International Duo Wins the Sunshine State Slam; Defending BTUSA Champions Henderson & Whitesell Finally Beaten
The Florida leg of Beach Tennis USA’s 2007 National Tour ended with a bang as our Sunshine State Slam was held in Miami Beach on Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6. It was the third of three tournaments in South Florida, following events in Delray Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.
A record-setting 40 Men's teams from 12 countries battled on Saturday for the top prize of $3,000. Among the competitors were past and present ATP touring pros Pablo Arraya, Jay Berger, Luis Manrique and Julien Rojer as well as two-time defending BTUSA National Champions Chris Henderson and Phil Whitesell.
The finals of the Men’s Pro Division featured a multinational flavor as Bertrand Coulet of France & Matteo Marighella of Italy squared off against the Aruba National Beach Tennis champions, Sjoerd DeVries & Jochem Ros. Coulet & Marighella steamrolled to an 8-0 victory over the Arubans to capture the title and the $3,000 first place prize while automatically qualifying for the 2007 National Beach Tennis Championship, which will be held in Long Beach, NY on Labor Day Weekend (September 1-2).
The Men’s Pro division featured several upsets. The most shocking of these saw two-time defending champions Henderson & Whitesell, both from Charleston, SC, eliminated during the semifinals by Aruban national champions DeVries & Ros. Prior to that, Henderson & Whitesell had never lost a single match in over two years of professional beach tennis competition on the Beach Tennis USA circuit.
On Sunday, the Women’s Pro tournament also featured international competition as teams from Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala competed for the top prize of $1,000 and a berth in the National Championship in September.In the Women’s Pro Division, Team Colombia (Maria Romo of Coral Springs, FL & Catalina Castillo of Fort Worth, TX) defeated Ana Maria Zuleta & Ildiko Csordas, both of Miami Shores, FL by a score of 8-6 in the finals.
Also on Sunday, Michael Vallejo & Renato Loayza defeated Mario Samson & Mark Jackman in the exciting conclusion of the Men's Amateur Division. The final score was 8-4.
It was a long and hot weekend, but the players stayed hydrated and energized thanks to our friends at Smart Water, Starbucks and VitaZest, and, who all donated beverages.
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