Northbrook’s 4.5-Open Singles team somehow pulled out a win against North Shore. Three of the matches went to a 3rd set tie-breaker. On court 4, Sue Teper (NRC) releasing some of the stress of moving to a new home, sliced and diced her way to a straight set victory over Youngran Chung (NSRC). On court 3, Denise Mullett (NSRC) battled it out with Liesel Jankelowitz. Liesel was down in the 1st set 2-5 before coming back to win the 1st set 7-5, only to let the 2nd set slip away 6-3. The 3rd set tie-breaker went to Denise 10-4. Terri Gordon (NRC) and Lisa Musgrave (NSRC) had never played each other in singles before. Lisa won the 1st set 6-4 and was cruising in the 2nd set 5-2 when something woke up in Terri. She turned the set around and won the set 7-5. It was time for a match tie-breaker reset. Lisa nearly had it won at 9-7 but Terri turned it around again to win 11-9 in the match tie-breaker. WOW! On court 1, Becky Moffatt (NSRC) was in control of the 1st set against Nives Horacek (NRC). Then the tide turned and it was Nives who was in control of the 2nd set and the match tie-breaker. Northbrook won 3-1. This is a three-peat for Northbrook who won in 2015 and 2016.

For the last couple of years, one of Midtown-Palatine’s teams has met RC Lake Bluff in the finals of the 4.0-4.5 Singles League. Krisztina Anderko mixes up her teams from year to year and this year added Alpna Yousfi to the roster. RC Lake Bluff has some strong singles players and added Michelle Ihlanfeldt to their roster. Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the match to watch the players engage with one another on the court but I know they were running and working their strengths while defending their weaknesses. Alpna Yousfi played and won against Michelle Ihlandfeldt on court 1. Leslie Leonardi (RCLB) held it together against Jennifer Lenahan (MTP 1). Renee Buxton (MTP 1) had a win over Lynn Bruch (RCLB) and between Bethanne McFadden (RCLB) and Keeley Hart (MTP 1), Bethanne won but in a 3rd set match tie-breaker which gave MTP 1 the extra set they needed to become the champions of the NCW4.0-4.5 league.

TNT must be working for Midtown-Chicago as their team narrowly won the finals against Lakeshore. But before playing their matches, there was a question of whether one of their players was an eligible player. Players are required to have played 3 times for their team and the name showing on court 2 hadn’t played a match. It was all straightened out before they went on court as the name on court 2 was input incorrectly. The wrong Janet was showing up on the lineup which was corrected to show Janet Hanks. Crisis averted! The Lakeshore ladies may have had some hope in the back of their minds that without lifting a racquet they won. But Midtown-Chicago had come to play and Lakeshore wanted to play as well. Midtown-Chicago took the top 2 courts in 2 sets. Lakeshore took the bottom 2 courts but on court 3, after winning the 1st set in a tie-breaker, they lost their momentum and let Midtown-Chicago back in the match losing the 2nd set 6-0 before taking back control in the 3rd set and winning 6-2. Unfortunately for Lakeshore, Midtown-Chicago gained an extra set to break the match tie. Midtown-Chicago won 5-4 in sets.

Midtown-Chicago for the finals of the NC Women’s 4.0 Wednesday league against Glenbrook came away with a 4-2 win. It was hard to tell who was winning and who was losing as each player exuded a confidence and a seriousness in their play. After watching some of the Women’s 3.5 matches and then coming over to watch the 4.0 women play, I was struck by the similarity in play but there was a bit more movement, especially poaching movement at the net. The players found a few more openings to put the ball away. They also took a few more chances which sometimes gave them opportunities to win the point or to lose the point depending on the moment. While Midtown-Chicago won the top 4 courts, there were some evenly matched teams playing against each other, especially on court 1 and court 3. So while Midtown-Chicago came away with the win, Glenbrook fought for every point and never stopped moving.

Players sometimes ask why the playoffs are different from the regular season. Our regular season is based on having two hours of playing time which is usually enough to get in 3 sets of tennis. But in the finals, we are working off the traditional form of playing matches – 2 out of 3 sets which may challenge you physically as well as mentally…especially mentally. Can you keep the momentum or turn back the tide? The 3rd set really gives you the opportunity to see what you are made of. Do you play it safe? Do you play more aggressively? What are you saying to yourself and your partner?

