Senior Teams

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Atlantic Coast Cup 55 competition took place on August 25th and 26th at the Chestnut Ridge Racquet Club in Mt. Kisco, New York. There were many new, and somewhat younger, faces competing for all four teams from New England, Eastern, Middle States, and Mid-Atlantic. The format was slightly different this year with only two singles matches per team match versus four in the past. Each team played the traditional three doubles matches.

 

The competition was tight throughout with all six team matches resulting in 3-2 decisions. The overall result came down to the 2nd singles match between Eastern and Middle States. It was the last match on court at the event, and all four teams were eagerly watching to see who would win the Cup.

New England’s first round opponent on Thursday morning was the host team Eastern. In a trend that would continue for the entire event, four of the five matches came down to third set super breakers. While New England split the super breakers, we lost the lone straight set match and therefore lost the overall match 3-2. The most exciting match in this round was between Ron Parlman and Steve Brown from New England who beat John James and David Lerner from Eastern at second doubles 7-6 (14-12), 3-6, 14-12. It was an impressive win. New England also came away with a win at 1st doubles with Scott Snow and Carl Norbeck holding down that position.

 

Next up for New England was Middle States. Things went better in the afternoon as the New England team came away with a 3-2 victory. We won both singles matches with Jon Kamisar at #1 and Steve Gulla at #2 as well as the match at first doubles with the team of Matt Gelotte and Carl Norbeck.

 

After the Thursday matches, five-time defending champion Mid-Atlantic, stood at 2-0, both Eastern and New England stood at 1-1, and Middle States was 0-2. With New England’s final match being against Mid-Atlantic we were still in position to win.

 

Friday morning’s match started out poorly for New England. While Matt Gelotte won quickly at #1 singles putting us ahead 1-0, we lost second doubles just as quickly evening the score at 1-1. In a much closer match, we lost 1st doubles in a super breaker, giving Mid-Atlantic the 2-1 edge. Steve Brown and Ron Chicoine evened the match at two apiece with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win at third doubles leaving Jon Kamisar on court at 2nd singles as the determining match. Jon had won the first set easily 6-2 and took a 4-1 lead in the second set when his opponent picked up his game and eventually evened the match at 6-6. Not only was it essential for Jon to win the match to keep New England alive, but it would also help in the various tiebreaker scenarios if he won in straight sets. In a keenly contested tiebreaker, he prevailed 7-5, assuring New England would at least be in the mix as tiebreaker scenarios started to be worked. There was, however, one match still on court.

 

With the Eastern vs Middle States overall match tied at 2-2, second singles was just entering a third set super tiebreaker. If the Middle States player won the super breaker, they would prevent Eastern from joining New England and Mid-Atlantic at 2-1. If only New England and Mid-Atlantic were tied at 2-1, New England would prevail via our head-to-head win moments before. The super tiebreaker was a back-and-forth affair, but in the end, the Middle States player won 10-7 giving New England the victory.

 

It was an exciting two days of tennis and was the first time New England had won the ACC 55s since 2014. Next year Middle States will host the competition at a date and site to be determined. Hopefully, New England can retain the Cup in 2023. Thanks to USTA New England and the New England Senior Tennis Foundation for supporting this event.

 

New England Team, top photo:

 

Front row left to right; Steve Gulla, Ron Parlman, Chris Holmes (co-captain), Steve Brown, and Wade Frame (co-captain)

 

Back row left to right; Ron Chicoine, Jon Kamisar, Matt Gelotte, Scott Snow, and Carl Norbeck There are many categories of tennis teams that seniors in New England participate in. USTA/NE sponsored teams are in two categories; age based teams consisting of New England players that compete with other sections in the country or are organized as sub-sections of NE and play each other, and NTRP based senior teams where the players need to be 50 years old or older. Information on the age based teams that compete with other sections can be found here. Information on NTRP based teams can be found here.

 

There are many categories of tennis teams that seniors in New England participate in. USTA/NE sponsored teams are in two categories; age based teams consisting of New England players that compete with other sections in the country or are organized as sub-sections of NE and play each other, and NTRP based senior teams where the players need to be 50 years old or older. Information on the age based teams that compete with other sections can be found here. Information on NTRP based teams can be found here.

 

If you are age 65 & older and love to play tennis, we have a league for you!!

 

Please let us know if you could put a team together or if you would be interested in playing on a team.  Please respond here by May 24, and also please forward this email to any interested players who may not be current USTA League players.

 

USTA Adult 65 & Over

Age eligibility: Players who are age 65 & Over and those who turn 65  by December 31, 2021.

 

NTRP Levels: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 (combined ratings).

 

Match Format: 3 doubles positions NTRP levels use combined ratings with a maximum of

1-point difference allowed between the partners. Example: 8.0 level -Two 4.0 players or a 3.5 and a 4.5 player

 

Local league season:  June to August 15

 

Sectional Championships are played on clay courts on  September 10-12, 2021.

 

National Invitational Jan/Feb 2022

 

Team formation

We will be actively helping to form teams as needed and also be looking for volunteers to captain new teams – no experience required!