Clay Court News - Cincinnati Tennis Club

November 2010
Board Trustees
President
James L. Farley
Secretary
James Miller
Treasurer
Richard Curry
Board of Trustees
John England
Robert Horne
Mary Kay Leibreich
Brian Leshner
Ted Mack
Ken Rinehart
Moira Weir
Karen Wendel
John Williams
Club Accountant
Becky Foster
Club Manager &
Head Tennis Pro
Rusty Schubert
Tennis Director
Steve Levine
CTC Newsletter Editor
Marilyn Richey
Clay
Court
News
Cincinnati Tennis Club
Heat and humidity made the 37th Annual Father & Son National
Clay Court Championships a grueling competition with temperatures
reaching the mid -90s every day. The players made
it a great competition to watch, with a full field of 32 teams.
As usual, it was a truly national field, with teams from California,
New York, Texas and Michigan, to name a few. Several
teams arrived in Cincinnati having just played in the National
Grass Court Championships in Boston, where the Morse-Karzens
defeated John and Andrew Herring in the final.
Nine teams appeared in the main draw for the first time. The youngest entrant was 13-year-old
Riley Smith. Scott and Scott Estes returned as the longest-running entrants, back for their 19th
tournament.
The tournament chairman, Richard Curry, and his assistant chair, wife Teddie Curry, again
headed up the Tournament Committee. This Tournament is special to the players because of the
unusual care and amenities that Cincinnati Tennis Club offers to both the players and spectators.
Players experience CTC’s warm hospitality by staying at members’ homes, lunch is provided,
and both players and members enjoy the Friday night picnic and the Sunday morning brunch.
The full-color program adds a professional touch to the Tournament.
Several experienced players were honored at the Friday night picnic for 10 years in Cincinnati,
including Bill Blankenbaker, Tom and T.C. Lackey, Brett Morse-Karzen, and Jeff True. Fiveyear
winners included Jeff James, Adam Moler, John Yeager and Greg and Brandon Stacey.
The tennis was exciting and highly competitive.
Perhaps the biggest surprises of
first day play was that the Wagners, thirdplace
finishers here in 2009, and the fourth
seed, and the Newmans, former winners
here and the eighth seed, were knocked
out of the tournament early, each losing
both of their matches on Friday.
What’s Inside
• Father-Son Championship
• Message From the President
• Events and Activities
• Tip from the Pro
• Honors
The 2010 Father-Son National Clay Court Championship Tournament
Issue 3
By Saturday afternoon, only four teams
remained unbeaten, the Croffords and
the Weinackers in one semifinal, and the
Morse-Karzens and the Norvilles in the
other. The Croffords, in their first tournament, were the surprise team in the semis. However,
they could not quite handle the Weinackers. The Weinackers won, 6-3; 6-2. The two teams have
now met in the finals three years in a row.
For the third year in a row, the Morse-Karzens and the Weinackers met in the finals. The Weinackers
controlled the first set, winning 6-1. The second set may well have turned in the second
game. After breaking Brett in the first game, Jimmy Weinacker saved six break points to hold
his serve. The Morse-Karzens had only one more break point after that, failed to execute, and
Jimmy served it out, for a 6-1, 6-4 triumph.The Norvilles edged the Croffords in the battle for
third place, while the Herrings won 5th place, defeating the Smiths. The Blankenbakers won
the backdraw over the Dlabiks.
The final, and in some ways, most prestigious award of the tournament, the Talbert-Trabert
Sportsmanship Award, went to the Weinackers.

