2013 APTA Nationals

Draws

Men's Final Draw (pdf)
Women's Final Draw (pdf)

Other News & Coverage

Looking for a Fitness Activity for Your
Next Event? Ted Kruckel Shares His
Lifelong Love of Platform Tennis

Coverage at PaddleTimes
-Brzova-Stoklasova, The New Face
Of Paddle
-du Randt-Parsons, What A Year!
-Brzova-Stoklasova, Looking To
Make History
-Region 1 Women and Region 2 Men win
President’s Cup

Congratulations to our new
APTA National Champions!

2013 APTA Men's Natoinal Champions
Mark Parsons & Johan du Randt

2013 APTA Women's Nationals Champions
Viktoria Stoklasova & Ana Brzova

Congratulations to the 2013
APTA Nationals Finalists!

2013 APTA Men's National Finalists
Jon Lubow & Steve DeRose

2013 APTA Women's National Finalists
Mary Doten & Chelsea Nusslock

2013 APTA Men's Nationals, Women's Nationals, Men's & Women's President's Cups

APTA National Championship
hosted by Region I

March 7-10, 2013
Franklin Lakes, NJ
Tournament Director Michael Gillespie

Entertaining Men’s and Women’s Finals at APTA Nationals

For all you believers out there, join me in worshipping the paddle Mecca, the Indian Trail Club. Set on a picturesque lake with rolling hills in the background, the well-appointed clubhouse is surrounded by lush fields and ten platform tennis courts. During the APTA Nationals, three courts were added to the facility, one a temporary structure surrounded by grandstands reserved for important matches. Using eighteen clubs in the area, the draw ran almost seamlessly.

Tournament Director and paddle guru Mike Gillespie, ITC President Bevinn Romaine and ITC General Manager Mike Azbill, the talented pro Ana Brzova, and their team of members, volunteers and ITC staff put on a memorable tournament in both scope and consistency. The only “wild” factor was the weather. President’s Cup matches on Thursday and beginning rounds on Friday were beset by heavy snow and rain that left balls dense and players soaked. But by the weekend, temperatures were spring-like and the fans, at least, enjoyed the sunny conditions. The audience could not have hoped for better viewing than on Saturday and Sunday.

The men’s and women’s finalists were both tested in the semi-finals. On the men’s side, Jon Lubow and Steve DeRose eked out a two-setter against last year’s champions, Chris Gambino and Drew Broderick. Mark Parsons and Johan du Randt ran into tricky Juan Martinez-Arraya and power hitter Lennart Jonason. Arraya hurt his ankle in the second set but continued to play his usual brand of highly watchable paddle. Each set went into a tie-breaker with Parsons and du Randt twice victorious.

The finals proved just as engaging, with at least one around-the-post winner. For uberfans, the best part was seeing how much fun the players were having. DeRose and Lubow kept the first set tight, at 7-6, but Parsons and du Randt kicked it up a notch in the second and won that at 6-3.

Brzova and Stoklasova gave up the first set of the semis to Keri Flynn and Susan Tarzian, but created a new strategy to win the next two sets. Finalists Mary Doten and Chelsea Nusslock ran into the first seeds, Cynthia Dardis and Amy Shay, and held them at bay in the first set, 7-5, but went on to a more definitive win, 6-1, in the second.

The final had Doten and Nusslock up 3-0 in the first set, only to see Brzova and Stoklasova chip away at their lead. Despite Nusslock’s lucky t-shirt, the hometown favorites seemed to have a lock on the match and the crowd. Brzova and Stoklasova won their first Nationals at 7-5, 6-2.

A special thanks to Ken Packert for all his great work with the Live Streaming video. Thanks to all of you who visited Live Scoring. The Nationals is a singular event. We can’t wait until next year, Pittsburgh!