It’s getting close. The 50th Annual Sunshine Coast Open will be held next year. Sunshine Coast tennis pioneers such as the Cardinalls, the Wales, the Browns, and the Lawrences have guided the path to the growth and flourishing of what the tournament has come to be.
And if the 49th Annual held this past weekend was testament to what is to come, the 50th will be le-gen...wait for it...-dary.
Another full tournament saw the locals sign up as early as possible to guarantee their spots and things kicked off Friday afternoon with some early upsets and interesting match ups.
In the end, Saturday was full of mixed doubles play, having a large draw where teams would have to endure four matches fighting hoof and horn to get to the end of the gauntlet-claiming championship status. After knocking out out-of-towners in the semis, it became a local affair with former national-level player Darren Causen and seasoned southpaw Cielo Lyle-Shortt pitted up against the perennial sweethearts Gus Guzek and Shelley Lawrence on the grass court in Roberts Creek. The rapture ended with Guzek and Lawrence retaining their title, 7-6 (6), 6-3. After the match, players commenced with a salmon dinner social and light play on the grass. Thank you to Stuart Flockhart who year after year continues to donate the salmon for the event. Thank you also to the Crum family for providing the perfect setting. Sunday was chockablock full of semis and finals, which did not disappoint, having the closest finals matches in recent history.
It started with the women’s singles and doubles finals.
In the singles, defending champ Janet Schembri went up against Vancouver’s Reiko Mackenzie. It was a marathon match lasting over two hours with average rallies being over 15 strokes and ending in a third set tiebreak with Reiko squeaking out the win, 5-7,6-2,10-8.
In the scintillating doubles match, wily vets Shelley Lawrence and Carolyn Haley duked it out with southern hemisphere duo Adele Wood and Selkie Smith where again it went to a third set tiebreak where the RSA/AUS team had the will power to harness the win, 6-7(5),6-1, 10-8.
Next up, the men’s singles and dubs. A young, boundless Chase Ruttenberg went up against the quinquagenarian powerhouse Chad Brachat. Chase with Mercurian play seemed to have his brush at hand as he painted lines all match winning 6-3,6-2.
The men’s doubles had some heartfelt storylines and with four great teams in the semis it came down to Gus Guzek and new Chilean cat Alexis Fuentes vs Keith Lewis and Terry Gagnon. It was an entertaining match with both teams waxing poetic-like strokes and in a third set tiebreak with a Herculean effort, the gentlemen duo Keith and Terry dethroned Guzek winning 4-6,6-0,11-9.
Big thanks to our sponsors who continue to support the sport and tournament year after year.
For the results of our consolation round winners, photos, and information on the tournament go to sunshinecoastopen.com.