As our outdoor tennis season comes to a close, we are pleased with the many aspects of this
summer at the Cincinnati Tennis Club.
The level of activity has been very high which pleases us all. Rusty and his staff have conducted
many programs, clinics, and events to keep everyone busy. We thank our dedicated staff who
makes our membership such an enjoyable experience.
The USTA Father & Son Clay Court Tennis Championship chaired by Richard Curry with a strong
helping hand from his wife, Teddie, and combined with Jim Brockhoff, our Tournament Referee
for many years, had another successful year. We are thankful for having more than 50 volunteers
on the Father & Son Committee and for the support from our members of this national event.
Congratulations to everyone for making our clay court championship the highest rated of the four
Father & Son events held each year.
It was a special moment for all of us in attendance when Jean Springer, a former 50-year member, was bestowed the
high honor of Honorary Lifetime Member during the Friday evening Reception/Dinner of the Father & Son Tennis
Tournament. Jean Springer was a member of the Women’s Air Force Pilots (WASPs), an elite group of only 1,102
WASPs flying airplanes during World War II. Welcome back to the Cincinnati Tennis Club, Jean, as you are a very
special person and we are all proud of you.
I want to thank Karen Wendel and her Social Committee for doing such a good job for us throughout the summer
from our Opening Day on Saturday, April 17th, to our closing day of Sunday, October 17th. A big thank you to John
Williams for again chairing our annual Club Championship Tournaments and thanks to everyone who participated.
Other notable activities that were successful and enjoyable were Opening Day, the President’s Reception, Memorial
Day, July 4th, and Labor Day events. Thank you to everyone who contributed or participated, as each of these events
all different, were filled with a lot of tennis or tennis related activities.
Margi Hardigg and Cynthia Cole co-chaired the Night at the Masters/Net at the Western & Southern Financial Group
Masters Tennis Tournament for CTC. We had approximately 90 members and guests in attendance, which was most
impressive and enjoyable with our special guests of Bumpy and Jo Frazer being with us. The Al Bunis Cup was again
won by the Cincinnati Tennis Club in tough, close competition hosted each year at the Camargo Country Club.
We are most thankful for the Membership Committee with Chairman Ted Mack and his large committee for their hard
work and doing such a good job during difficult economic conditions. We thank the Proposers (sponsors) for our new
members and I welcome all the new members for adding enrichment to our Club, as you are our lifeblood of the future.
Starting as an extension of the Membership Committee in attracting new members to our Club, the Friday night
tennis social continued to have a lot of fun with their tennis and congeniality. The concept of “bringing a drink and
a finger food item to share” is a real success story under the leadership of Ted Mack and Bertie Hertz. Many of us
have enjoyed the Friday evening socials including Board Members, prospective new members and guests, and our
members as well. Several club members have openly stated that the Friday evening tennis socials have added another
dimension to playing tennis at the Cincinnati Tennis Club.
Thanks to many others too numerous to mention for helping make this such an enjoyable summer. I want to give
special thanks and appreciation to our Board of Trustees who have worked closely with me during the past year as we
look forward to our Annual Meeting tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 27, 2011, and the Opening Day at the
Cincinnati Tennis Club tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 16, 2011.
The very best to each of you in the coming months as we value your membership with the Cincinnati Tennis Club.
Sincerely,
James L. Farley, President
Cincinnati Tennis Club
Message From the President

Events and Activities
Membership Development
2010 was another very successful year for recruiting members resulting in over 30 people joining the club. This group
included all categories of membership - Families, Singles, Young Adult, and Juniors. Welcome to all our new members;
and many thanks to their sponsors for introducing so many wonderful people and enthusiastic tennis players.
We look forward to another successful membership development year in 2011 and invite ideas and suggestions from all
of you on how to attract and retain new members. Actually, our “Membership Development Committee” is made up of
all CTC members.
Please remember that we do admit new members over the winter making it possible for them to play as soon as the club
opens in April.
Friday Night Socials
What fun we had on Friday evenings at CTC! ... informal tennis, good cheer, great eats, a chance to talk with friends
(new and old), and the opportunity to introduce prospective new members to our wonderful club. A wide range of
members joined us including some non tennis playing spouses. Everybody generously contributed food, drink, and a
few dollars to compensate Charles, Cornel and Mark for graciously staying late to watch over us.
Many thanks to everyone who helped make these events so successful ... especially to Bertie Hertz, the heart and soul
of Friday Night Socials. Her enthusiasm is contagious, her organization exemplary! She is supported by a committeeof-the-whole,
to name only a few - Yelton-Saluke, Tucker, Richey, Drennen, Gibbs, Nadel, Hatcher, Cole, Horwitz,
Mack and Farley.
Mark your calendars for the 3 rd Friday evening in April, and join the fun for the opening Friday Night Social of 2011.
Labor Day
The Labor Day Tournament was filled with fun, friendly tennis and great food. It was a great way to bid farewell to
the summer and begin the Fall tennis season. Approximately 40 members played the mixed doubles format with Rusty
Schubert and his staff making sure the event ran smoothly.
From left: Pam Smith,
Howard McGurty
(2 nd place in Group 1)
From left: Michele Drennen, Mary Jo Byrnes,
Marty Wilz, Joe Drennen
1 st place in Group 3: Byrnes/Wilz
2 nd place in Group 3: M. Drennen/J. Drennen
From left: Gary Davies,
Marj Davies
(1 st place in Group 1)
From left: (1 st Place Winners in Group 2)
Jody Mahon, Fran Barrett
(2 nd place winners in Group 2)
Noel Dehner, Joe Dehner

