Tennis Talk
By Marty Funcell
WHOA….It’s HOT out there!!!
Luckily our Men’s 3.0 and 3.5 players finished their ten scheduled matches just before the heat wave.
The Villages Tennis Club is gearing up to launch a competitive Men’s COMBO 6.5 USTA team later this summer. To prepare, they organized two internal teams consisting of USTA level 3.0 and 3.5 players, each led by captains Tim Keys and Marty Funcell.The primary objective was to develop the less experienced 3.0 players under the guidance of Club Pro Brett Foreman in preparation for challenging USTA matches. Over ten scheduled match dates, the two team internal men’s 6.5 league alternated between Round Robin and 8-Point Pro-Set play formats. The improvement in play was evident, marked by extended rallies and adept strategies such as defensive lobs.
Brett coached the players to focus on getting the first serve in, returning serves away from the front player and not letting the net win the point. These efforts have significantly enhanced the team’s readiness for the upcoming competitive USTA season.
Tim’s team consisted of Clayton Krinard, Sukh Johal, Dari Tarabini, Vince Alvarez, Josh Liao, Jay Pinson and Lisi Bettencourt. Marty’s team consisted of Harry Soin, Brian Dombrowski, Yan Chen, Jayme Dickson, Venkat Prabhala, Don Clarke and Adrien Fournier. Special thanks to our super-subs Liz Kung and Michael Castle.
REMINDER: Don’t forget to sign-up for the club’s tennis mixer on FRIDAY, JULY 19. It will be much cooler!