Max Besworth Club Pro has just secured the number 6 position of 12 on the University of Western Tennis team in his freshman year. The Club wishes Max the best of luck in his first season with the team.

The Stratford Tennis Club has been holding its 2009 Club Championship tournament over the last 2 weeks. Wednesday night was the singles finals in 4 categories and what a night it was. Over 50 spectators were treated to the finest men’s and ladies ‘A’ finals in the history of the club. Both the men and ladies championship matches went the distance, ending in tie-breakers in the third set. The calibre of play started at a high level and never diminished. It was an amazing finish to a great two week tournament.
The Men’s ‘A’ final was a match up of the club’s top two players over the season. 6 time champion Bob Tamblyn faced 2 time defending champion Max Besworth. Tamblyn took the first set 6-3, Besworth took the second set 6-4 leading to the drama of the third and deciding set. Besworth faced 2 match points when trailing 4 games to 5 but held them off to continue the match. Tamblyn held off a match point of his own when down 6 games to 5. Eventually the set went to a tie-breaker where again Tamblyn faced a match point. A big serve had the match continue. Finally Tamblyn converted his third match point opportunity to win the tie-breaker 8-6, taking the match and the championship. The 2 hour 45 minute final was the longest in club history and the highest calibre of play. The best men’s final in club history!
The Ladies ‘A’ final was also a long and dramatic affair. Victoria Garcia, a three time champion, faced Krista Plociennik, the two time defending champion. Garcia fell behind 4-1 in the first set but rallied to send the set to a tie-breaker where she prevailed 7 points to 1. Plociennik dug in and took the second set 6-3. On to the third set for the ladies. Garcia trailed 5-4 but won her service game to stay in the match. Plociennik won her serve to take a 6-5 lead, putting the pressure on Garcia’s serve again. Another service win lead to the third set tie-breaker. Many great rallies and great shots throughout the match continued in the tie-breaker. Back and forth it went. Garcia finally got her opportunity and took the championship by winning the tie-breaker 7 points to 5. The woman had matched the men in providing the best singles final in the history of the club.
The Ladies ‘B’ singles final was a battle between 2 first time singles finalists. Nikki Bowman faced Edda Lang. After a long and dramatic first set (that went to a tie-breaker) Bowman was able to prevail. The final score was 7-6 (7 points to 5), 6-0 as Bowman took the Ladies ‘B’ championship.
The Men’s ‘B’ singles final saw the tradition of an up and coming junior winning the title continue. Under 16 champion Nathan Walsh added the Men’s ‘B’ singles title to his seasons accomplishments. Walsh downed Paul Menary 6-1 , 7-5 in the final.
It was an amazing night at the Stratford Tennis Club. The 2009 club championship tournaments, which had the largest number of entries in memory, had finished with the best finals in history. A truly memorable night of tennis in Stratford.

Picture 1 – Nathan Walsh (Men’s ‘B’ Champion)

