Florida's Clevelands Win 3rd USTA National Father-Son Grass Courts Tennis
September 8, 2009 07:00 PM
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Don (right) and Casey (left) Cleveland |
Don and Casey Cleveland of Delray Beach, Fla., took home the coveted national championship gold balls on Sept. 2-4, 2009, when they captured the title at the USTA National Senior & Super Senior Father-Son Grass Court Championships in the senior division at the Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, N.Y. It was the third consecutive year the Clevelands have brought the national grass court title home to Florida.
"We have been playing together for over 20 years and win or lose, the memories have been priceless," said father Don Cleveland. "Casey is such a force on the grass because of his speed and court coverage that my job is to play as consistently as possible and keep the points alive until he is able to end them. We have made so many friends during the competition that we feel truly blessed to be able to compete as partners in the greatest sport of all!"
Team Clevelend lost their opening match in round robin play, but rebounded by winning the remainder of their matches, and in the final defeated Jeff Guerry and Zan Guerry of Lookout Mountain, Tenn., for the second time in the tournament.
"The Father-Son event is one of those times in life when you realize the specialness of the moment," Casey Cleveland said. "Knowing the way we tell stories, the points will probably be longer, the matches closer, and the wins even more unbelievable. But not to worry, it will just be between two partners who always thought the other was the best he had ever known."
The level of competition was high in both the Senior and Super Senior divisions. The Super Senior division was won by former ATP doubles No. 1-ranked Scott Davis of Irvine, Calif., and his father Gordon of Encino, Calif.