Club Championships
Club Championships were held in three events this summer: Women’s “A” Singles, Women’s “B”
Doubles and Men’s “A” Singles.
Christine Meyer defeated Vonnetta McColgan in straight sets to capture the Women’s “A” Singles
crown. It was great to see Christine, Vonenetta and others compete for the title after a number of
years of not holding the event.
In the Women’s “B” Doubles event, the team of Michelle Drennen and Pam Smith won the
championship match with a hard fought victory over Susan Black and Patty Horwitz.
In the Men’s “A” Singles event, Brock MacKay won each of his matches in straight sets culminating in
a thrashing of John Williams in the final. Given Brock’s age and quality of play, this may be the first
of many titles for the Furman graduate and two-year member of the Club.
Congratulations to all of the winners and a sincere thank you to all of the competitors for your
participation.
Picture 1) l to r, Co-Chair,
Margi Hardigg and
Cynthia Cole (Not pictured)
and Jim Farley.
“Night at the Net”
Nearly 90 members and friends of CTC joined for a fun-filled evening with our
“Night at the Net” at the Western and Southern Financial Group Tennis Masters
competition. Margi Hardigg and Cynthia Cole and their committee of Hosts and
Hostesses arranged the event. Hosts and Hostesses included: Fran Barrett, Julie
Bodnar, Mary Jo Byrnes, Sally Connelly, Michelle and Joe Drennen, Jim and
Bobbie Farley, Anne and Tom Flottman, Bertie Hertz, Marc Horwitz, Suzanne
Lakamp, Trish and Glen Larsen, Suzanna Hinkle-Schwartz, Amy Simmons-
Neyer, Gerri Strauss, Mary Tebbe, Karen Wendel, Sally Westheimer and Greg
Rhodes, and John Williams. Of course, the smooth sailing of the event also was
due to the invaluable help of Ann Williams, who pulled all of the match tickets
(plus a myriad of other duties) and Brook Doerger who sat at the entrance of the
stadium handing out the hospitality passes and tickets.
Along with having dinner, drinks and good fellowship, our President, Jim Farley,
introduced Jurgen Melzer. Jurgen
was the only player to be ranked
in the top 25 in both singles
and doubles. As you read this
newsletter, he has achieved his
doubles career high ranking of
#12. Everyone then dispersed
to watch some wonderful tennis
matches in their respective seats
on a warm, clear August evening.
l to r Bertie Hertz,
Monica Klein, Julie Bodnar

When in Doubt-- Call it Out!
By Rusty Schubert
I was 20 years old playing for Ball State University against Ohio
University (a team full of many of my junior tennis friends) in what was
always a hotly contested match. I was playing Perry Stofan and the score
was 4 to 2 my lead (I remember this like it was yesterday) in the first set
tiebreaker. During a grueling point I hit a slice approach shot down the
line and it lands on the inside of the line and he calls it out. I vehemently
challenged his call. As you can imagine I became unglued and proceeded
to lose the tiebreaker.
The score was 2 to 1 in the second set and I look up as he comes to the
net and says “Rusty, that ball in the first set tiebreaker was good. You win
the first set.” I stood there totally dumbfounded and thought about it for
one second and accepted his changing of the call. First set. . . me! How
awesome is that! The more the match went on, I couldn’t believe that
he was that honest. So I proceeded to think he was such a nice guy and
then thought I would let him win the match. So I did. Moral to the story:
make the correct call initially, but don’t get “soft” because you think your
opponent is a “nice guy”, consequently losing your competitive edge.
My other point is that there are a lot of honest players out there that understand that the ball is always good
unless it is 100% out. Perry just took his time understanding the rule.
The USTA rule states:
Tip from the Pro
The ball touching any part of the line is good. If any part of the ball touches the line, the ball is good. A ball
99% out is 100% good.
I hate to say this but I usually see a bad call every day when I am teaching, especially being made on the base
line. I wish I could understand their thought process. The question I have is--who is the bad guy? The player
who make the bad call or the player who questions the call?
My advise is to always assume the ball is good unless you see it 100 percent out!
Met Winner
Our CTC Pro, Sofia Melikishvili, won the Women’s Singles, Cincinnati Metropolitan Tennis Tournament this
August. She’s pictured here with Rusty Schubert. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments and glad to
have her as part of the CTC family. Congratulations, Sofia!

Honors
CTC Well Represented in the 2010 Class of the
Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame
The Greater Cincinnati Tennis Association (GCTA) inducted four new members into the Cincinnati
Tennis Hall of Fame on August 14, 2010, including three who have strong ties to the CTC. Three are or
have been CTC members: Joe Leytze, Bill Pendl and the late Jim Meakin.
l to r- Master of Ceremonies, Dick Friedman; Inductees Joe Leytze and Bill Pendl; Jim Farley,
Chairman of the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame and CTC President; Inductee Kara Molony-Hussey
and Donna Meakin (accepting posthumously for Inductee Jim Meakin)
Master of Ceremonies, Dick Friedman
CTC Honorary Lifetime Member
l to r, Rusty Schubert, Cathy Schubert,
and Bruce Flory
Jean Springer is honored as a CTC Honorary Lifetime Member at the Father & Son Dinner.