals Recap

February 24-26, 2016
Huntington, NY

Summer was in the air as the temperatures crept up to 70 degrees in Long Island during the APTA Husband/Wife Nationals and Mixed Nationals. Both finals featured last year’s champions trying to repeat, but while Alison and Adam Morgan retained their Husband/Wife title, Roxy Enica and Juan Arraya were unable to four-peat in the Mixed.

HUSBAND/WIFE
Despite winning the title last year, the Morgans were not the top seed in the Husband/Wife tournament. That distinction went to 2008, 2011, and 2013 Husband/Wife Champions Kerri Delmonico and Mike Stulac. Delmonico/Stulac met little resistance as they moved through the draw, while Morgan/Morgan lost a set to Amy and Chris Shay in the quarterfinals. The finals were a seesaw battle of three lopsided sets, with the Morgans recovering from a 6-0 second set loss to take the match and their second consecutive Husband/Wife National title.

MIXED
With all of the strong teams entered in the Mixed Nationals this year, it looked on paper like the top-seeded Roxy Enica and Juan Arraya would face some obstacles as they tried to tally their fourth consecutive Mixed National title. All four seeded teams featured highly-ranked men paired with highly-ranked women.

Three of the four seeds reached the semis. The fourth seeds, Florentina Hanisch and Martin Bostrom, fell to Bostrom’s regular men’s partner, Sebastian Bredberg, and Hanisch’s regular women’s partner, Annica van Starrenburg. That was as far as van Starrenburg/Bredberg would go, as the second seeds Gabriela Niculescu and Drew Broderick ousted them in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Enica/Arraya defeated the third seeds, Myrthe Molenveld and Mikk Irdoja.

The final was a dream matchup; the three-time defending champions up against the
the top-ranked player in the men’s game, Drew Broderick, and the top-ranked woman, Gabi Niculescu. Niculescu and Broderick jumped out to a quick start and capitalized on a flurry of errors from their opponents, and although Enica and Arraya had several opportunities to get into the match in the second set, Niculescu and Broderick were too steady and solid, taking their first Mixed National title 6-1, 6-1.

Thank you to tournament director Duane Hayden, and the Huntington Country Club and other area clubs for donating their court time.

Husband/Wife Results:
Main Draw: Alison Morgan/Adam Morgan def. Kerri Delmonico/Michael Stulac, 6-2, 0-6, 6-1
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Kelsey Laird/Paolo Gonzalez def. Amy Shay/Chris Shay, 6-2, 6-1
Reprieve: Carrie Cochrane/Geoff Cochrane def. Tamara Knobloch/Thorsten Knobloch, 6-3, 6-1
Consolation: Debbie Holtschneider/Mark Holtschneider def. Abigail Burke/Paul Wishnoff, 6-3, 6-1
Consolation Reprieve: Whitney Saunders/Charlie Saunders def. Trish Hall/Craig Hall, 6-2, 6-4

Mixed Results:
Main Draw: Gabriela Niculescu/Drew Broderick def. Roxy Enica/Juan Arraya, 6-1, 6-1
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Florentina Hanisch/Martin Bostrom def. Alison Morgan/Adam Morgan, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Reprieve: Ana Marija Zubori/Anton Bobytski def. Jill Feher/Matt Garavaglia, 6-4, 6-1
Consolation: Christina Wein/Ciaran Fitzgerald def. Erin Ortiz/Gustavo Goncalves, 6-4, 7-6
Consolation Reprieve: Kelsey Laird/Paolo Gonzalez def. Meg Myles/Nick Raho, 6-2, 6-0