The 2010 USTA/Midwest Section Wheelchair Team Cup was held from October 1-3 at Rush Copyley Healthplex in Aurora, Ill. Congratulations to Michigan who finished first and Indiana for finishing second. One point was given to every player in singles and doubles that won a match (organized by states). Check out our photo gallery capturing moments during the wheelchair event.
Following are this year's individual winners and finalists:
Men’s Open Singles:
1st – Paul Moran (Northfield, IL) defeated Daniel Bolhouse (Caledonia, MI) for title.
Men’s B Singles:
1st - Brian Wilkinson (Allendale, MI); 2nd – Eduardo Rivera (Griffith, IN) in Round Robin play
Men’s C Singles:
1st - Chris Melton (Zeeland, MI); 2nd – Earl Jordan (Chicago) in Round Robin play
Women’s Open Singles:
1st - Jess Sporte (Marne, MI); 2nd – Dawn Crawford (Schererville, IL) in Round Robin play
Men’s Open Doubles:
1st – Curt Bender/Daniel Bolhouse (Zeeland & Caledonia, MI); 2nd -- Tom Kyler/Scott Cole (Parma Heights, OH/Wyoming, MI) RR
Men’s B Doubles:
1st – Eduardo Rivera/Lucas Strohmenger (Griffith & Indianapolis, IN); 2nd – Dawn Crawford/Kevin Hughes (Schererville & Fort Wayne, IN)
On Friday evening an UpDown Round Robin was held with 11 wheelchair players and 10 local players. The round robin play consisted of four rotations, and players were matched with different partners for each rotation. Everyone enjoyed competitive tennis, fun, food and door prizes.
Both Saturday and Sunday local high school players volunteered their time and served as ball shaggers. Metea Valley High School sent 12 different tennis team members in their uniforms to cover the matches on Saturday and part of Sunday, and Geneva High School kids volunteered their time on Sunday. All of the teenagers received community service hours. A special thank you to Northern Illinois Tennis Association Competition Training Center Head Professional Will White for recruiting these high school players. These volunteers made a huge difference to the players, and helped speed up play as they retrieved balls for the players between points.
The players were treated to a full buffet lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and a buffet dinner on Saturday evening. Players also received a string bag as a player’s gift with a USTA/Midwest Section baseball hat (from Northern Illinois Tennis Association) and a t-shirt (from USTA/Midwest Section).
A special thank you to Kathy Emola from the Northern Illinois Tennis Association and Lynn Bender from the Western Michigan Tennis Association for volunteering their time. Lynn displayed promotional information regarding wheelchair tennis programs in the Midwest so that club members coming through could pick up information on the awesome programs that are particularly run in Grand Rapids. Also, thank you to Pam Delnagro from the Northern Illinois Tennis Association for working as the tournament director the past three years.
In 2011, the USTA/Midwest Section Wheelchair Team Cup is moving to Dayton, Ohio. For more information on wheelchair tennis throughout the Midwest, visit www.midwest.usta.com/wheelchair.