This Week's Tennis Scene

Park Meadow Tennis Shop Sweepstakes

Tomorrow is your last chance to claim your Sony Ericsson box seats and VIP parking from Park Meadow Tennis Shop. Drop in and pick up a few sale items before 5pm Wednesday the 28^th and you might be sitting courtside for the Women’s Final and the Men’s Doubles Final this coming Saturday. Visit the new Park Meadow Tennis Shop website for more details.

Ultimate Tennis Heating Up

Also tomorrow, at 5:30pm at Park Meadow, I get to take on Jarrod Goare, the player sitting one spot ahead of me in the Ultimate Tennis 5.5 standings. Jarrod sits in second, having lost once to Division Leader Alex Blagojevic in a tough three-setter. 

I imagine it will be a tough time out there for me tomorrow, because Jarrod gave a good account of himself in the final of the Edison Classic against Champion Parker Cuevas-Woodall. I can't catch up to Parker's serve, and I haven't found an answer for his forehand either. It'll be interesting to see how I do with the young guys.

Sony Ericsson

I don’t suppose I have to tell you that the Sony Ericsson will be coming to a close this weekend. Unlike my buddy Alex Blagojevic, who just informed me that he will be in Tsonga’s box on Thursday, I’ll be getting my dose of the big boys and girls tours via the Tennis Channel on the telly.

Most of the top men and big name women are still in the draw as of this writing. Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur, both Grand Slam Champions, are gone, but Azarenka, the Williams sisters, Sharapova, etc. are still in it. If you aren’t busy some night this week, settle in with a cold beverage and some snacks and check out some great tennis.

Pro League Playoffs

The final edition of the Fort Myers Ritzman Tennis USPTA Pro League is happening this Friday the 30^th at Legends. Matches will begin at 4pm. The match to see will be the First Doubles battle between Manuel Encalada and Tyler Owens of Boston Retirement Advisors (BRA) versus Denny Rager and Jared Kalpin of AutoDrive (AD). Not only is the tennis likely to be entertaining, but Manny and TO are trying to remain unbeaten this season.

BRA, the regular season champions, will take on second-place finishers, AD, in the championship match at 4pm. At 5:30pm, Johnny Malloy’s, the third-place team, will try to ensure that my team, Harborside Dental, remains in the cellar when it’s all over.  

FGCU Men’s Tennis Eagles Return Home

Coach C. J. Weber’s boys in green and blue are coming off their roughest road trip thus far this season, winning just one individual match in two dual matches on the road in South Carolina and Tennessee.  Their return to home courts won’t be too comfy as they face No.50-ranked North Florida at home this Thursday night, at 7pm. The Eagles will need as much support as the local tennis community can muster, as North Florida has the best overall record in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASC).

After facing North Florida, the Eagles will take on Jacksonville on Saturday morning at 10am. Jacksonville has lost nine of its last ten dual matches, which would seem to bode well for the Eagles. However, J’Ville’s lone win was a 5-2 beating of USC Upstate, a team which took all but one point from the Eagles last week. In any event, our only local college team could use your support this week. Hope to see you out there!

Madisen’s Match

One of the biggest events on the Fort Myers tennis schedule is Madisen’s Match, coming this Saturday the 31^st at The Landings. There are a number of activities planned for the annual charity event, which I’ve detailed elsewhere (click here). You can get additional info and sign up to participate by visiting the Madisen’s Match website. All proceeds will benefit local efforts to fight youth and adult cancer. J’jjjj

Park Meadow Club Championship Climax

The final event of the season for Park Meadow Tennis Center, the Club Championship Doubles, is this Saturday. If things go as well as they did with the Mixed Doubles last weekend it should be a fun day. I’ll be counting on my partner Mike Duke to carry me to the 9.0 Championship! 

Okay, I better get this out. Have a great rest of the tennis week! Game, set, match...T