On Friday, January 20th, The Tennis & Racquet Club of Boston braced itself for the 2023 Murray Sales (40+), Tom Price (50+), and E. Denis Walsh (60+) tournaments.
Fourteen of NARA’s more-seasoned players signed up to do battle at 939 Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay this past weekend, and it was a smashing success.
The list of out of town travelers was comprehensive and the locals were put on notice, as none of the 6 Champion Titles would be easily won.
Dick Tanfield from Philadelphia, Manny Tancer from Detroit, Rowan Carroll from Chicago, Tyler Hathaway from New York, Bart Sambrook and Tim Price from Montreal, Davis Anderson from Chicago and Charles Roby from Detroit all came with their racquets strung tight and ready to claim title as champions. The local roster was filled with notable names, too. Paul Jean, Matthew Breuer, David Tedeschi, David Kohn, Alan Rose and Devens Hamlen all laced up their sneakers to take a swing at the trophies up for grabs.
Murray Sales (40+):
Paul Jean, Charles Roby, Tyler Hathaway, Matt Breuer and David Tedeschi made up the draw of the singles, and Sunday morning saw an epic battle in the finals between Mssrs
. Breuer and Tedeschi, both from Boston. In the best of 3 championship match, Tedeschi eked out the first game 15-12, only to go on and lose the 2nd game to Matt Breuer’s hard hit and well angled shots 11-15. The third and final game was a battle to the end, with both of the Boston Boys playing top-level stuff. David Tedeschi went on to victory with a 15-12 win in the final game.
Despite a valiant effort by Tyler Hathaway (NY) and Paul Jean (BOS) in previous rounds, the doubles was an all-Boston event. Matt Breuer and Alan Rose were to face David Tedeschi and his partner David Kohn. This being a regular match-up in the Boston Club, the gallery was filled with chatter on who would win this round. In a great doubles match, where all players knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses the side of Breuer and Rose just pipped Kohn & Tedeschi winning the first game in a set to 3 and winning the second game 15-12.
Tom Price (50+):
The largest field of the three tournaments held this past weekend, The Tom Price was for sure going to be an entertaining one. Carroll (CHI), Roby (DRC), Tanfield (RCOP), Hathaway (NY), Tancer (DRC) & Jean (BOS) all played great matches leading up to the finals, but were not strong enough to hold back Boston’s David Kohn and Montreal’s Bart Sambrook. The Singles Final was an epic 3 game affair with Bart Sambrook coming out on top. Despite losing the first game 3-15, Bart refocused and rallied back against Kohn, winning the second and third games 15-10, 15-5. Despite Kohn’s good play, Sambrook secured one of the Price Trophies available, a nice nod to his partner Tim’s father.
Tanfield & Roby, Tancer & Carroll, Hathaway & Jean played valiantly but were not able to keep back Montreal’s Tim Price and Bart Sambrook or Boston’s Alan Rose & David Kohn. With one of the Price Trophies already in the Montreal Bag, Sambrook and Price would not go silently into the night. With hopes of bringing home both of the trophies named for his father, Tim Price was chomping at the bit to win this finals. He and Sambrook played marvelously, picking balls of the side-wall with ease. Sadly for them, Boston’s Alan Rose and David Kohn were just too strong. They marched to victory winning the finals 15-5, 15-5. In the trophy ceremony, Tim Price gave a lovely and emotional speech about the importance of this game, the friendships it creates and the joy we all get from playing the game we love.
E. Denis Walsh (60+):
Aside from the infamous Devens Hamlen, the E. Denis Walsh Tournament was filled with out of towners. The club’s members were sure ‘The Prince of NARA’ was in the gallery (in spirit) watching his dear friends play the game he loved so much. With great play and good and long friendship filling the court each match, the finals came down to Manny Tancer and Bart Sambrook. While the score might not reflect it, Tancer was a formidable force and gave Sambrook a good run-around before taking the loss to the Montrealer, 15-5, 15-3. Sambrook now had some more silverware to pack in the car before heading home.
As if there wasn’t enough hardware already headed for the northern border, Sambrook and Price found themselves in the doubles final again. But it would be no cake-walk for them as Carroll and Tancer were hungry for silver, too. The four friends battled it out and Sambrook & Price took the win over Carroll and Tancer on the Sunday morning.
With some great socializing at breakfasts and lunches at the club throughout the weekend, the highlight of the weekend (off-court) was a cocktail party on the Saturday evening. The Hamlen Room saw players, wives, and girlfriends celebrating the memories of these tournament’s namesakes and enjoying being together after a few years of being apart. Old friends became closer and some of the younger players got to spend quality time with elder statesmen of the game. After the cocktail party, we headed en masse to a private room in a French restaurant across the street where speeches and laughter carried us through the night.
The Tennis & Racquet Club of Boston would like thank a few people for making this past weekend one for the history books. Firstly, to the T&R Club President, Matthew Mitchell, for his unwavering support of our game without which this weekend and the club’s strength would not be possible. To Janice Pearson, Tom Pickin and Tom Dobbins: we thank you for taking such good care of us at the club and for welcoming the out of towners with such grace. The tournament would not have been possible without our power-house Professionals, Leon Smart & Neil Smith, Thank you! For all of the out of towners, travelling to keep the important memory of the three tournament namesakes alive and ongoing, we thank you. Lastly, to Tim Price and Eugenie Walsh for presenting the trophies for the Tom Price and E. Denis Walsh tournaments. What a great way to remember these legends of our game and help steward us forward as we carry them with us.
PLAY!
Professionals: Leon Smart & Neil Smith
Tournament Director: Lucas Walsh
