1974 Men's Nationals Program Brochure

National Championships – Inaugural Junior Girls (under 20)

1974- Rev1

Men’s Doubles returned to FMTC and, with 127 teams entered, it was like old times.

Half the defending championship team of Kingsbury-Mangan belonged to Fox Meadow, and half the team that won, John Beck and Herb Fitz Gibbon, grew up there. Big John Beck played for the Bedford Golf Club, but around Fox Meadow, he was still Madge and Ted Beck’s boy, a local kid who made good. The five-set final lasted more than two and a half hours before Beck and Fitz Gibbon overwhelmed Keith Jennings and Chauncey Steele. It was not a complete Fox Meadow victory, but it felt terrific regardless.

In the Senior events, Charles Baird and Ed Swanberg completed their hat-trick in the 50+ and Baird teamed with Roger Lankenau to win the 45+.

In the 60+, Walter Frese and Ken LaVine won their second title.

See APTA Newsletters listed as sources for drawsheets

Source: Off The Wire, Vol. 5. No. 3, & Mid-summer; Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983

Shirley Babington and Marti Cavanaugh. The sisters won the 1974 Women's and were finalists in 1973, 1975 and 1977.
Shirley Babington and Marti Cavanaugh. The sisters won the 1974 Women’s and were finalists in 1973, 1975 and 1977

Governor of New Jersey plays hooky to play paddle

Brendan Byrne had a calendar conflict, a speech to the New Jersey Education Association at their annual conference and a date to play in the National Senior Men’s 50+ at Englewood, NJ. He chose to play paddle, lost his first round match and advanced as far as the semis in the consolation.

A newspaper covering the event characterized his game as “a conservative style bent on returning the ball.”

Source: Off The Wire, Vol. 5, No. 3

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New York Times, March 1974

APTA hosts press party

The January/February edition of Off The Wire covered the event held at the Town Tennis Club in New York City. “Thirty-two card carrying reporters were invited to come and see how our game is supposed to be played. The better to understand that Platform Tennis is not ping-pong, is not paddleball, is not deck tennis. Allowing for no-shows, crashers, ancillary invitees, etc., a good time was had by 73 people. Bob Brown introduced the matches, the players, and the celebs, and set the stage for our audience.” Celebrities included Sid Wood, Chuck McKinley and Stan Smith.

Source: Off The Wire, Vol. 5 No. 2