Paalzow & Simeon Win a Thriller in The Fort Lauderdale Regional Qualifier
The second of our three Florida tournaments in was a rousing success and when the sand finally settled, locals Niclas Paalzow & Rick Simeon were the winners of the 2007 Regional Qualifier in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A field of 24 teams competed in the Men's Pro Division. Teams included players from Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Poland, South Africa and Venezuela as well as several South Florida cities. Play began at 11 a.m. and continued throughout the day with 60 matches to determine the semi-finalists.
In the semis, Paalzow & Simeon, both of Miami Lakes, FL, took on fellow Floridians Whitney Kraft & Andy Lake, both of Fort Lauderdale. Kraft & Lake won Beach Tennis USA's St. Patty's Day Slam in Delray Beach, Florida just a few weeks earlier on March 16. However, Paalzow & Simeon pulled out an 8-6 win and thwarted their opponents' bid for a second straight BTUSA tournament title.
The final match was a nailbiter, with Borys Czarnecki (Poland) & Maurice Ruah (Venezuelan Davis Cup player) and Paalzow & Simeon battling hard for each game. The score stayed on-serve for most of the match, and the crowd went wild during some of the long, exciting points with dives, smashes and drop shots. In the end, Paalzow & Simeon prevailed by a score of 9-7.
On the Women's Pro side, eight teams came out for fun and competition. The finals saw Delray Beach tournament winners Lil Peltz-Petow (Boca Raton) & Betsy Savitt (Delray Beach) taking on two first-time beach tennis players, Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach) and her sister-in-law Stella Lehnhoff (Boca Raton). Jessica is a Fed Cup player and her sister-in-law is a professional trainer and outstanding tennis player. The Lehnhoffs defeated Peltz-Petow & Savitt by a score of 8-4 in the finals.
Both winning teams in the Pro Division took home a $1,000 cash prize and automatically qualified for this year's Beach Tennis USA National Championship, which will be held on Labor Day weekend (September 1-2) in Long Beach, New York.
In the Men's Amateur competition, brothers Manuel & Javier Gamarra defeated Phillip Gordon & Michael Schwartz to take home the trophy.
Our next event is going to be a blast: the Sunshine State Slam in Miami Beach on May 5-6 will complete the Florida leg of our 2007 National Tour. Then it's off to the West Coast as Beach Tennis USA hits Southern California for four events.
Check out the photos.