The 20th annual Turkey Tennis Open was played at Airport Fitness and Tennis (which also celebrated its 20th anniversary) on Saturday and Sunday. The competition drew 24 players from around the Island for two days of mixed-doubles play, turkey sandwiches made by event director Connie McHugh, and a board for sharing memories of the center’s 20-year history, which were entered into a raffle for a new tennis racket.
Doubles team Adam Bresnick and Laura Schroeder beat out Paul Ulyatt and Beth Sawyer with a score of 6-1, 7-5, in their final matches to win the weekend. In addition to boasting victory, Mr. Bresnick and Ms. Schroeder each took home a turkey. The semifinal was a close call between doubles partners Susie Schofield and Gene Erez versus George Ikonomou and Bev Mazza. They split sets 6-0 and 1-6, but Mr. Ikonomou and Ms. Mazza won out in a third-set tiebreaker, 1-0. The final consolation match will be played on Saturday at 10 am with Darren Beslisle and Lucia Hayman versus Mr. Ikonomou and Ms. Mazza.
This year featured an extra opportunity for prizes with the memory wall organized by Ms. McHugh. Yellow and orange pieces of paper decorated a whiteboard in the corner of the viewing area upstairs. Ms. Schroeder was doubly victorious this weekend; she also won the memory raffle, taking home a brand-new tennis racket.
Ms. Schroeder shared the memory, “At the first Turkey Open I stole Adam Bresnick from Ruth Mcgorty for my partner.” She played with Mr. Bresnick again this year.
Kelley Nagi wrote, “The first time I played with Sandy Nadelstein, we were paired together by the club. We were losing and Sandy was serving. He never double-faults, but he did. We lost the match, but I never gave up on him. Happily, we’ve remained doubles partners ever since.”
Skip Dostal remembered, “The first tournament I played in, I went down on the court to return a ball against Cooper and missed the point. Coop said at the end of the match, ‘Dostal, you have not given your all unless you leave some skin on the court.’”
“My first memory was the final match of the Fall Mixed Doubles. It was myself and Todd versus Skip and Lili. We lost in front of 20 people pounding on the glass for every great shot,” wrote Tammy King.
“It was really fun to see the memory board,” said Ms. McHugh. ““A lot of the players who played this year have been playing together in the Open for the past five to eight years. There were some veteran teams, and some who played for the first time.”