SKAFF AND GARVEY SQUEAK THROUGH

Nothing like finishing these events ahead of schedule! Firstly, thank you to all who entered the 2010 Doubles Select Tournament – all 20 of you – for being so accommodating and playing well within the deadlines. It makes my job and the tournament so much more enjoyable. Every single match was played, with one exception where one of the players had a business emergency come up at the last minute and was forced to forfeit. (Unfortunately, it happens.)

What makes this event so interesting is that if you can get 2 teams of equal strength on the court, regardless of the individual level of each player, the matches become very close. Three of the matches went the full 5-set distance, none closer than the semi final between Mike Skaff and Bob Garvey versus Peter Fortune and Craig Hupp. 17-15 in the 5th was the final score, and as always when you win such a close encounter, some luck is definitely involved. Taking nothing away from their performance, some of that luck carried on through the final for Mike and Bob where they took on Mike Petix and Dan Follis. Once again it came down to the 5th game. This time the Skaff / Garvey team grabbed the ascendency early and never looked back, not giving their opponents an opportunity to even threaten a comeback. A convincing 15-5 win gave them the 2010 title. Congratulations Mike and Bob! [Picture: Mike Petix leaps for an overhead forehand... go-go-gadget-arms!]

The next Doubles event on the calendar will be the Doubles 100 starting mid-January – stay tuned for details and registration coming up next month.