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Major Tournament on Longboat Key Next Week
4 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Next week I’m playing a national ITF USTA tennis tournament in Longboat Key Florida where there are some notable entrants. One player coached President Jimmy Carter in tennis at the White House and Camp David. Ken Fugate, he was also President Carter helicopter pilot. Another won nine grand slam doubles titles. Rick Leach. Paul Thomas played junior hockey against Behn Wilson in Ontario and was invited to the NHL training camp of the Colorado Rockies as an undrafted free agent. Joachim Rasgado from Brazil and Miami University has Orange Bowl wins over Bjorn Borg and Vitas Gerulaitis. Jonathan Fears in the 65s is the son of NFL Los Angeles Rams great wide receiver Tom Fears. Fredric Skoglund trained with Stefan Edberg as a junior. I’m sure there are many more renowned tennis figures with interesting backgrounds I will scoop for next week, draws start next Monday.
Stay tuned for more from center court at Longboat Key Public Tennis Center. By the way, the tournament attracts so many entrants from across USA and beyond, the tournament director is compensated an estimated $18,000 for his services.
Level 2: Longboat Key Senior Clay Courts
Longboat Key Tennis Center, 590 BAY ISLES RD, LONGBOAT KEY, FL, 34228
Matt Segel · November 28, 2023 at 7:41 pm
Results? How was it?
Scoop Malinowski · November 28, 2023 at 8:23 pm
First match is tomorrow morning. Some excellent matches so far, the guy who beat Borg and Vitas at Orange Bowl hurt his hand by hitting his strings in practice a few days ago so he withdrew ) I got the inside info from a friend. Rick Leach plays on Friday in doubles, they have a first round bye.
Cory · November 29, 2023 at 10:52 am
Keep us posted – good luck!
Scoop Malinowski · November 29, 2023 at 7:35 pm
I won a thriller today! 61 67 63. Down 25 in second, then tied it 55 and had a MP at 65 then lost that game and TB after missing three shots by about an inch. Third set lost first game, then won four in a row 41, then blew two 30-15 games for 4-3, then won the last two games. First win vs a UTR 8 level player in over five years. Big win. Face 2 seed next round.