National Championships

The Men’s and Women’s Nationals were covered in PTN Spring 1990:

The 1990 Nationals were an overwhelming testament to the organization and tenacity of the Chicago-area people who ran the show. The strength of paddle tennis was evident by the Men’s draw that closed at 128 (more than 40 teams were turned away).

Four new Reilly courts were built in a formerly barren parking lot, expanding the court total to eight at the suburban Winnetka Park District facility.

The site hosted the men’s and women’s President’s Cup challenges, as well as all the March 11th Sunday finals. “Field of Screens” was the buzzword for the weekend: “If you build it, they will come…” and, they did. More than 600 people, one of the largest crowds in platform tennis history, showed up for Sunday’s finals.

In the end, odds-on favorites Rich Maier and Steve Baird took their eighth national championship. Baird/ Maier defeated the brother tandem of Bob and Jack Kleinert in the finals for the third straight year. The score was 7-5, 6-2, and the match turned on the eventual winners’ ability to overcome a 5-2 first set deficit.

Both Kleinerts served for the first set but neither could hold. “Richie and I talked at 5-2 and decided to start hitting more forehands,” Baird said after the match. “If we don’t win the set, we’re looking at another 2+ hours if we’re going to win.”

On the women’s side, the top-seeded women’s team of Sue Aery and Gerri Viant grabbed their first national championship when they defeated defending national champions Sara Krieger and Bobo Mangan Delaney 6-0, 7-6 in the finals.

Krieger/Delaney held two set points against the winners at 6-5 in the second set. And, Viant was fighting a pulled muscle in her right calf. But the winners drew even at 6-6 and won the tiebreaker 7-5. “We did not want it to go three sets,” the injured Viant said afterward. “So we just gutsed it out.”

Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1990