USTA Honors Burwash with Emeritus Award
Peter Burwash — the man behind Peter Burwash International(PBI) — was honored with the USTA ‘09 Faculty Emeritus Award at the annual USTA Tennis Teachers Conference. The award recognizes individuals who, both through speaking and presentations, have made enormous contributions over the years to the Tennis Teachers Conference.
“Since 1970, the USTA has been honored to have as instructors many individuals who have demonstrated great leadership and creativity in teaching and coaching tennis, and who have generously shared their valuable information as part of the Tennis Teachers Conference faculty,” said USTA President Lucy Garvin. “Peter first spoke at a USTA Tennis Teachers Conference in ‘75 and has been a headline speaker on eight different occasions.”
Burwash was also the keynote speaker at this year’s event. In ‘95, he received the Education Merit Award from the ITF for his invaluable contribution to tennis.
“I’ve always believed a part of providing good service is to share our knowledge, ideas and information with fellow professionals in the tennis industry,” said Burwash. “It is an honor and privilege to be a part of the Tennis Teachers Conference and receive this award.”
Santa Cruz News: ITA Western Regionals, Fundraising Drive
• The reigning NCAA D3 National Champion UC-Santa Cruz men began their title defense in style Oct. 3-4 at the ITA Western Regional Championships. Slugs Marc Vartabedian and Brian Pybas turned in an All-American performance, winning the doubles final via a 7-5, 7-6(6) final over Claremont’s Ronald Wu/Robbie Arrani. Senior Shawn Herry, a former Aptos High School and Cabrillo College standout, won the singles backdraw final against Claremont’s Mac Cahill 6-2, 6-0.
• UC-Santa Cruz kicked off its largest fundraising effort ever this offseason, with a goal of raising $75,000 to establish an endowment for the program, according to head coach Bob Hansen. The effort features a network of volunteers, including parents and alumni, working to contact former players, supporters and alums interested in supporting the winningest program in school history. The fundraiser will also include a Facebook initiative launching in October. Hansen noted the endowment will hopefully help the online casino deutschland Banana Slugs’ next head coach continue the program’s dominance, plus ease some of the burden of yearly fundraisers on parents and the program. That’s not to say that Hansen plans to hand the reins over anytime soon. “No, I still love coaching,” said Hansen, now in his late 50s.
Courtside, Sunnyvale TC Super at Sectionals
A pair of South Bay teams registered Super Senior 65s Sectional Championships in September, beating out a field of 29 men’s and women’s teams in a three-day round-robin event with draws in the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 levels.
Sunnyvale TC’s Patricia Dvorak captained a women’s 3.0 squad that followed up an 11-4 regular season with a perfect 5-0 postseason record to claim the 3.0 Sectional title. Dvorak’s team ousted a second Sunnyvale 3.0 team with a 3-0 sweep in the local league playoffs to put them on the brink of a Sectional berth, then took a 2-1 final against the San Mateo Elks to clinch the league crown-highlighter by a tiebreaker win from Sunnyvale’s Rose Terrill and Dvorak. After dropping their opening set 6-2, the pair turned the tables on the Elks winning the second 6-2, before sealing the deal with a tiebreaker win.
Sunnyvale swept their three Sectional matches against Davie Tennis Stadium 3-0, 2-1, 3-0. The only individual match lost by Sunnyvale in the three-day Sectional affair came on Sept. 22 when Dvorak and Terrill were defeated by Davie’s Barbara Bysiek and Plum Haet in a three-set tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets 6-3, 4-6. Courtside Club registered win No. 2 for the South Bay, as captain Allie Douthit led Courtside’s Women’s 3.5 team to a perfect 6-0 playoff record and a Sectional title. Courtside casino swept local league playoff matches against Los Gatos Swim and RC and Sunnyvale TC, then reeled off four straight Sectional wins-all by a 2-1 final-with Courtside’s Carolyn Booker recording a perfect Sectional record with partners Douthit and Nancy Pearne.
Klinger Wins 14s Nationals Doubles
San Jose native Cameron Klinger and partner Henrik Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., came within three games of a clean sweep of the USTA Boys’ 12s National Hard Court Championships in Little Rock, Ark., on Aug. 14, as the pair won a doubles championship and split a pair of singles finals, with Wiersholm winning the overall 12s singles.
Klinger, who attends the Michael Jessup Academy, fell to Jake Devine in the 12s North Final, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, before pairing with Wiersholm to avenge the loss with a three-set win of his own over Tommy Paul (Greenville, N.C.) and fellow San Jose native Kenneth Tao. Klinger and Wiersholm didn’t drop a set until the final, when the pair avoided elimination with wins in five consecutive games before securing the title 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
“My coach and I have been working on my doubles game a lot lately,” Klinger said.
In Brief
Los Gatos Swim and RC will host its October Wine Down on Oct. 30 — complete with a round-robin tournament beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and drinks at the club from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The tournament will include all levels of play.
Almaden Valley Athletic Club has added a new member to its tennis staff, according to director of tennis Manuel Fernandez. Former Santa Clara tennis standout Myra Davoudi becomes the newest member of the AVAC coaching ranks and brings with her five years of collegiate tennis experience, a 25-37 overall singles record and 22-34 doubles record. An ‘04 grad of Leland H.S. in San Jose, Davoudi was 3-2 in the WCC as a redshirt senior in ‘08-’09, including a four-match winning streak against San Jose State, Portland, CSU-Bakersfield and Northern Arizona. Davoudi served as a team captain as a junior and was named the team’s Most Improved Player as a sophomore, earning All-WCC Honorable Mention honors with a 4-2 league record.
IT erroneously reported the age of Cal Open champ Nirupama Sanjeev. Sanjeev, the first Indian woman in the modern era to win a round at a Grand Slam (‘99 Aussie Open), is 32.