Midtown-Palatine in their finals match against Midtown-Chicago came out the winner 5-1 but three of the six matches ended in 3 sets. In watching a few moments of everyone’s matches, there were moments of patient and inpatient play, incredible gets, overzealous overheads, great pickups, tentative serves and good sportsmanship. There were a lot of well-played out points and consistent play with each team trying to figure out how they could best put themselves in the position of putting the ball away. But for me, it is those 3 set matches that are so fascinating. On court 2 the scores were 6-0, 5-7, 6-1. What happened? What changed? Did fatigue set in? On court 3 the scores were 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4). That’s a match where it appears everybody was fighting for every point and it could have gone either way. On court 6, the scores were 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. Slower start for Midtown-Chicago but they got their groove back and pushed it to 3 only to lose a close 3rd set. Win or lose, these final matches, stay with you because a lot is at stake not only for yourself but for your team. These matches are learning opportunities. Nice playing everyone!!

When you have two teams from the same club playing against each other, both teams feel a little weird about it. Krisztina Anderko had the difficult challenge of making up the lineup for both teams. As she watched the matches progress, she saw up close and personal, the progress her players have made over the course of the year. On court 1 Ki Kellen (MTP 1) played against Sally Fessenden (MTP2). Both players are very fit and ran every ball down. Ki was fearless in attacking any ball within her hitting zone but Sally gave as much as she got even though the scores don’t reflect that fact. Ki won on court 1. On court 2, Cynthia DeStefano (MTP 1) kept Elizabeth Jimenez (MTP 2) from playing her game and kept pushing her back to the baseline. Each player kept probing for opportunities and in this match Cynthia came out on the winning end. On court 3, Erica Donofrio (MTP 1) and Lori Bowling (MTP 2) had long exchanges and tense points. Who was up one moment changed in the next. Both players were fairly evenly matched. On this day, Erica prevailed. On court 4 Nicole Koviak (MTP 2) played against Kelly Thut. While the scores appear like Nicole had an easy win, she was the first to admit that a lot of the games went to deuce. Nicole gave MTP 2 their only win.

The Men’s Open league officially went down to 4 courts this year and allowed for the unlimited use of 4.5 players on courts 2-4 of the Open. Midtown-Bannockburn and RC Lake Bluff both added teams to this league that had primarily consisted of teams from College Park, River Trails, Midtown-Chicago and North Shore. This year Midtown-Chicago, who we normally see in the Finals, did not make it to the playoffs but RC Lake Bluff did. RC Lake Bluff played against College Park. Even though RCLB won every match, every single match was close. Courts 1 and 2 were 2 set matches that ended in a tie-breaker. Courts 3 and 4 were both 3 set matches with an unfortunate injury on court 4. We hope Lawson has a quick recovery. North Shore and River Trails started the morning with their Open teams playing against each other and a few players knew they needed to have enough left over to play another match with their 4.5 teams. North Shore was able to win their Open matches 3-1. North Shore and RC Lake Bluff will meet each other in the finals on May 13th at College Park Athletic Club at 4pm.

Of the 4 teams who made it to the playoffs, three of the teams also had their teams in the Open league playoffs. Libertyville was the only team who does not have an Open team. The question many were wondering was how many of the Open players would be playing in the 4.5 as well. College Park had the most players who played multiple times in both the 4.5 and the Open. River Trails and North Shore had far fewer dual level players. College Park played against Libertyville. LIB won on court 1 in 3 sets with a 3rd set tie-breaker to boot but with the exception of court 2, who lost in 3 sets, courts 3-6 were won fairly handily by CPAC-E. CPAC-E had a 5-1 win over LIB. River Trails 1 had a little more fire power and strength down the line against North Shore winning 6-0. River Trails’ Open team had just lost to NSRC in the Men’s Open playoffs, so a Men’s 4.5 win was sweet! Court 4 went to 3 sets but it was all River Trails. College Park East and River Trails 1 will meet on May 13th at College Park Athletic Club at 2pm.

