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Sept. 13 & 14: See Division I College tennis FREE in River Forest!

Hello Gladiators & Tennis Friends!

On Friday & Saturday, September 13 & 14, the fourth annual River Forest Collegiate Invitational tennis tournament will be held with matches starting both days at 9 a.m. and running till about 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 4/4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The River Forest Tennis Club (615 Lathrop Ave  River Forest; (708) 771-7783) is the primary tournament site, while the Oak Park Tennis Center (544 North Harlem Avenue; 708.366.9652) is a secondary venue. The tournament is free and tennis fans are encouraged to check out the exciting action!

The following Division I men’s teams will be participating in the tournament:

Belmont University (Nashville, TN)

Butler University (Indianapolis, IN)

Morehead State University (Morehead, KY)

Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL)

St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO)

University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, IN)

 Youngstown State University (Youngstown, OH)

It is an official ITA event and will have USTA umpires/referee on site at all times. UIC is the host school.  Matches are played on the Har-Tru courts, all with the latest hydro-grid underground watering system. The event will look to move indoors in the event of inclement weather. Play will include three rounds of singles and three rounds of doubles for all players/teams which includes main draw, back draw and consolation rounds. The tournament is rapidly becoming one of the premier Midwest collegiate tennis events in the fall season.

The River Forest Tennis Club, the tournament’s primary host site, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and for many years hosted the U.S. National Men's Clay Courts, as well as the River Forest Junior Open and Girls' 18 & Under National Clay Court Championships .

John Griffin, the tournament director and past President of the River Forest Tennis Club, has asked me to help promote the event since I work as a Sports Editor for the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park & River Forest. John also played at Northern Illinois University and is a great guy and occasional hitting partner of mine on the tennis courts.

A handful of Gladiators recently attended Cincinnati’s ATP/WTA pro tennis event and everybody returned to Chicago raving about the experience. This tournament is another opportunity to watch high-level tennis up close but this time at no charge and much closer to home! Incidentally, I will be at the tournament as a reporter covering the matches for the Oak Park Wednesday Journal (www.oakpark.com) and also enjoying the action as a die-hard tennis fan!

Best,

Marty Farmer

Gladiator Tennis contributing writer/3.0 Far East player

"Dust"-ed in the win!

Despite Dustin's denials, Farmer finds tactical change to win Gladiator war

Sedgwick Park, La Grange- Marty Farmer opened defense of his 3.0 Far East Division Gladiator title in style with a grueling 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 win over Dustin Baldassari at Sedgwick Park on Sunday afternoon.

Playing in pleasant but cool conditions with a swirling wind, Baldassari seized an early 3-1 lead before Farmer battled back to secure an opening set tiebreaker. At 3-all in the decider, Baldassari gagged a few volleys and Farmer took full advantage closing the set with an emphatic down the line forehand winner.

"I'm sure Dust wishes he had a few of those volleys back," Farmer said about his close friend's missed opportunities. "He's an extremely dangerous player, kind of like Shinsako on steroids. When Dustin is on, he can take the racquet out of your hands. On the flipside, he plays such an aggressive brand of tennis, I just tried to hang in there an pick my spots."

Baldassari again showed who's boss early in the second set racing out to a 5-1 lead. Farmer climbed within 5-3 before calling "Danza" on the set.

Stretching into a third hour, the combatants waged was at 3-all in the third. After holding serve to go up 4-3, Farmer found the decisive break he was looking for in the eighth game. At 30-all, Farmer threw in some drop shots which unglued Baldassari.

"Guys like Dust, Curtis Wyrick and Adam Brune, they are what I like to call CTA players," said Farmer, who has won three Gladiator titles over 7 seven seasons. "These guys are red line all the way hitting for lines. It's a mixed bag if you're on the other side of the net. He's a tough guy to collect information on because he's so aggressive.

 

"I made a change tactically, which was to mix up my shots with slice, spin, different paces and basically junk ball Dust in spots. Thank God, it worked."

As for Baldassari, don't bet against the uber-talented 27-year-old Westchester resident.

"I had trouble with the sun and wind," Baldassari said. "I prefer playing night matches, but I managed as best I could. I think both of us didn't play our best, but it was very fun and competitive match."

Next up for Farmer is John Tomasias (both players are 1-1), while Baldassari takes on Jon Epstein in match between 0-1 players.

The hard-fought victory capped off a whirlwind week for Farmer.

"I left my [beloved] Sun-Times job, started a new one [Sports Editor of the Oak Park Journal] and was invited by the Bulls media relations to atend Heat vs Heat Games 3 & 4. Then, this match with Dust. It's been exciting and a bit nerve-wracking."