As the weather dropped into the single digits, USTA Florida hosted the Combo 18 & Over 5.5/7.5/9.5 & Combo 50 & Over Men’s 8.5 Sectional Championships. Competitors were giving it their all, even in the freezing temperatures.
For Combo competition, the combined NTRP (National Tennis Rating Program) ratings of each doubles team may not exceed the level in which they are competing, and the NTRP rating difference between members of an individual doubles pair may not exceed 0.5.
There were five different divisions that were battling it out, with some great talent spread throughout. The matches were intense and each divsion saw a different count come out on top.
Let’s take a look at which teams battled the cold and captured Sectional Championships!
Combo 18 & Over Women’s 5.5
Championship: Polk County (Grasslands Tennis Club) defeated Escambia County (Roger Scott Tennis Center) 2-1
No. 1 Doubles: Cheryl Vann/Elizabeth Dudney (Escambia) d. Danielle Kendrick/Brittany Craig 1-6, 7-6, 1-0
No. 2 Doubles: Catherine Futch/Caroline Miller (Polk) d. Amatul Bean/Jennifer Washington 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Doubles: Lauren Lloyd/Kristin Pennewell (Polk) d. Reghan Robinson/Jill Sparks 7-5, 6-0
Polk County Season Roster: Anna Clark (Captain), Jen Lay, Catherine Futch, Kristin Pennewell, Danielle Kendrick, Sandy Smyth, Lauren Lloyd, Alexandra Kay, Carrie Baddoura, Brittany Craig, Ashley Bailey, Caroline Miller
Combo 18 & Over Men’s 7.5
Championship: Miami-Dade County (Crandon Park Tennis Center) defeated Hillsborough County (Tampa Tennis Club at HCC) 3-0
No. 1 Doubles: Bruno Saunders/Ivan Holmquist (Miami) d. Max Collazo/Jaime Villegas 7-5, 5-2, RET.
No. 2 Doubles: Schubert Sengupta/Samuel Valeri (Miami) d. Karl-Edris Dessieu/Andrew Sheets 6-2, 7-6
No. 3 Doubles: Federico Molinari/Thomas Tamayo (Miami) d. Hiren Bhatt/Michael Gauthier 4-6, 6-3, 1-0
County Season Roster: Schubert Sengupta (Captain), Federico Molinari (Captain), Julio Nunez, Ivan Holmquist, Federico Molinari, Ivan Canas, Thomas Tamayo, Mario Rosa, Samuel Valeri, Bruno Saunders, Tomas Matamoros, Nicolas Duchemin, Alberto Pinzon Rovira, Luis Felipe Fuenmayor, Francesco Larosa, Juan Diego Tamayo
Combo 18 & Over Women’s 7.5
Championship: Duval County (Huguenot Park) defeated Orange County (Sanlando Park) 2-1
No. 1 Doubles: Joanne Bartley/Natasha Senchuk (Duval) d. Athena Wong/Maria Alfonzo 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 Doubles: Jean Krejci/Lauren Pennington (Orange) d. Katie Milligan/Amanda Boyle 7-6, 6-4
No. 3 Doubles: Lesley Williams/Patricia Kozack (Orange) d. Jean Le/Paula Hall 3-6, 6-2, 1-0
Duval County Season Roster: Ali Hall (Captain), Patricia Kozack, Carey Johnson, Katie Milligan, Amanda Boyle, Natasha Senchuk, Brooke Anderson, Joanne Bartley, Traunia Senior, Amber Moorman, Beth Kane, Mani Prieto, Lesley Williams
Combo 18 & Over Women’s 9.5
Result: Broward County (Lauderdale Tennis Club) went 3-0 in the two-team round-robin against Orange County (Heathrow Racquet Club).
Broward County Season Roster: Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz, Janine Burke, Windy Dees, Sharon Runk, Caroline Verhelle, Cheryl Hicks, Tara Pressley, Nastasha Rodriguez, Anna Ramos, Krista Geoffrion, Gabriela Castanon, Daniela Gonzalez
Combo 50 & Over Men’s 8.5
Championship: Hillsborough County (River Hills Country Club) defeated Orange County (Winter Park Tennis Center) 2-1
No. 1 Doubles: Chris New/Jeffrey Stern (Hills) d. Robert Chong/Tyler Dahn 7-6, 3-6, 1-0
No. 2 Doubles: Charles Gauthier/James Mason (Hills) d. Michael Thomas/Kenneth Lim 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 Doubles: Griff Salmon/Scott Line (Orange) d. Ignacio Molina/Ricardo Ramirez 6-2, 6-0
Hillsborough County Season Roster: Fred Wu (Captain), Mark Kanarek, Ben DeBrocke, Chris Canfield, Ignacio Molina, Scott Schuhriemen, Eugene Martineau , Ricardo Ramirez, Charles Constantine, Charles Gauthier, Chris New, Jeffrey Stern, Manuel Alvarez, William Rhodes, James Mason, Andrew Sabolic