ITF World Senior Teams’ Championships 2007

A brief daily countdown as the action "hots up." Excuse me, please for "jumping around."

Teams’ week had its "ups and downs"!

Monday, two wins and a bye for the ladies, one win, one loss and three byes for the men. Then for the next few days, the ladies notched up 5 wins out of 6, while the men had 6 out of 9. Unfortunately, the two youngest men’s groups were loaded with European talent, plus Davis Cup reps from USA were in the mix. Tough going! Never mind guys, it’s all good experience.

Wednesday, ANZAC day, saw ceremonies at both resorts where the Aussies all went down to the beach and remembered our fallen heroes, with Roger Grant leading the group at Belek and Wayne Pascoe with a well-chosen script at Manavgat. They tossed symbolic sprigs of wattle into the Mediterranean. They could then take the court for Day 3 action.

Our Margaret Court Cup team (W45s) went down to the clay-courters, Argentina in a very close tussle, with #2 Leanne going down in 3 sets, Brenda won 2 – 0, and the Doubles to Argentina against Leanne and Ros. This gave us 6^th place out of 14 teams. The Dubler Cup (M45) boys fared better, playing Great Britain, with a win in both Singles to secure 5^th place. Mike won in three sets and Simon took the #1 Singles 6/3 6/2.

Some were wondering why Bruce Osborne (M50s) was in the Singles rubber – we thought he was ‘saving himself’ for the doubles! His No. 1 man could not even pick up a tennis ball! What rotten luck for our World #1, Glenn Busby. Bruce held his own and we were on the way to the quarters anyway. Well done, guys! Against Gt. Britain, Glenn could (stand on the court or) forfeit in the #1 spot, and Wayne HAD to win his Singles and the doubles with Bruce. They did it! So it’s now a semi-final against France on Friday. Bruce and Wayne will need a good night’s sleep.

Semi-final Friday had the M55s up against the Austrians, (Andrew, Max and Russell) – (a win to Australia!), the W50s did battle with Great Britain (Lyn, Paula and Kerri), (a win 2-1) and the M50s (Glenn – who is injured, Wayne & Bruce) up against France – who despatched us summarily 2-0. (We play off for the Bronze medal against Spain).

The Austria Cup (M55s) team will face their arch-rivals USA in the final, with our Maria Bueno (W50s) facing a formidable USA team who only conceded three games in two Singles rubbers in their semi.

The Austria Cup boys showed their supremacy once more, with a 2-1 win. Russell lost to Armistead Neely, then Andrew annihilated Larry Turville ‘love and one’ to set up the Doubles decider. Max teamed with Andrew and they took the Gold 6/3 6/4. Beautiful! Three in a row! Congratulations, a wonderful team effort.

Russell Watts, Andrew Rae, Max Bates

How did the Maria Bueno Cup girls fare? It was a fantastic effort against such a strong US team, with Lyn winning the first set and going down in a tight 3-setter and Paula down 2-0. Nevertheless a great team effort (Kerri holds the nail-biting championship) and a well deserved Silver medal to the team (for the second year running).

Overall, Australia’s efforts were rewarded with the Austria Cup (M55): Gold, Bueno Cup (W50): Silver, Fred Perry Cup (M50): Bronze. Teams in the Connolly Cup (W55) and Dubler (M45) Cup were placed 5^th and the Margaret Court (W45) were 6^th – a creditable effort by all. Our other two Men’s teams had such formidable opposition that they understandably only made it about half-way up the ladder.

A few senior snippets from Ali Bey:

Glenn Busby hurt his back in the 4^th game of the week, played on and won in three sets, despite not being able to pick up a ball.

Greg Westwood is having trouble filling the gap between lunch and dinner. He only has 5 courses for each meal. He has hurt his calf, but luckily he can still make it to the dining hall.

Helen Worland - having trouble remembering what’s happening on the court. She asked half way through a game if she was serving.

Wanda Clothier did a belly dance with the belly dancer at the Official Dinner dressed alike. She then sat herself at the official table.

Martin Richards lost his match and we discovered why. After the match we found the head of his racquet at one end of the court and the handle at the other.

Martin, Rino and Brendon all hit the water park and came out with massive abrasions from the slide.

ANZAC day – all the Aussies met on the beach at 7 am for a short but moving ceremony led by Wayne Pascoe at Manavgat. Wayne had prepared a sensitive and thought provoking speech.

Ian #1 and Ian #2 (HO reporters from Turkey)

Stop Press: Andrew Schuelke and his partner must get some accolades for their grit and determination in the face of adversity. In their Doubles match against South Africa for 17^th/18^th spot, they lost in three sets: 7/6 6/7 6/7. Is that some kind of record?