2010 APTA National Championships

APTA Men's National Championship
APTA Women's National Championship
Men's & Women's President's Cup
Philadelphia, PA
March 4^th, 5^th, 6^th & 7^th, 2010

2010 APTA Men's Nationals Draw
2010 APTA Women's Nationals Draw

2010 APTA Women's National Champions

Mary Doten & Susie Keane
6th National Championship

2010 APTA Men's National Champions

John Durandt & Jerry Albrikes
1st National Championship
Johan DuRandt & Jerry Albrikes

Tournament Information Page

Championship Victories

Men

If you aren't from Region II and you don't watch tournament results closely, you may not be familiar with the names Jerry Albrikes and Johan DuRandt. They are excellent ranked players, and came to the Nationals with enough points to earn the 16th seed, but a run to the title at the Nationals is a multi-day job that requires taking out many exceptional teams. People generally don't expect the 16th seeds to make it all the way. But these guys did just that, and they beat the 3rd, 11th, 8th and 4th seeds in the process, defeating 8 time champs Goodspeed-Mansager in the final.

Their victory was not a quiet, stealthy upset. DuRandt flies around the court like a jet plane and hits the ball like a ton of bricks. (And if that isn't enough of a show, back at tournament central he was getting known as the guy with the cute brown puppy.) But this is a team sport, so while DuRandt created the flash and fever, Albrikes more quietly but equally effectively played match after match of exceptional paddle. The combination was bulletproof this weekend, and they left for home decorated with their first national title.

Women

On the women's side the outcomes ran much truer to the seedings, but that doesn't mean that the action was tame or the matches hum-drum. Anyone who watched the semi-finals can tell you that the women were in top form and they all had the same goal: win the tournament. Doten-Keane, Prendergast-Zink and Delmonico-Main had all won the title previously so for them it was a chance to increase the title count. And since Cindy Prendergast had been inducted into the Hall of Fame the previous evening, it was a chance to cap off that distinction with style. Prop-Schneebeck, whose great year earned them the #2 seed, were in position to nab their first title.

Imagine this: a beautiful clear, cool day; side by side stadium courts; plenty of outside viewing space; and 8 of the best women's players in the sport. They did not dissapoint. Both semis went to 3 sets, and the biggest issue for the spectators was who to watch at any given moment, and whether to watch from the the first or second level of veiwing. Doten-Kean and Prendergast-Zink emerged the winners to moved into the final, where they reprised their match from last year. As with last year's match, the title was earned, not given, and in the end Doten-Keane were able to come away victorious with their 6th national title.

Day by Day Commentary

Sunday, March 7, 3:30 pm

Jerry Albrikes & Johan DuRandt have claimed their first national title, defeating Flip Goodspeed and Scott Mansager 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Sunday, March 7, 1:25 pm

All the back draws are complete and the crowd is buzzing in anticipation of the men's final, scheduled to start momentarily. Check the draws for results for all your pals. As soon as the final is over we'll be posting the results. Then after your intrepid reporters and photographers have a chance to catch their flights home, we'll be posting more information and lots of photos.

Sunday, March 7, 10:45 pm

All the action today is taking place at tourament central, Waynesborough CC. With 5 permanent and 3 temorary courts, there is enough court space to comfortably handle all of the late round matches.

On the stadium courts the 2 semi final matches started up at 9:30, to a large crowd of spectators. After a little over an hour, one semi is finished and one has just finished the first set.

Jerry Albrikes and Johan DuRandt took care of business quickly, defeating Anthony Cosimano and Steve Haller 6-0, 6-2 in a fast paced slug-fest. At the same time, Goodspeed-Mansager and Marino-Uihlein crafted their way through their first set in a more traditional mix of patient set-up and quick attack.

Saturday, March 6, 4:00 pm

Wow, what a day! The weather has cooperated fully and the play has been spectacular at tournament central. Based on the scores coming in from all the locations, there have been a lot of very competitive matches played today.

In the APTA Women's Nationals, the two semi-final matches were contested simultaneously on side by side courts, providing continuous action for the crowd of specators. Both semis went to 3 sets, but while Prop-Schneebeck and Delmonico-Main fought hard for tickets to the final, in the end it was to be a repeat of last year. Newly inducted Hall of Famer Cindy Prendergast and partner Lauren Zink took to the main court to take another crack at 5 time national champs Mary Doten and Susie Keane, trying to increase their own title counts.