In looking at the match scores of the Men’s 4.0 Doubles playoffs and seeing Midtown-Bannockburn and Northbrook winning their matches 5-1, one may think easy win. But looking at the actual match scores paints a different picture. Midtown-Bannockburn and College Park East 2’s court 1 could not have had a closer match. MTB won that match but the scores were 7-6, 6-7, 7-6(8). Admittedly, courts 2, 3 and 6 were well won by MTB. But CPAC 2 took court 5 and made MTB work for their win on court 4 by making it a 3 setter. The other playoff match was between Northbrook and River Trails 2. Four of the six matches went to three sets and one of those matches was won by RTTC 2. Two of the three setters went to a third set with 2nd set tie-breakers. Court 1 and court 4 were the only 2 set matches. Both were won by NRC. Midtown-Bannockburn and Northbrook will meet in the finals on May 13th at College Park Athletic Club at 12pm.

The Men’s 3.5 Doubles league has 7 teams of which 4 make it to the playoffs. River Trails ended the season in 1st place with a 71.53% win percentage. They played against the 4th place team who had a 50.69% win percentage – a team that wins some and loses some. The other two playoff teams, Libertyville and College Park East had a win percentage of 68.06% and 60.42% respectively. What can be tough when we get into May are players who become unavailable to play. RC Lake Bluff came up short and had to default a court to River Trails. River Trail swept the rest of the matches and won 4-0. Libertyville and College Park East were not going to give in to each other. On court 2, LIB won. On court 4 CPAC-E won. Then came the win on court 1 for CPAC-E. Libertyville needed to win the match in 2 sets not 3 but CPAC took the 2nd set and therefore winning in sets. River Trails and College Park East will meet in the finals on May 13th at College Park Athletic Club at 10am.

The NC Women’s Open league saw some changes this year. Instead of having Open Green and Open Red leagues, the Open leagues were divided into two groups consisting of teams from last year’s Open Green and Open Red leagues. Two Open Red teams went into each group – Group 1 and Group 2 and the Open Green teams were likewise divided between the 2 groups. Each group had 7 teams. In order to still keep 2 sets of playoffs – essentially having an Open Red Playoff and an Open Green Playoff, the top 2 teams from each group and the 3rd and 4th place teams in each group would playoff against one another in two separate playoffs. Confused?
Instead of explaining further, the Open Red playoffs consisted of Group 1’s College Park East playing against Group 2’s RC Lake Bluff and Group 1’s Northbrook playing against North Shore. The Open Green playoffs consisted of Group 1’s other North Shore team playing against Group 2’s Glenbrook and Midtown-Palatine playing against Group 2’s Libertyville.
The outcome was as follows: CPAC-E won 4-2 against RCLB. Unfortunately, CPAC’s Suzanne DeMirjian took a fall and injured herself. We hope she will be able to recover quickly and well!! Northbrook won 5-1 against North Shore (Jerry’s team). The finals between College Park and Northbrook will take place at College Park on May 12th at 10:30am.
North Shore (Leanne’s team) played against Glenbrook. Despite having to default a court on the day of the match, Glenbrook pulled out a 4-2 win over NSRC. Midtown-Palatine also received a default from Libertyville and despite losing on court 1, won the rest of the matches. MTP won 5-1. Glenbrook and Midtown-Palatine will play against each other at RC Lake Bluff on May 12th at 11am.

The NCW4.5 Red league has several very competitive team. Six of the nine teams were within spitting distance of getting into the playoffs. So understandably disappointment abounds when your team doesn’t make it and elation prevails when your team does. The four teams in the playoffs were River Trails against North Shore and Midtown-Palatine against Midtown-Bannockburn. River Trails, who ended the season in 1st place, was challenged by North Shore’s team. Each team took 3 matches each but a match tie-breaker win by NSRC gave RTTC one extra set to put them in the Finals. Midtown-Palatine won 5-1 against Midtown-Bannockburn but looking at the scores, several of the matches could have shifted in favor of MTB. The finals between RTTC and MTP will take place at Glenbrook Racquet Club on May 12th at 10am.

