2017 Patterson Men's, Women's & Women's B Results

October 9, 2017
Fairfield, CT

On an October weekend with warm and humid weather seemingly more appropriate for tennis than platform tennis, The Patterson Club Open competitors sweated through three days of great paddle.

Women’s B

On Friday, Deb Greenberg and Leila Stuhr emerged victorious in the Women’s B draw. They took out Linda Duran and Gretchen McMahon 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.

Women’s NRT/Viking PCQ

The Women’s NRT/Viking PCQ draw began early Saturday morning, with several tight three setters at 8am setting the tone for a day featuring long, close matches.  The only major upset of the tournament occurred in the quarterfinals, when 2017 APTA National Champions Florentina Hanisch and Annica van Starrenburg couldn’t hold on to their first set lead, losing to Mirian Cruz and Marcela Rodezno 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. The other quarterfinal on the bottom half of the draw pitted the second seeds, Cynthia Dardis and Amy Shay, against Jade Curtis and Viktoria Stoklosova. Curtis/Stoklosova had a set point in the second set to extend the match to a third set, but Dardis/Shay saved it and escaped with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 win.  The quarterfinal matches at the top of the draw were more straightforward affairs, with the top seeds and new partners Liz Cruz and Gabriela Niculescu dismissing Liz Jaffe and Dana Parsons in straight sets, and the other new partnership of Martina Ondrejkova and Ana Zubori, the third seeds, taking out Lisa Rudloff and Mariya Slupska in two sets.

In a semifinal match that featured hard-hitting and speed around the court, Cruz/Niculescu prevailed over Ondrejkova/Zubori, 6-2, 6-4. The experience of Dardis/Shay was on full display in the other semifinal. After dropping the first set 6-2 to Cruz/Rodezno, Dardis/Shay regrouped and took the next two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Cruz/Niculescu proved that they deserved the top seeding even as a new team, as they were able to stop Dardis/Shay in the finals, winning the match 6-4, 6-3.

Men’s NRT/Viking PCQ

The men’s tournament featured long established teams along with several top players not playing with their regular partners. Although there were no upsets before the quarterfinals, Juan Arraya and Michael Montalbano ended the tournament for the second seeds, Max LePivert and Mark Parsons, in that round. Montalbano is a teaching pro at Siwanoy Golf Club where Parsons is Director of Racquet Sports, prompting Parsons to joke after the match that he should take a few lessons from his assistant. The other quarterfinals held true to form. The third seeded Mikk Irdoja and Dan Regan beat Marco Grangeiro and Nathan LeFevre, 6-3, 7-5, the fourth seeds Martin Bostrom and Sebastian Bredberg defeated Rifat Biktyakov and Roman Stoisavljevic, 6-3, 6-1, and the top seeds John Hughes and Marc Powers survived a tough first set before closing out the match easily against Graham McNerny and Matt Warner, 7-5, 6-0.

In the semis, Hughes/Powers beat Bostrom/Bredberg in straight sets, while Arraya/Montalbano scored another big upset, defeating Irdoja/Regan in three close sets, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

The men’s final was the only match scheduled for Sunday, in warm, drizzly, weather. When Hughes/Powers raced out to a 6-1 lead, it looked like Arraya/Montalbano’s sweep of the tournament’s top three seeds would fall short. Arraya/Montalbano won the second set, however, and raced out to a 5-1 lead in the third. Hughes/Powers won the next two games to make it 5-3, but Arraya/Montalbano were able to hold on and win the match and the title, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.  Special congratulations to Michael Montalbano, who made the most of his first trip to an NRT final.

Thank you to Scott Slobin and The Patterson Club tournament committee, who ran a great tournament and kept the schedule running smoothly all weekend long.

Results
Women’s B
Main Draw: Deb Greenberg/Leila Stuhr def. Linda Duran/Gretchen McMahon, 6=3, 6-1.
Consolation flight: Anne-Lise Brown/Jackie Cameron def. Nancy Becker/Harriet McDonough, 6-4, 7-5.

Women’s NRT/Viking PCQ
Main Draw: Liz Cruz/Gabriela Niculescu def. Cynthia Dardis/Amy Shay, 6-4, 6-3
Quarterfnal Reprieve: Florentina Hanisch/Annican van Starrenburg def. Lisa Rudloff/Mariya Slupska 6-2, 6-3
Consolation: Katie Adams/Bobo Delaney vs. Kelly Brown-Cobbs/Sue Tarzian DNP
Consolation Reprieve: Jen Demsey/Roopali Hall vs. Kingsley Keller/Tina Wein DNP

Men’s NRT/Viking PCQ
Main Draw: Juan Arraya/Michael Montalbano def. John Hughes/Marc Powers, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Marco Grangeiro/Nathan LeFevre def. Rifat Biktyakov/Roman Stoisavljevic, 5-0 ret.
Reprieve: Blake Anderson/Mike Stulac def. Nathan Crick/Randy Lofgren 6-1, 6-3
Consolation: Mike McManus/Adam Mirsky def. Genius Chidzikwe/Henry Walsh, 4-0 ret.
Consolation Reprieve: Rodrigo Amaral/Victor Dias def. Gene Tioutin/Sean Welcome