Our own Tennis Director Brian Cheney is in Klagenfurt, Austria representing the United States in the Britannia Cup! We’ll be sharing his updates during his experience as he plays on the clay courts in the ITF World team Championships in the Britannia cup for 65 and over.
Hi Members,
I am in Klagenfurt, Austria preparing for this year’s ITF World Team Championships in the Britannia Cup for 65 and over where USA has been the winner of this event for the last three years. Between our site in Klagenfurt, two others close by, and one in the Czech Republic, there are 10 Cups to be decided from 60 and over to 80 and over for Men and Women. As new players age up into our division the competition gets tougher and we definitely have our work cut out for us. The surface is European red clay.
Our match today didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it might, but USA prevailed 3-0 against Argentina. The rain stayed away for the whole day, but the clay courts have plenty of moisture and the balls get very heavy by the second set. That means if we’re not careful, our shots start going shorter and give our opponents more opportunities to take control of a point.
My match on day two started with the court brushed and line cleaned. My opponent was Argentina’s line one and captain Jorge Azpiri. He won the toss and elected to serve. It felt good to finally get into a match situation and be tested. The first game was relatively easy for me – I won the first four points. I went on to cruise through the match breaking all of his serves and holding mine for 6-0.
The doubles match was played by David Nash and Les Buck against Argentina’s Eduardo Bassett and Ernesto Grumelli. The first and third sets were routine for David and Les winning both by scores of 6-1 and 6-2. But the second was all Argentina. Although neither player had a classic game, they were quick with volley and always returned serve very well for the set. We all felt good to have won 3-0, but realize our level of play needs to improve for tomorrow’s match against the Netherlands.
From Klagenfurt, Austria
Brian
