TENNIS ON TAP FOR GREATER FORT MYERS AREA

Madisen’s Match

Madisen's Match 2013
Photo courtesy of Gale Van Rossem

As you probably already know, the 5th Annual Madisen’s Match, hosted by The Landings Yacht, Golf & Tennis Club (LYGTC), is coming up this Friday and Saturday (March 28 & 29). This is one of the area’s premier charity tennis events, replete with dinner and auction, 

Pro with local Kim Mai at
Madisen's Match 2013

former ATP Tour professionals providing clinic instruction and playing exhibitions, and a Pro Am event. Proceeds from the event go toward building a playroom at the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. Click the link above for the complete story. The Landings is located at 4425 South landings Drive in Fort Myers.

FGCU Tennis

FGCU vs Troy @ Three Oaks

Before you join the Madisen’s Match festivities on Friday evening, you have the opportunity to join Florida Gulf Coast University’s (FGCU) growing, tennis fan base in cheering on both the men’s and women’s teams. Both the men and lady Eagles will host Georgia’s Kennesaw State University Owls at 11am at FGCU’s home courts.

Bettina Botha & Coach Vernon

Win or lose, both teams play with an intensity characteristic of their coaches, C. J. Weber (men) and Courtney Vernon (women). The ladies will be seeking to

Coach Weber with
Lance Lvovsky & Tianyu Bao

improve upon their 9-7 overall and 2-2 A-Sun Conference records under dynamic, first-year-coach Vernon. The guys will be working to even their conference record at 2-2, and to close to within one game of .500 on the season.

T. A. & Coach Weber
Photo courtesy of Steph

If you don’t make it on Friday, both squads will be back in action on Saturday (29th) at 6pm against another conference foe, the Mercer Bears, also of Georgia. 

If you follow basketball, you may know that the men’s basketball Bears knocked our Eagles off in the A-Sun Conference Final, denying the Eagles an NCAA berth. Our guys can’t feel too bad as Mercer toppled the vaunted Duke Blue Devils in Round 2 of the Big Dance. Our tennis Eagles can dish out a bit of payback on Saturday.

You can follow the Lady Eagles here and the Gentleman Eagles here. The FGCU campus is located at 10501 FGCU Blvd. S. in Fort Myers, just south of Gulf Coast Town Center. 

Play Day at Three Oaks

Angie Guillette &
Stephanie Neppl of ITA

Per Angie Guillette, there are happenings for the kids this weekend as well. This Saturday (29^th) from 1 - 4pm, players 5 – 12 years-old can participate in RED, ORANGE & GREEN ball competition, or skills challenges for the red ball court. 

These play days help youngsters transition from skill development to competition in a less threatening way. The cost for the event is $10 and includes snacks and drinks for the players. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Angie Guillette at 239-989-4388 or angie@threeoakstennis.com. 

The event will be at the Barbara Manzo Tennis Center at Three Oaks Park, 18251 Three Oaks Parkway, Ft. Myers. You can click here to sign up or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.courtsideusa.com/communities/fort_myers_area/event/76299/2014-03-29-1300/.

SCCF Tournament

The 22nd Annual SCCF Tennis Tournament will be held at the Dunes Golf & Tennis Club, April 5 – 6, 2014. Benefiting the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, the event will include a happy hour for players and sponsors as well as a pro exhibition on Saturday. Contact Lisa Cochrane (239-246-8875) or Warren Schwab (239-395-8774) for more information. The Dunes is located at 949 Sand Castle Road on Sanibel Island.

Tennis for a Better Life

I had received information about a Tennis for a Better Life benefit event being held at Park Meadow Tennis Center, also on April 4 -6, but the event has been postponed. Despite the postponement, it is a tremendous cause that I intend to get fully behind. 

I hadn't heard about Tennis for a Better Life prior to a couple of weeks ago, but I did manage to browse their website in preparation for this post. I hear they have a junior tournament fundraiser on the horizon and I'll be sure to get the word out on that. They are on Facebook as well if you want to friend the cause. 

USPTA Nationals at The Landings

Milos Vasovic- USPTA Grand
Prix Men's 35 Champ with
Alex Hermeto and Pro-Am
Winner

This is a bit early, but I wouldn’t want you to miss out on this one, so put it on the calendar. About six weeks after they host Madisen’s Match, The Landings will host the 2014 USPTA National Clay Court Surface Championships on May 8-11, 2014. 

Paulo Barros- Top Open player on
USPTA Florida Grand Prix Circuit

The local pros who usually travel to play events (Armor Persons of Breckenridge, Steve Shortridge of Colonial, Bob Green of Pelican Preserve and others) are sure to be in this one. The usual big hitters from Naples (Franco Mata, Tye Myers, etc.) are likely to be in the field as well.  

Paul D'Amico- Director if Tennis

Don't be surprised to see some additional pros who don't usually play the USPTA Grand Prix circuit in this one as national titles will be on the line. As a former winner, I can tell you that it feels good to be a National Champion...even if it was an "old guys" division :). Keep your eye on this one as it ought to be fun, and you know Paul and his crew at the Landings always put on a nice event. 

That's about it for me on this end. Game, set, match...T. A.