Pictured from L-R: Mike Raymond, Nick Andres, Peter Krizman and John Pucin

In 2012, The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff put a Men’s Singles team together and won the league championship. Fast forward to 2017 and for the 4th year in a row, RCLB has won the championship for the Men’s 4.5 Singles. Congratulations to their team for that accomplishment! North Shore was this year’s opponent. Their captain, Jerry Morse-Karzen, played on court 1 against RCLB’s captain Peter Krizman. While both players had played the day before, Jerry played two matches to Peter’s one 3-set match. And while Jerry put up a good fight, not reflected in the score, fatigue and Peter’s play gave RCLB their court 1 win. Mike Raymond, Nick Andres and John Pucin rounded out RCLB’s team with wins against NSRC’s team of Clay McLaughlin, Steve Rodgers and Joe McCartney. RCLB won the finals 4-0 and took home the trophy for the 4th year in a row!

How’s your math? Huh? In one of the playoff matches between Lincolnshire and Five Seasons, the captains were employing their mathematical skills to come up with a game total. Court 1 went to FSSC but court 6 went to LINC. Courts 2-5 were all matches decided by 10-point match tie-breakers with courts 2 and 3 won by LINC and courts 4 and 5 won by FSSC. Everyone wanted to make sure the scores were recorded correctly because it mattered. Five Seasons ended up winning by TWO GAMES 55-53. Talk about a nail biter. Manny Velasco said it was “fun watching close matches and seeing players step up and challenge themselves”. Of course what he didn’t say was he rechecked his math multiple times. The other 4.5 Green playoff match was between Lakeshore and RC Lake Bluff. This year Lakeshore restructured their teams moving out of the 4.0 Friday league and moving into the 4.5 Green league. RCLB made it to the playoffs last year and was hoping to advance to the finals this year. But Lakeshore had a slight advantage when RCLB defaulted a court. Lakeshore pulled out a 5-1 win over RCLB. They will play against Five Seasons on May 12th at Five Seasons Sports Club at 11am.

From L-R: Jeff Berns, John Flayter, Jon Stauffer, Matt Sargent

The teams from Libertyville and Midtown-Palatine came ready to play. Last year, Libertyville nearly got to the finals but lost in sets despite having a player fall ill before the match and another player injuring himself during the match. And last year, Midtown-Palatine didn’t make it to the playoffs. So both teams were working it for their respective teams. Libertyville took the match lead with Libertyville captain Jeff Berns winning 6-3, 6-2 against Mike Spors (MTP). Then, John Flayer (LIB) came off the court against David Smith (MTP) winning 6-2, 6-2. But they saw their courts 1 and 3 were not doing as well. Kyle Stagnito (MTP) had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Matt Sargent. That left court 1. Robert Bieniek (MTP) and Jon Stauffer (LIB) were finishing off their match while the other players were counting up the games. Robert Bieniek won 6-4, 6-3. Jon Stauffer kept himself on the court despite tweaking his knee in order to get the extra games needed to get a win for Libertyville. Jeff Berns said, “Midtown-Palatine showed up to play and every competitor left it on the court. We were fortunate to come away with the victory by a very narrow margin. We are taking a moment to enjoy the victory and know that each team will be ready to play next year.”

There are two North Central Women’s 4.0 leagues. One takes place on Wednesday and the other Friday. Most of the teams who play on Wednesday also have a team on Friday. What’s interesting to note is that the teams who made it to the Finals in the 4.0 Wednesday league are not the same teams that made it to the finals for the 4.0 Friday league. In both sets of playoff matches, the match score was 4-2. Midtown-Palatine, who lost in the finals last year, came up against Glenbrook. Three of the six matches went to a 10-point match tie-breaker with one of the tie-breaker’s ending the match at 15-13. MTP won all three of those match tie-breakers. Two of the 2 set matches had a 2nd set 12-point tie-breaker. These matches were close with players super competitive with each other! The other playoff match was between Midtown-Chicago and College Park. Midtown-Chicago is in the finals of the 4.0 Wednesday league and they wanted to do the same in the 4.0 Friday league but College Park East stood in their way. While CPAC-E lost on courts 1 and 6, their middle level players won their matches, putting CPAC-E in the finals with MTP. The finals will take place at Northbrook Racquet Club on May 12th at 12pm.

