PLANTATION — Everyone from juniors to ranked to club players turned out to compete in the eighth annual Mayor’s Cup tennis tournament at Plantation Central Park.
The 80 singles players and 40 doubles teams, who had to be Plantation residents or members of the club, competed in men’s and women’s singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles.
“It is the only tournament that is designed for Plantation residents,” said Lowell Coffman, who helped to run the Mayor’s Cup, along with several other Central Park tournaments, such as the Junior Grand Prix.
The tournament brought together some new teams and interesting matches. In the Men’s Open B semifinal, Greg May, who stands about five feet at age 12, defeated Diego Chin-a-sen, a 6-4 basketball player for South Plantation, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to gain a berth in the final.
Denise Ward and Sandra Brown won the women’s doubles, defeating Trudy Dean and Trine Nielsen, who had teamed up right before the tournament, 6-2, 6-1.
Brown then defeated Jane Wynn 6-3, 6-0 for the women’s open title.
Ward, who teaches science at Plantation High, and Mike Krou teamed up to defeat Ronny Charin and Robert Reed for the Mixed A title, 6-1, 6-4. Nielsen and Dean will play against each other with their husbands for the mixed B title.
In the Men’s Open A semifinal, Bill Dellinger narrowly defeated Mike Krou. Down 5-4, love-30 in the set after losing the first set, Krou hung on to win the second in a tiebreaker, only to lose the third 6-4.
Dellinger, who is ranked No. 7 in the Men’s 30s and 35s in the state, will have a chance at three titles. He defeated John Bunker 6-4, 6-4 for the Men’s 30 title and is in the finals of the Men’s 30 division with Gabe Norona against David Martin and Marty Cooper. Dellinger defeated Norona 6-4, 7-5 for the Men’s Open A title.
The Men’s 30 final and the mixed B final have not been scheduled yet.
Other results: In Men’s Open B, Frank Conner defeated Greg May 6-0, 7-5. In the 40-and-over A division, Gary Miller defeated Al Minter; and in the B division, Mike Winrow defeated Chuck Kaufman 6-2, 6-1. In 30-and-over doubles, Alan Ginsberg and Mike Woodruff defeated Charles Cohen and Mark Finkelstein 6-1, 6-3. In 40-and-over doubles, Matt Erlich and Bill Boatwright defeated James Garner and Howard Rutland 7-5, 6-4.
At the awards ceremony March 9, the 18-court tennis center will be named the Frank Veltri Tennis Center, in honor of the mayor of Plantation.
The Mayor’s Cup kicks off a six-month tournament series for unranked adult players, similar to the Junior Grand Prix series. The next tournament will be March 11-12.