Philly Nationals Courts

Despite the vocal support a large home-area crowd, and many outstanding points, Prendergast-Zink fell to Doten Keane 6-1, 7-5. Doten-Keane now hold 6 national titles. They have won in 6 out of the last eight years, and have won every time they have reached the final.

The men have been keeping all the other courts in town busy. The first seeds started to fall in the round of 32, when Gillespie-Stulac took out 13th seeds English-Heil, Dana-Johnson defeated 9th seeds Caldwell-Cordish, McNight-Rose bested 14th seeds Broderick-Moore, and Parsons-Schmigdal beat 15th seeds Arraya-LeFevre.

The quarters are scheduled at the Waynesborough stadium courts for 5pm and 6pm, accompanying the evening festivities.

Check draws for updates. We're posting regularly.

Saturday, March 6, 9:00 am

Yesterday evening the ladies finished up the quarter final matches, setting up the semis which are scheduled to start in about half an hour.

Top seeds Doten-Keane face off against 4th seeds Delmonico-Main.
Second seeds Pro-Schneebeck play Prendergrast-Zink.

At the party last might, semi-finalist Cynthia Prendergast was inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the sport.

Friday, March 5, 5:15 pm

The ladies quarters are well underway. The top 4 seeds made it through to the quarters. Men's action is also into some second rounds.

Women's Quarters:
Doten-Keane (1) vs. Flynn-Tarzian (9
Lemery-Ohlmuller (12) vs. Delmonico-Main (4)
Dardis-Shay (3) vs. Prendergast-Zink (6)
Parsons-Sheldon (7) vs. Prop-Schneebeck (2)

Friday, March 5, 1:30 pm

Nationals Check In Desk The round of 16 matches are starting as everyone finishes lunch and regroups. In the main draw 15 of the 16 seeds have progressed to the round of 16. In the single upset so far, Heidenberger - Shelburne defeated 13th seeds Jones - MacKinnon in the round of 32.

The check-in desk (right) continues to be busy as men arrive for check-in.

Friday, March 5, 12:00 noon

The weather has been fantastic. Cool and suny with a few clouds floating in and out. The women's seeds have held as the first few rounds are completed and people start breaking for lunch. Some of the chat revolves around the experience of being taken out by top seeds and whether ot not it was a learning experience.

Updated draws are posted periodically.

We have a slide show started for the Presdent's Cup. Photos will be added throughout the day as we can drag ourselves away from watching matches.

Thursday. March 4, 10:00 pm EST

How devoted is this!
These gals have raised the bar for paddle fashion and they are definately well balanced in their support of Viking and Wilson! Maybe manicurists in the hut are the next wave.

President's Cup Results
Congratulations to the Region 5 Men's team and the Region 1 Women's team for their victories in the President's Cup. Each region fielded 5 teams and all regions played each other in a round robin format. On the score sheets below, read the scores across for each region. The score above the diagonal line is how many matches they won against the region listed at the top of the column. The number below the diagonal (only filled in for the women) is the running total of matches won.

Men's President's Cup Scores

Women's President's Cup Scores

Thursday, March 4, 1:55 pm EST

The President's Cup matches are into full swing on a beautiful sunny day. Jackets are off and people are sitting outside. Photographers are busy so we should have our first photos posted tonight.

This evening at Waynesborough CC there will be awards for the President's Cup and check-in for men and women. The women's tournament starts Friday morning and the men play early round matches starting a little later in the day Friday.

Thursday, March 4, 9:15 am EST

The team photos have been taken, and President's Cup competition is under way.

Are you familiar with the President's Cup?

This special event is held every year immediatly prior to the Nationals. Each APTA region selects 5 of their best teams (excluding the very top players), to compete in a round robin against other regions. All President's Cup players also play in the Nationals, making for a grueling but exciting long weekend of paddle. Players compete throughout the tournament season to accumulate enough Presidant's Cup Qualifying points to represent their regions. That's what the PCQ marker on many tournaments is about.

For more information on the President's Cup, take a look at our President's Cup page. Want to play in the President's Cup? Each region has specific guidelines for qualifying, which are linked to the President's Cup page and to each regional news page.