This weekend the Stratford Tennis Club completed its annual club championship tournaments by crowning its junior champions. Krista Plociennk was the big winner for the girls, winning 6 titles. The boy with the most championships is Nathan Walsh who took 5 titles.
The Girls Under 18 event was dominated by Plociennik. Krista won the Under 18 singles title, for the second straight year, downing Claire Scott 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Plociennik teamed with Danielle Chisholm to take the doubles crown 6-4, 7-5 over Scott and Olivia Kramer. The mixed doubles final saw Plociennik and Walsh defeat Scott and Mike Rheaume 6-1, 6-2. Rheaume took the Boys Under 18 singles championship with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Walsh. Rheaume and Walsh teamed to take the boys doubles over Travis Hiller and Jeremy Chisholm 6-1, 6-4.
Plociennik also swept the Under 16 triple crown. She won the singles event for the 4th year in a row when she edged Scott 6-4, 6-4 in the final. Plociennik and Chisholm again faced Scott and Kramer in the doubles final and again held on to win 7-5, 6-4. The mixed doubles final had Plociennik and Walsh winning their second age group as they beat Scott and Hiller 6-2, 6-3. Walsh took the boys single title (for the 3rd time) 6-3, 7-5 over Cael Wishart. Walsh completed his sweep of the Under 16 events when he and Wishart took the boys doubles over Tyler Kocher and John Fischer 6-1, 6-3.
Travis Hiller was the big winner in the Under 14 division. Hiller repeated as the boys singles champion, 6-3, 6-4 over John Fischer. The boys doubles final was the best final of the junior events. Hiller and Josh Johnson held on the edge Fischer and Andrew Hancock 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7 points to 4 in the tie-breaker). Hiller completed his sweep teaming with his sister Marley Hiller to win the mixed doubles event with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fischer and Vanessa Kramer. Sonja Andrekovic won the girls Under 14 singles title 6-0, 6-0 over Hiller. Andrekovic and Caitriona Buckley defeated Siobhan McCarroll and Alex Baker 7-6 (7 to 1 in tie-breaker), 6-3 to win the girls doubles.
Alexandra Andrekovic and John Fischer were the big winners in the Under 12 events. Alexandra won the girls singles 6-4, 6-4 over Caitriona Buckley. Alexandra and Caitriona took the girls doubles 6-0, 6-1 over Clodagh Weber and Amy Kocher. John Fischer took on his brother Luke in the boys singles final. The 3 set affair eventually went to older brother John with scores of 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. This is the second year in a row that John has won the boys Under 12 singles. John and Andrew Hancock won their second straight Under 12 doubles crown by downing Aidan Buckley and Luke Fischer 6-1, 6-3. Alexandra and John completed their triple crown by teaming together to win the mixed doubles. Alexandra and John downed Caitriona and Luke 6-1, 6-0 in the final.
The 2009 Club Championships at the Stratford Tennis Club had the highest participation in many years. Each age group had many great matches. The juniors next event is the final leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty Grand Slam. The ‘US Open’ will take place on Saturday , September 12.

Picture – (L to R) Front Row – Alexandra Andrekovic (Girls Under 12 singles, doubles and mixed champion)
Second Row – Andrew Hancock (Boys Under 12 doubles champion)
John Fischer (Boys Under 12 singles , doubles and mixed champion

The Stratford Tennis Club completed its annual Super Set Tournament this past Saturday. The singles event that was rained out last weekend was held on Saturday. Despite a slight rain delay and the less than seasonal weather a record number of entries participated.
The men’s ‘A’ final was a very high calibre match with Bob Tamblyn emerging as champion with an 8-5 victory over defending champion Max Besworth. The men’s ‘A’ consolation final saw wily veteran Tom Warnock outsmart teenager Mike Rheaume taking the match 8-1. Nathan Duh staged the comeback of the day in the men’s ‘B’ final against Greg Vivian. Recovering from a 7-2 deficit Duh won 5 straight games to send the match to a tie-breaker where he prevailed 7-5 to take the title. Ric Oliver is the men’s ‘B’ consolation champion after downing Trent Eickmeyer 8-1 in the final.
Marta Andrekovic is the ladies ‘A’ champion after an impressive 8-1 win over Johanna Billings in the final. The ladies ‘A’ consolation final saw Victoria Garcia edge Claire Scott 8-6. Nikki Brydges took the ladies ‘B’ championship by an 8-1 score over Monica Eickmeyer in the final. The youngest winner of the weekend was Monika Andrekovic who won the ladies ‘B’ consolation final 8-2 over Liz Yundt.

The Optimist Junior Tennis Day is just around the corner. This is one of the biggest days of the year for the kids. It is open to everyone members and non members. The Optimist Club of Stratford puts on a great day of fun food and prizes at the Tennis Club with the theme around fun! Don’t miss it!

The Junior “French Open” scheduled for today has been canceled by rain. The event has been rescheduled to the weekend of June 27 & 28. Please contact the club for specific start times.

As of late last week the practice wall has been deemed unsafe and has been roped off. It is off limits to all. This has been done to protect the safety of everyone. The wall will be taken down this week and we are in the process of sourcing out a replacement.

Despite the absence of the Babolat Rep. the day opened off the seasons social events with a bang. Courts Plus was on hand with the latest gear to test and purchase. Everyone worked up an appetite at Max’s clinic and enjoyed a pizza lunch provided by the club. Once the pizza boxes were empty a social doubles round robin was played under the sunshine and comfortable temperatures.

The Stratford Tennis Club is excited to announce that Men’s night will be moved Starting This week to 8pm. It will still be on Thursday night.This is an effort to get more participation and better organization. All levels of play are welcome and a more organized and more social atmosphere will be the objective.