The weather was perfect for the much anticipated showdown at the Cal Club in San Francisco for the right to go to the norcal 10.0 mixed sectionals. Cross-town rivals from SFTC showed up with a tough line up to take on the equally tough Cal Club team. Having watched several women's adult league matches between the SFTC and Cal Club, I knew the match would be close. There just aren't that many high level women and men in the league, so they tend to play each other often and know each other's games very well. Despite the equality of the teams, SFTC walked away with an impressive 3-0 win to snatch the opportunity to go to sectionals.
#1 Doubles
This was the match of the big hitters. Jason Pickett and Roman Sydorak brought their huge serves and ground strokes. Kelly Lynch and Kristin Dodds brought their A games in a very exciting match. I've played mixed with Kelly many times, so it was great to see her use her big forehand on balls coming at an incredible pace. Lots of aces and winners made for a high intensity match. According to a Cal Club fan, Roman is generally very even tempered and calm. I think we saw his version of the Hewitt "Come On!!" after holding in a tight service game. SFTC won this one, but the match seemed closer than the score suggests. 6-2, 7-5
#2 Doubles
This turned out to be the least exciting match of the day. On the Cal Club side we had Kristin Clevenger and Mike Deguzman. I've seen Kristin play many times and I've played with Mike on several occasions, so I know this is a strong pair. Apparently Mike has not been playing much lately as he was making too many errors for a player of his caliber. Alisa Yee and Barry Seeman played for SFTC. I know Alisa an Barry have been preparing, because I see them almost every night at SFTC. They are both very serious about winning when they are on the court, so opponents will always need to play their best. SFTC took this one in a lopsided win. 6-1, 6-1
#3 Doubles
This was also a very exciting match. Mai Ichikawa and Mitchell Jee from Cal Club took on Francesca La O and Cuyler Binion. I've seen Mai play many times in mixed and women's league. Her mixture of skill, fitness, and being left-handed is always dangerous. I saw at least 2 very difficult backhand overheads she placed perfectly for winners. She had a very solid partner in Mitchell, so this was a difficult team to play. Francesca is a very high level player who teamed up with a lower rated man. This is always interesting for me, since this is usually the situation in which I find myself when I play mixed. It's always fun to have an awesome woman partner. Cuyler had a few missed volleys and double faults, but played very well overall. Francesca is just a pleasure to watch play. She has incredibly smooth strokes and uses precision and keeping the ball low to win points rather than trying to overhit the ball. The forehand winners down the ad side line were awesome. SFTC won this hard fought match after going to 3 sets. 4-6, 6-2, 1-0
That's it from the playoffs, I hope I'll have a chance to report from the sectionals.