Beach Tennis USA’s 2007 National Tour Starts Off With a Blast in South Florida
Beach Tennis USA kicked off our third season in spectacular fashion with an action-packed two-day event in sun-splashed Delray Beach, Florida on March 16-17. The "St. Patty's Day Smash" marked our return to Delray Beach in Broward County, where locals of this seaside city in South Florida embraced the hybrid sport of beach tennis when we visited there last year.
The event, which was part of the 2007 Delray Beach Film Festival, was attended by over 500 players. Many competed in the tournament on Saturday while others simply wanted to learn more about America's hottest new beach sport.
Well-known South Florida tennis pros Whitney Kraft and Andy Lake, both of Fort Lauderdale, won the Men's Pro division. Kraft is the Director of Tennis for the City of Fort Lauderdale while Lake is the 2003 National Hard Court Champion. They defeated Max Lechtman and Frankie Guerrieri, students at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, who gallantly went toe-to-toe with the two pros before falling 9-7 in the final match.
By winning the Delray Beach tournament, Kraft and Lake took home a $1,000 cash prize and automatically qualified for a spot in this year's Beach Tennis USA National Championship, which will be held on Labor Day weekend (September 1-2) in Long Beach, New York. Following their victory, Kraft and Lake stated that their goal is to dethrone the two-time defending National Beach Tennis champs, Phil Whitesell and Chris Henderson of Charleston, South Carolina.
In the Women's Pro division, the team of Betsy Savitt of Delray Beach and Lil Peltz-Petow of Boca Raton rolled over the competition to win first prize. They defeated Christine Ennis and Laura Robinson, both of Delray Beach, bye a score of 8-2 to capture the crown. Betsy Savitt's son, Phillip Gordon, kept it all in the family by competing in the Men's Pro Division!
Check out the photos.