U35 Results
The first NARA tournament of the 2026 – 2027 season is in the books after a whirlwind three days U35s of activity at the Racquet Club of Chicago over Halloween weekend. It was fantastic to have all seven NARA clubs represented and a particular shoutout to those who travelled for the event:
Detroit
· Ricky Atkins
· Robbie Biskup
· Benjamin Kreitz
Montreal
· Maxime Aubin
· Eric-James Boffey
· Luke Kalaydijan
· Jack Kelly
Philadelphia
· T.J. Dougherty
Tuxedo
· Matthew Ezersky
· Spencer Yager
Boston
· Trevor Jones
New York
· Sebastian Kreitz
These 12-fine gentleman were joined by nine local Racquet Club of Chicago members and the RCC’s current fellow, Ali Maynard, to make up the 22-player strong field. The group was divided into two divisions based on helpful feedback from different NARA professionals on everyone’s playing experience. The A and B singles draw were both played as a knockout but included a consolation bracket for first round losers while the two doubles draws consisted of round robin groups between seven teams in the A and four pairings in the B. The top four teams in the A progressed to the semifinals while the best performing two squads in the B qualified directly for Sunday’s final. The above meant that everyone had plenty of rackets across the three days with play beginning at 2 pm on Friday and concluding at 1 pm on Sunday with 58 total matches played. The initial stages were contested as one game matches to 25 points before switching to best of three game affairs for the A doubles semifinals and all the Sunday finals.
In terms of the results Tuxedo’s Spencer Yager dominated the A singles draw and secured the title with a convincing win over Chicago’s Lawson Buhl. Buhl had reached the championship round with an impressive triumph over his fellow RCC member, Steven Trulaske. Eli Drake also impressed with a fine run to the semifinals in the top half of the draw with excellent victories over Will Fix and Everett Gage respectively. Drake also gave Yager his sternest test of the weekend when the two met in the last four. The A consolation bracket was hotly contested and ultimately Boston’s Trever Jones took down New York’s Sebastian Kreitz in close 3-game final.
The pairings for the A doubles were set by the Chicago pro shop with a goal of creating well balanced matches. The round robin stage saw 21 matches played out that produced four semifinalists as follows:
· Spencer Yager (Tuxedo) & Hampden Keil (Chicago)
· Ally Fornengo (Chicago) & Trevor Jones (Boston)
· Everett Gage (Chicago) & Will Fix (Chicago)
· Lawson Buhl (Chicago) & Eric-James Boffey (Montreal)
The first semifinal saw Yager and Keil two points from defeat against Buhl and Boffey at a game and 13-9 down. However, Keil made an incredible get off a thunderbolt from Buhl to regain the serve, and the tournament favorites saw off the danger to advance to the final. Their opponents in Sunday’s showpiece were Fornengo and Jones who beat Gage and Fix in two close games. The underdogs started the championship match in inspired form keeping Yager and Keil on the backfoot as Fornengo’s blistering ball striking came to the fore. However, they couldn’t convert a 14-3 first game lead and multiple game ball opportunities with one of those being saved by a spectacular Keil return of serve winner. Yager then took over the match and was in commanding form throughout the second game to take his team through to the title.
Over in the B draw Chicago’s Bob Dillon lived up to his top seeded status with solid wins over Tuxedo’s Matthew Ezersky and Montreal’s Jack Kelly to secure the hardware. Kelly booked his spot in the final with a nail bitingly close semifinal against fellow Montrealer Max Aubine. The consolation draw saw Steven Ives from Chicago belie his freshness to the game as he confidently sweet aside Detroit’s Ricky Atkins and Montreal’s Luke Kalaydijan with excellent serving.
The B Doubles round robin stage saw a full mix of results with three teams ending up with two wins:
· Luke Kalaydijan (Montreal) & Ali Maynard (Chicago)
· Jack Kelly (Montreal) & Steven Ives (Chicago)
· Max Aubin (Montreal) & Ricky Atkins (Detroit)
The calculators were out to determine that Kalaydijan and Maynard would meet Kelly and Ives in Sunday’s final. The championship match was a tight affair, but Kalaydijan and Maynard pulled away at the end of both games to run out the winners!
All the results are available via the NARA Club Locker links below:
Aside from the tournament matches Chicago’s Director of Athletics, Will Hopton, ran four one-hour long clinics during the course of the weekend which gave the out of towners the chance to get on court to learn from Will.
On the social side, all the players were joined by Chicago’s pro shop team and several other members for a delicious Friday night stag dinner in the Men’s Grill. The dress code was a little different on Saturday evening as an array of costumes graced the Players’ Lounge for a well-attended Halloween party. Of course, many of the participants found their way to Butch McGuire’s on Division Street later in the evening on both nights!
A huge thank you to Will Hopton, John Cashman, Steve Virgona and Ali Maynard for their marking and event organization. A shoutout also to Elmer and William in the locker room along with the wider Racquet Club team who ensured Chicago put on their usual top-class weekend. The club is looking forward to welcoming the NARA schedule back in the spring for the Western Open from March 31 – April 4!
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