Gulf Shores Tennis Team Reaches USTA Finals
John Mullen • October 12, 2023
Gulf Shores mixed doubles set sights on national tennis title
A mixed doubles tennis team from Gulf Shores has advanced all the way to the national United States Tennis Association national championships after wins at the local, state and regional levels.
The next stop is San Diego in November and the team is looking for sponsors to help with the travel costs.
“We have already received sponsorships from USTA Alabama, USTA Southern Region, and Advanced Carpet Cleaning,” team member Chris Logel. Anyone wishing to help out can contact team captain Ryan Young at verticalsand@gmail.com or call him at 251-747-6877.
It's been 15 years since a Gulf Shores USTA team made the national championship round back in 2008, according to local coordinator at the time Christine Slaughter. A ladies' 2.5 team captained by Rose Townsend placed second nationally that year.
This year’s mixed double team will play in the 6.0 tournament based on the players’ ratings.
“The individual rankings of each mixed doubles team has to add up to 6.0 or less,” Logel said. “We’re all between a 2.5 and 3.5 in rating. You can have a 2.5 guy and a 3.5 girl and one of our teams is like that. The rest of our team are all 3.0 guys and 3.0 girls.”
Each round is the best two out of three matches between the two teams. Teams can have more than three sets of mixed doubles on each team, but only three can compete in each match.
The Gulf Shores team won the local tournament, then went to Dothan and took the state tournament. The sectional for the Southern Region was staged in Mobile. That included teams from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The nationals will be In San Diego on Nov. 10-12.
“They have already determined the other teams we are going to be playing in our round-robin which is kind of cool,” Logel said. “We’ll be taking on a team from the East Coast, a team from the Pacific Northwest, a team from Hawaii and a team from Mid-Atlantic. If we do well enough there, we’ll qualify for the championship round on Sunday.”
Team members include Stephanie Boll, Kelly McCurdy, Tonja Young, Suzette Taylor, honorary captain Marty Halliday, Jeff Boll, Logel, co-captain Ryan Young, co-captain Rob Goldsmith and Ward Halliday.
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