The start of the season was a bit bumpy for the NC Women’s 4.5-Open Singles League. The season started with six teams but Northbrook wasn’t sure they had enough players to fully compete (they did thanks to Terri Gordon who made calls and rallied everyone to support the team) but Glenbrook decided to drop their team after 3 matches in the season. Thankfully, the league pulled itself together. Midtown-Bannockburn 2 started the season in last place but started to move into 4th place in January, then 2nd place and then 1st place in February which they held all the way to the end of the season. The addition of Bright Phakamad to their team helped secure their wins so when Northbrook, who ended the season in 4th place, came into the playoffs against Midtown-Bannockburn 2, they knew they would need a strong lineup against them, especially since they lost to MTB 2 in their last regular season match 9-3. For the playoffs, NRC secured a win over MTB 2 in hard fought matches. MTB 2’s lineup was without Bright but everyone stepped up their game and left everything on the court. The other playoff teams were Libertyville and North Shore. On court 1, Rita Lilydahl (LIB) and Becky Moffatt battled it out to a 3rd set tie-breaker. Becky prevailed as did the rest of her team. The Finals between North Shore and Northbrook will take place at Northbrook Racquet Club on May 11 at 12pm.

Midtown-Palatine has a dedicated group of singles players. While they do not currently have a 4.5-Open Singles team, they do have 2 teams in the 4.0-4.5 singles league. Both teams ended up in the playoffs by securing the #1 and #2 spots in the regular season. The other two teams in the playoffs were RC Lake Bluff and Midtown-Bannockburn. MTP 1 played against MTB and scored 4 matches against them which is not to say the wins came easily. MTP 2 played against RCLB. Each team scored 2 matches each. All matches went 2 sets which meant the sets were tied. It came down to counting games. RCLB came out ahead by 11 games – 42-31 – and has advanced to the Finals against MTP 1. The Finals will take place at Midtown-Bannockburn on May 11th at 12pm.

Our entry level league for the Women starts with this league and this year there were 6 teams of players who have either just started playing competitively or have played a couple of years and are starting to understand the demands of the game. For some people, the thought of competition scares them off from participating, but being competitive is to give your best effort and to start noticing what aspects of your game need work so you can keep improving. Midtown-Chicago played against College Park in the semis with each team winning 2 matches. When that happens we look to see how many sets were won by the team. On court 4 the match was decided by a 10 point match tie-breaker. College Park won the tie-breaker and the match but because MTC won one of the sets, they won 5-4 in sets. Lakeshore played against Glenbrook and won 4-0. What isn’t reflected in the match scores is the fact that 3 of the 4 matches were decided by match tie-breakers. As anyone who has played match tie-breakers knows, it can go either way. Midtown-Chicago and Lakeshore will face off against each other at The Libertyville Club on May 11th at 11am.

The two other teams in this league, Midtown-Palatine and Midtown-Bannockburn, played against each other in what we call the “Experience Finals” The 3rd set is played out with no time limit. Three of the four matches went to 3 sets. Each team won 2 matches so the decider was sets which Midtown-Bannockburn won 6-5.

Our 4.0 Wednesday teams are very competitive with one another. The players themselves have played a number of years and have their strong points and their weak points. At this level, who you play against may impact your wins or losses. You may like players who hit hard and will win against them every time but against a defensive lobber, you are toast. Every win or loss are opportunities to work on your weaknesses and strengths. It just takes a little more effort to work around those pesky players. With 8 teams in this league, and the defending champion no longer in this league (they moved up to the 4.5 Green), it was probable that some of the teams who were in the playoffs last year show up against this year. Midtown-Palatine was in the finals last year but Midtown-Chicago, who made the playoffs last year only to lose to Lakeshore, dashed their hopes this year with a 4-2 win. Glenbrook and Midtown-Bannockburn built up their team this year and both teams were extremely competitive with one another. Three of the matches went to a 3rd set 10 point match tie-break. But because Glenbrook won 2 of the matches in 2 sets and the 3rd match in a match tie-break, they broke the 3-3 match tie by one set. Glenbrook and Midtown Chicago will play against each other on May 10th at Five Seasons Sports Club at 11am.