Check in will take place at least 30 minutes prior to start times listed.

Welcome to the tournament and Thank You all for participating!

Broad Rock Middle School will be our base of operations, please check in at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled start times.  The school's location is 351 Broad Rock Road, Wakefield.

Other court locations are within minutes....Additional sites include:

September 5, 2009 &  September 6, 2009 | New York, New York

For reservations please call Karen Culp or e-mail karen at kculp@sperianprotection.com 
or call Karen at  (401) 934-0639 after 5:00 pm EST or on the weekend anytime

Please notify your tennis friends about this spectacular tennis week-end!!! 

See you in September

 ONE BUS ONLY!   Limited openings!  Call today!

Our US Open packages are fun - allowing you to enjoy tennis seating in Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong.

     SATURDAY,  September 5th:
·     We will make one stop (around 9:30) prior to our arrival at the U.S. Open  in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
·        You are free to roam all the courts.  Your only assigned seat is in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
·        At 7:00 P.M. we will re-board our Archway bus and leave.  Please meet inside the main gate where we entered in the morning.
·        We will then proceed to the Holiday Inn in Fort Lee, N.J. (30 minute ride)
·        At the hotel you will receive your room key from Karen  

       SUNDAY,  September 6th:
·        At 10:00 A.M. we will depart from the hotel to return to the U.S. Open. Please put your belongings on the bus.
·        You have a coupon for a full breakfast in the hotel restaurant.  Breakfast will be served between 7:00 AM and 9:30 AM.  Tax and gratuities are included.
·        It is recommended that you do not make any charges to your room, including telephone calls and room movies.  This will facilitate check-out.  If you do, you must check-out with the cashier and settle your bill, otherwise just drop off your room key.
·        Our trip home will consist of one stop (probably at a McDonalds).  If you do not wish to eat McDonalds food, please be sure to purchase some food and beverage at the Open before we leave.
·        At 7:00 P.M. we will return to RI.  Again, please meet inside the gate where we entered in the morning.

This was certainly some of the BEST tennis in South County that I have ever seen!  In a whirlwind turn of events the tournament went off, a few glitches, but I do believe that a good time was had by players and spectators alike.

Sixty-one participants from all over took part this weekend. Curt Bennett was here fom Hawaii, that just might take the prize for distance traveled.  However, California, New Jersey, Maryland and MA were also represented. 
  

Curt Bennett, a left-winger, had a very successful three year run with Brown University that saw him named to three All-Star teams before he made the leap to the NHL with the St. Louis Blues in 1970-71. Bennett also played for the New York Rangers and the Atlanta Flames. An avid tennis player, Bennet was taken out in the semi finals of the Men's 4.5 Singles by Bradley Shapiro, nephew of Norm. 

Brad Shapiro's run for the Men's 4.5 Singles title was ended in the finals by South Kingstown's own Alex Chavez.  Alex is a USPTR pro for South Kingstown Parks & Recreation, and a former player from the South Kingstown High School team.  Alex beat Brad in straight sets 6-3 6-3.    
  

Mark Keil, former ATP, player was on hand this weekend and played in both the Men's Open and Doubles divisions. Mark, otherwise know as the “Journeyman”. Keil’s greatest professional achievements on the singles tour was at the Queen’s Club Championships in 1991: his 6-2, 7-6(2) victory over Hall of Famer, Pete Sampras, then ranked 8th in the world. Keil later carved a career for himself in the doubles tour, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 32 in 1995. He has doubles wins over Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten and Mark Philippoussis. He won five ATP Tour doubles titles in his career.

Mark lost his semi final Men's Open Singles match to our local high school phenom, Kyle Burke.  The 3 set match took over 2 and 1/2 hours to play, with the score being; 6-1, 2-6, 6-2.  Kyle is the current RIIL state boys singles champion with 2 titles under his belt, and also part of the South Kingstown High School Boy's Team that has 10 consecutive state team titles.  Kyle Burke went on to win the Men's Open Title in the finals against Roger Williams number 1 singles player, Brad Bolte from New Jersey, in straight sets 6-0 6-1. 

In April the Commonwealth Coast Conference  released its All-TCCC Men's Tennis Team, and four Roger Williams student-athletes were named All-Conference, with three of the four receiving honors for their play at both singles and doubles. Leading off the honorees was senior Brad Bolte (Augusta, N.J.) who earned a spot on the First Team for singles.  Playing primarily as the No. 1 seed, Bolte compiled an impressive 10-7 (7-1 TCCC) record through the end of the regular season. 

Mark Keil and Craig Shapiro (Norm's eldest son) lost in the Men's 4.5 Doubles final to Roger Williams University team members Jason Dono and Brad Bolte, scores were 7-5 6-1.

The 4.5 Women's Doubles title was won by local USPTA pro, Collen Haxton and her partner Kengy Bell.  They beat local Narragansett Park and Recreation's Pro, Kara Biller and her partner Deb D'Orsi in three sets 6-4 2-6 7-6.

Kara Biller did not leave the event empty handed, she and her partner Andrew Shumate won the Mixed Doubles title for 9.0 and below.  Andrew is going to be a Junior at SKHS and played number 1 doubles for the South Kingstown team.  The won in a third set against Bob Burian and Michelle Reid, a USPTA pro from Rally Point.

Rob Henderson from Warwick became the Men's 3.5 title winner during the round robin event winning matches over Dave Marcle, Dave Sterling and Tom Schneider.

The Providence Journal's sports columnist John Gillooly and his partner Christian Allen also played a round robin event for the Men's 3.5 Doubles title.  They reigned supreme over teams Ray Carr/Wayne Johnson, Joe & Glen Gama, and Charlie Baud/Don Scott.

The Day I Beat Pete Sampras On Grass; posted by Mark on

Tuesday, July 22
Curt Bennett; former NHL player and avid tennis player