CAY HILL— Tess Blom defeated Sanne van Wigcherden in straight sets of 6-3, 6-4 to win the women’s division of the St. Maarten Tennis Club annual championship at Raoul Illidge Sports Complex.
In the men’s division final Bas van den Bosch battled visiting player Igor Pasalic from Croatia. Bas managed to win the first set tiebreak, 7-6, and then lost the second set 4-6. In the super tiebreak Bas was several points behind, but in the end managed to pull out the win 11-9.
The St. Maarten Tennis Club’s has just finished tournament featured women singles, men singles, men 40+, men doubles and men/women doubles over a two week period.
In total, a whopping 69 matches were played, ranging from beginner’s level to medium to more seasoned players.
The women singles group 1, consisting of four relatively new players was won by Michelle van der Werff. She won her group matches in two sets.
Two matches went to a super tiebreak: Hester Versleyen vs Ilse Carter: 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 and Ilse Carter vs Meike Broenink: 6-0, 5-7, 10-6. I
In group 2, Sanne van Wigcheren won both her matches and ranked first, although the match against Sylvia Jongbloed was very tight: 6-2, 2-6, 11-9. Finally, group 3 was dominated by Blom, who beat Carla Speetjens with 7-6, 0-6, 10-6. In the men singles, exceptional wildcards were granted to two visiting players: Andrew Rowe from Canada, and Pasalic, both skilled tennis players, who made their opponents work hard until the last ball in their matches had been played. Both survived the first few rounds, and so did Bas van den Bosch and Martijn Eerland. Bas made it into the final by beating Andrew in an attractive match: 7-5, 6-4. In the other semi-final match, Igor overcame Djai: 7-5, 6-2. In the battle for the third place, Andrew bested Martijn 6-4, 6-3. Martijn, also played in the doubles final with Bas; they lost 6-2, 6-3 from Andrew and Igor. Third place was for the father-and-son team Joeri & Djai Essed, who rolled by Bas Vastenhout and Hans de Bruyne: 6-2, 0-6, 10-6 in a topsy-turvy match. Finally, in the Men 40+singles final, Joeri Essed overcame hard-serving Hans de Bruyne 7-6, 6-4 and Luc Knol beat Paul van den Hoogen for the third place: 6-4, 6-3.
Before the prize-giving ceremony followed by snacks and drinks, SMTC president Joeri Essed mentioned Holland House, BZSE, Scotia Bank and Diamonds International provided gift vouchers for the men singles and women singles champions and in general made the competition posable.
He also complimented pro Alexandre Schvartz, for his tremendous input and smooth organization.
