By Debbie Borchers
The 2009 USTA Pacific Northwest Section Wheelchair Tennis Championships were a great success! The event was held August 14-16 at the beautiful Tualatin Hills Tennis Center in Beaverton, Ore. The is an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Futures event and is hosted by the Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Association (NWTA).
A total of 19 players, 12 in the Open Division and seven in the A Division participated. They represented Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Utah, and British Columbia.
The Open Singles bracket was hotly contested. The top two seeds, Marti Anderson from Yorba Linda, Calif., and Anthony Anderson from Snohomish, Wash., were upset in the semifinals by unseeded players. Marti Anderson lost 4-6, 3-6 to his doubles partner Donald Beardon from San Jose, Calif.
Anthony Anderson lost 6-1, 6-7, 2-6 to David Wagner, the world’s No. 1 ranked Quad Open player from Hillsboro, Ore. Wagner went on to prevail in the final, beating Beardon in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Patrick Jacobson from Renton, Wash., won the Consolation title with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Randy Corbett of Boise, Idaho.
In doubles, the top seeded teams made it to the final where the No. 2 seed Marti Anderson and Beardon topped the No. 1 seed Anthony Anderson 7-5, 6-1.
The A Division saw a repeat champion. Top seed Danny Quintana from Salt Lake City, Utah bested Carl Backstrom from Redmond, Ore., 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the final. The A Doubles played a three-team round robin that saw the duo of John McClaren of West Linn, Ore., and Jim Ilg of Keizer, Ore., finish undefeated. McClaren and Ilg narrowly defeated Jim Carlton of Milwaukie, Ore., and Tim Woods of Kuna, Idaho 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the deciding match.
The 2009 USTA Pacific Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Championships also included the Don Drake Memorial Up/Down Round Robin that was held on opening night and enjoyed a fabulous turnout. The annual Up/Down tournament features four rounds of doubles and matches local able-bodied tennis players with section championship participants to form teams. This year’s Up/Down was a great convergence of the area’s community tennis programs as six players from Portland After-School Tennis (www.pastkids.org) Junior Elite team were on hand to experience wheelchair tennis for the first time. Everyone had a fun evening of tennis and enjoyed watching Brian Harrington and his wheelchair partner Ali Ataman of Seattle defeat Elise Orban and Anthony Anderson 6-4.
Everyone is looking forward to next year’s tournament that will be held August 13-15, 2010. A heartfelt thanks to the USTA national office as well as the USTA Pacific Northwest and the numerous sponsors and countless volunteers that support this tournament year after year.
For a complete list of results from the 2009 USTA Pacific Northwest Wheelchair Tennis Championships, please click here.