Chicago Charities coverage – Uihlein and Marino take the Men’s and Delmonico and Main the Women’s

Uihlein and Marino Team Up to Take Men’s Title…..Delmonico and Main Win Women’s Charities………

It was a beautiful platform tennis day and the play was outstanding when the women took to the courts at the Chicago Charities.

The 2009 women’s draw was missing many of the big-name players such as Lauren Zink, Cindy Prendergast, Laura Parsons and Susie Keane; however, the talent level was still exceptional compared to most other ranking tournaments.

Kerri Delmonico and Aila Main worked their way through the draw defeating Sally Cottingham and Liz Hayward in the quarter-finals and then Bobo Delaney and Tonia Mangan in the semi-finals on their way to the final.

Quarter Final Prop-Schneebeck & Doten-Schwartz.3rd set tie break – Prop-Schneebeck are up in the breaker 6-1. Ad-hoc commentary provided by energized viewers in the hut

Heather Prop and Lynne Schneebeck clinched the other half of the draw with wins over Doten and Schwartz in the quarter-finals and then OhlmuUer and Sheldon in the semi-finals. The finals was patient yet fast-paced. After a tough battle, Kerri Delmonico and Aila Main earned the top spot over Heather Prop and Lynne Schneebeck in the Chicago Charities Women’s Open.

A typical point in Men’s Final – this being Chicago, gun shots can be heard but they were from nearby skeet range!

Congratultions to Mike Marino and Brian Uihlein for their victory over Mike Cochrane and Scott Estes in the finals of the 2009 Chicago Charities. The play, under a cloudless and unusually warm sky, was lively and spring-like as all the men’s draws-were played out at the Glen View Club. The final was an intense three-set match played to a large crowd of spectators.

The depth of talent at the 2009 Charities was impressive. Missing only a few familiar names, the seeded teams at this year’s tournament covered two complete generations of paddle and an array of styles. There were masters of zen-like patience, big swinging drivers, loud ones, quiet ones, and one court amusing itself with how many times the guys could tag each other.

Fifteen of the sixteen men’s seeded teams made it to the round of 16. Full of past national champions and finalists, those eight matches were among the most exciting of the tournament.

The semis saw Peter Berka and Drew Eberle lose to Mike Cochrane and Scott Estes, and Mike Marino and Brian Uihlein defeating Scott Bondurant and Mark Johnson. This set up three-set final won by Marino and Uihlein over Estes and Cochrane.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 11, Issue 2, 2009