The 2nd 2024 Clay Slam:
Veteran Aces Showcase Ageless Talent and Competitive Spirit

The second of this season’s clay court New England Senior Slams took place at Concord Country Club from August 8 - 11 with 60 players in five age categories in singles and doubles. Despite two nights of heavy rain due to the remnants of Hurricane Debby, Tournament Director Nigel Bentley ensured the matches ran smoothly and the courts were in top shape. The outstanding competition included some tight three-setters and a few upsets. The format for the entire tournament was a 10-point super breaker in lieu of a full third set. 

Here are the highlights: 

Singles Competitions

Eleven players comprised the men’s 55 event. Things were chugging along until Brian Lomax (Newton, MA), returning to tournament play from surgery, took out the two seed and local favorite Bill Anderson (MA) in the semi-finals in a very tight and long (more than two and a quarter hours) 0-6, 6-4, 10-8 battle. Sunday morning Lomax then defeated top seed James Burda (Glastonbury, CT) in another well-played nail-biter, 6-3, 2-6, 10-6. Daniel Rice (MA) won the consolation draw over Kevin Mayew (MA). 

Not dropping one set, top seed Thomas Dunlap (Belmont, MA) dominated the 12-player 65+ singles draw. His closest match was his 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Thomas Chase (Pomfret Center, CT) in the semi-finals. Dunlap beat third seed Peter Ogilvy (Westport, CT) in the final. 

The biggest draw of the tourney, the men’s 75 singles, had 16 quality players, with six of the top seven ranked players in New England and the 7^th, 31^st, 33^rd, 54^th ranked players in the country. Number 31 ranked Ken McGrath (PA) defeated #33 Joseph Touzin (Annapolis, MD) in the quarterfinals, knocked out the top seed Gary Chafetz (MA) in the semis, and then the third seed and 2021 champion Bruce Leibig (Goffstown, NH) to take gold. Russell Kramp (MA) won the back draw in straight sets over Joel Herskowitz (MA). 

Seven men made up the 80s draw. Top seed and ageless Robert McAfee (MA) had little trouble in his two rounds to win the tourney for the third straight year. His 2024 win marked his fifth overall New England Clay court title, having won a couple of others when he was in the 70+ division in 2013 and 2015. Chris Bentley (CT) renewed his long-time rivalry with James Hufford (NH) in the consolation final and prevailed after two hours and 15 minutes with a 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 comeback. 

Five men were in the 85+ singles draw. After straight semi-final wins, Nick Ourusoff (NH) and Charles Niemeth (CT) staged one of the longest and most exciting matches of the weekend in their final. It was a battle of equals, but defending champion Ourusoff was ready to go the distance to defeat the previous week’s New England senior grass court champion Niemeth, 7-5, 0-6, 18-16 in a two-hour and 25-minute marathon.