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 News from Around Banderas Bay | October 2005 
Westin 13th Anniversary Tennis Tournament Results
 Martin Parra - PVNN
| | Congratulations to the winners as well as all that competed. We will look forward to the next top notch tournament at the Westin. |
Puerto Vallarta - The 13th Annual Westin Anniversary Tennis Classic came to an end Saturday with two local professionals battling for Puerto Vallarta bragging rights in an exhibition match following the finals in the men’s, women’s and kids finals. Luis Carlos Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez showed the fans the difference between “A” division play and professional competition. A large crowd gathered to watch Luis Carlos win the match 6-2, 6-2, although play dictated a closer match than the final score indicated.
Just after the exhibition, the award ceremony was held, with winners and runner ups of each division receiving trophies along with other prizes. Over 100 competitors participated and the tournament was a huge success. Westin tennis professional Norberto Aguirre put together the draws, a difficult task in accommodating the players schedules. The men’s A, B and C divisions had over 18 in each, with the “C” attracting 30 players.
The marquee match was the “A” finals played at 12:30 on the main court and pitted Holiday Inn assistant pro, Ricardo Meillon against long time PV resident originally from Montréal, 56 year old Emiee Larrivee, who upset the top seed Jorge Joya 6-2, 6-4 earlier in the week. Ricardo had the youth, power and speed, already defeating the 2nd and 3rd seeds and took the first set in an exciting tiebreak 7-6. Continuing with the momentum Meillon broke service and held a 3-2 lead in the second set, only needing to hold serve to win the match and championship.
The unexpected happened, and in a big way too, as Larrivee broke back and ran out the remaining three games of the set. He didn’t stop there, winning the first five games of the third and deciding set, winning a total of nine games in a row. His consistent backstrokes forced his opponent to try for outright winners and caused a number of unforced errors. Ricardo took the next two games, but Emiee served out the match, winning 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. The 56 year old had a huge noticeable scar from his knee down to his ankle and after the match; he spoke of the surgery he had that resulted in the whole bone being removed when he was only five years old, thus the huge scar.
The men’s “B” division also gave us a final with two players differing in age. The youngster, Alkalie Koldo, wearing a sleeveless shirt ala Rafael Nadal, had not dropped a set the whole week, while his opponent, Adrian Renteria defeated the top two seeds on his road to the final and was pushed into long three set matches. The veteran knocked off Koldo in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 and was the first of the three men’s finals to be completed.
As the pros were warming up, the “C” men’s final was still being played. Walking over to check the score, we found out the players were only in the second set. The match was long as both Roberto Vives and a much taller Miguel D’Mucha both were returning each others shots with consistency, making for the extended play. Again in this division the top two seeds were eliminated early, pitting the two unseeded players in the final. Vives finally prevailed, winning the 2 ½ hour marathon 6-4, 7-5.
Banderas News’ Bob Cohen, coming back from tendonitis or “tennis elbow” competed in the “C” division and held a first round lead before he was unable to grip the racquet as the injury flared back up and Bob had to retire from his match. Tennis elbow takes time and therapy to heal and Cohen, although feeling ready, still needs to rest and rehab for a longer period of time.
The men’s “D” division was played earlier in the morning and Sean Phillips easily defeated Manuel Delamora 6-1, 6-2.
The women and kids used a different format than the traditional draw. They played a round robin tournament in each division, playing only one set in each match, but the set differed as it was completed when the first player to won eight games. This allowed every player to meet each opponent once and the competitor with the highest total won their category.
The women’s division results were as follows:
D – 1st – Eva Hernandez - 24 points (perfect score)
2nd – Ivonne Plata – 20 points
C – 1st - Christina De La Bar – 40 points (perfect score)
2nd – Zahira Sitches – 37 points
B – 1st – Mary Martin – 32 points (perfect score)
2nd – Trini Acosta – 27 points
The “C” division was the largest, the same as the men and extremely competitive. Only two points separated three other women from second place; Eden Aguirre, Araceli D’ Musha and Gaby Yanar.
The Kid’s results:
Boy’s 12 year old – 1st – Rodrigo Martinez Garzo – 40 points (perfect score)
Boy’s 14 year old – 1st – Daniel Romella – 24 points (perfect score)
Boy’s 16 year old - 1st – Roberto Martinez – 32 points (perfect score)
Girl’s 16 year old – 1st – Rebeca Aguirre – 16 points (perfect score) – Rebeca is only 12 years old and is following in the footsteps of Dad. Her father is Norberto, the tennis pro at the Westin.
Congratulations to the winners as well as all that competed. Well done Norberto; we will look forward to the next top notch tournament at the Westin. |
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