VanPubTennis

Middle Sunday at the Raincoast Open

We have rain persisting to bring a halt to outdoor play; tournament organisers have had to seek indoor courts to move some draws along. The UBC Tennis Centre and the Hollyburn Country Club are two covered court venues that have been used to this point. Depending on the venue, seating for spectators can be minimal. Check the tournament links, to see what is being played where.

Open, Adults & Seniors
Junior events

On Sunday, the hottest ticket at the park was the Women’s 35 Doubles Final. That’s a small draw event that gets to the final quickly. In this one the number one seeds played the number two seeds. It was Kateryna Filius and Bronwyn Muirhead vs Michelle Sing and Petra Turek. Both Muirhead and Turek are very strong players, and familiar figures to local tournament watchers. Though neither Filius nor Sing rung a bell in my recollections, they soon showed themselves to be, like their partners, adroit doubles players  – skilled volleyers,  sly lobbers, and good movers around the court. There was high quality tennis on view. The ladies produced some fantastic volley battles close in, leaving we bench sitters at times gasping in awe. Great stuff.

The first two sets went one each, with Filyus and Muirhead fighting to even the score in a second set tie-breaker. The third set was played after pausing for the rain to stop. But the rain only made a feint at stopping. The games wound up being played in a drizzle. Alas, there was no competition in that final set. Filyius and Muirhead were the better mudders, by far, and took the decider 6-0. Nevertheless, the pre-drizzle portion of the match was wonderful to watch. Thank you ladies, thank you.

Kateryna Filyus reaching to block a down-the-line drive from Michelle Sing.

Matches in the park were altogether curtailed by the weather in late afternoon.