Park Meadow Tennis Heats Up

Masters Pro League

It looks as though the rumors were true and Steve Hedrick (Park Meadow) will make an appearance on the court this Friday (the 16th) at 4pm when Park Meadow Tennis Center hosts the climactic edition of the 2011-2012 Masters Pro League. 

Court No.1

John Jerome in Pro League action

Yours truly will have the honor of teaming with Steve against the tough and seasoned team of Tom Fisher and John Jerome (Wild Cat Run) in the featured match of the event on Court No.1. Oliver was supposed to be my partner, but…You can ask him what happened.

Court No.2 

Christie Bradley

The action that is likely to be most exciting to watch will be on Court No.2 where Steve Shortridge (Colonial Country Club) and Christie Bradley (The Sanctuary) will take on Dave and Erica Cossairt (both of Cape Coral Racquet Club). Christie and Erica have played some tough three-setters against each other in the Fort Myers Ritzman Tennis USPTA Pro League, and the addition of talented relational partners ought to make this match lots of fun to watch. It has my early vote for match of the evening before a single ball is struck. 

Just as I finish writing that, I look at the next contest and I just might have to reconsider. Armor Persons (Breckenridge Country Club), the “prime mover” behind the Masters Pro League will be teaming with his favorite mixed doubles partner in Belinda Dufrene against Marius Espeleta (Cypress Lake) and Park Meadow’s own Carol Hayduk. Marius is always entertaining and Carol has been playing as well as I have seen her play. Belinda is always quick and pretty solid all around and Armor is, well, Armor; a few world class shots always come off his racquet. 

Court No.4 might have the hardest hit balls of all courts when John Ramsey (Kelly Greens) and Sandy Miller (Park Meadow) take on Mike Duke (Park Meadow) and Maria Coleman. I have faced the Ramsey forehand, which can rip the racquet from your hand, and Mike’s forehand will win us many a point when we play together in the Club Championships. I’d take either of theirs over mine right now. Maria is, shall we say, intense and athletic, and Sandy has one of the biggest serves of any woman in town.

Once the fierce but friendly competition is complete, the fun really starts with the season ending celebration, during which Oliver (yes Oliver) and team members will express their appreciation for the hard work team captains do. There will be plenty of food and drink, so come join us at Park Meadow for this climactic evening of tennis.

Oh, and sign-ups for the Club Championships are on-going, so if you don’t already have a partner for the Mixed Doubles (24^th), and/or Men’s and Women’s Doubles (31^st) you might just be able to find a partner Friday night. Hope to see you there! Game, set, match…T A