Five counties, including USTA Florida League Championship Cup-leading Hillsborough, were winners on Monday at the completion of the USTA Florida Combo 18 & Over 5.5/7.5/9.5 League Sectional Championships, held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
The championship rounds on Monday pitted teams from storied Florida clubs and facilities such as Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, the former home of the Miami Open; the 100-court USTA National Campus in the Lake Nona region of Orlando; and the Midtown Athletic Club in Weston, which has won the most sectionals championships of any Florida club over the last three years.
Raising sectional championship trophies were teams from Alachua County (Jonesville Tennis Center, Gainesville), Hillsborough County (Waterchase, Tampa), Miami-Dade South (Doral Park Country Club, Doral), Orange County (USTA National Campus, Orlando), and Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry).
Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry) won the women’s 7.5 title for the second consecutive year and three of the last four. Also victorious for the second year in a row were the 9.5 women from Hillsborough County (Waterchase, Tampa) who overcame injury obstacles coming into sectionals.
“We had some challenges going into the tournament,” said 9.5 women’s-winning captain Suzanne Flament Smith of the Waterchase, Tampa team, which nonetheless rolled to a 5-0 round robin victory in their division. “Two of our players got injured the week prior, which left us with little wiggle room for subbing. However, my team dug deep, fought resiliently, and played to win. All opponents were delightful and gracious as well which made for another wonderful memory at the USTA National Campus.”
Miami-Dade, in addition to winning the men’s 9.5 division, appeared in two other finals, falling 2-1 to Seminole County in the women’s 7.5 championship, and coming up short in the women’s 9.5 final to Hillsborough County.
It was the final USTA Florida League Sectionals of 2018, and the win for Hillsborough County clinched their first-ever USTA Florida League Championship Cup.
The Men’s 5.5 Division final was rained out between Alachua and Marion County teams and will be completed at a later date.
The competing teams represented various clubs, parks, recreational departments and organizations, and finished at the top of their local leagues during the 2018 season to advance to the USTA Florida Combo 18 & Over League Sectional Championships.
For Combo 18 & Over 5.5/7.5/9.5 doubles-only division play, the combined NTRP (National Tennis Rating Program) ratings of each doubles team may not exceed the level in which they are competing, and the NTRP rating difference between members of an individual doubles pair may not exceed 0.5. For more information on NTRP levels go to www.ustaflorida.com/adult-tennis/usta-leagues/#section-ntrp-ratings.
Final results:
Women’s 5.5 Division
Final: Alachua County (Jonesville Tennis Center, Gainesville) d. Leon County (Forestmeadows Park, Tallahassee) 2-1
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Doubles: Leslee Horner/Elaina Morgan (Leon) d. Kannika Torres/Amy Whitaker 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Doubles: Jigisha Shah/Amy Yazdanpour (Alachua) d. Mariela Bartens Santurri/Julie Espy 6-3, 2-6, 1-0
No. 3 Doubles: Sian Morgan/Daurine Wehbe (Alachua) d. Becky Bush/Sandy Tomberlin 6-2, 4-6, 1-0
Alachua County Season Roster: Sian Morgan (captain), Amy Whitaker, Laura Vaillancourt, Elizabeth Fudge, Jigisha Shah, Linda Vaughn, Kannika Torres, Maria Delgado, Kathryn Lancaster, Julia Morrisroe, Laura Montauk, Ludivine Kail, Kim Magee, Amy Yazdanpour, Daurine Wehbe, Helen Ingmarsson
Women’s 7.5 Division
Final: Seminole County (Red Bug Lake Park, Casselberry) d. Miami-Dade South (Biltmore Tennis Center, Coral Gables) 2-1
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Doubles: Gricel Boto Bernales/Kristin Knous (Miami) d. Madelyn Escudero/Annette Summers 2-6, 6-3, 1-0
No. 2 Doubles: Lynn Piper/Jennifer Carter (Seminole) d. Leslie Stein/Alejandra Siller 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Doubles: Shawna Webb/Kyrsten Crociata (Seminole) d. Sandra Bazain/Leslie Watson 6-4, 3-6, 1-0
Seminole County Season Roster: Madelyn Escudero (captain), Shawna Webb, Lynn Piper, Kyrsten Crociata, Annette Summers, Shanel Angala, Jennifer Carter, Isabelle Welsh, Mandy Murphy, Stephanie Weinard
Men’s 7.5 Division
Final: Orange County (USTA National Campus, Orlando) d. Broward County (Midtown Athletic Club, Weston) 3-0
Championship Match Results:
No. 1 Doubles: Diego Hermano/Andre Geraldo Pires de Mello (Orange) d. Diego Grimblat/Pietro Lopriore 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 Doubles: Herman Souza de Azevedo/Gilberto Brandolezi (Orange) d. Gustavo Risquez/Juan Rios 4-6, 6-2, 1-0
No. 3 Doubles: Nicholas Anderson/Carlos Delpupo (Orange) d. Abhinav Mohan/Adrian Oropeza 6-0, 7-5
Orange County Season Roster: Nicholas Anderson (captain), Carlos Delpupo, Gilberto Brandolezi, Guilherme Barra, Jason Shiver, Tiago Begliomini, Lenny Santiago, Diego Hermano, Herman Souza de Azevedo, Renato Barits, Andre Geraldo Pires de Mello, Alexandre Genovese, Peter Breuer, Luiz Baricelli, Jubal Filho
Women’s 9.5 Division
Final: Hillsborough County (Waterchase, Tampa) finished ahead of Miami-Dade South (Crandon Park, Key Biscayne) 5-0 to 4-1 in round robin play
Hillsborough County Season Roster: Suzanne Flament-Smith (captain), Gail Gibson, Allison Lowie, Judi Alford, Karen Olson, Andrea Lord, Dianne Albina, Dagmar Rocker, Chris Bartos, Stephanie Means, Teal Henderson, Danielle Hollis
Men’s 9.5 Division
Final: Miami-Dade South (Doral Park Country Club, Doral) finished ahead of Broward County (Midtown Athletic Club, Weston) 2-0 to 0-2 in round robin play
Miami-Dade South Season Roster: Armando Cabane (non-playing captain), Tom Buetikofer, Eddy Leal, Ricardo Lara, Sebastian Covos, Sebastian MartinezChristensen, Alejandro Lataczewski, Carlos Manuel Parra-Alvarez, Franco Palmiotto, Mario Porcelli, Cosme Barrios
For more info on USTA Florida Leagues or to view local league schedules for 2019 go to www.ustaflorida.com/leagues.
