LATA

Hello LATA Members!

The GLTA Center Court tournament was played over Labor Day weekend. It was a hot one, but our tournament organizers, Steve Sax and Travis Siems, as well as several other volunteers, worked overtime to get all the matches on, and the players battled the high temperature and produced some great tennis. Unfortunately, I was on court for most of Monday, and as such wasn’t able to grab any interviews with the winners. But LATA represented well, as usual, and here are the results:

Open Singles

#1 James Dao (l.) d. #3 Gordon Paitimusa 6-3 6-4

Open Singles Consolation: Chris Tomlin d. Eric Geiger 6-3 3-6 6-0

Open Doubles

#3 Jose Sambas/Joseph Vidaurretta (r.) d. #2 Brad Spencer/Roy Rillra 6-1 6-1

A Singles

#7-9 Jonathan Luu (above) d. Loc Van Nguyen 6-3 6-3

A Singles Consolation: #7-9 Jeff Sheng d. Sayon Syprasoeuth 6-7 6-4 6-3

A Over 40 Singles

Graham Richard Kaye (l.) d. #1 George Byrd 6-0 6-1

A Over 40 Singles Consolation: Mark Riddle d. Sam Chua 7-6 retired

A Doubles

#2 Tony Hughes/David Michael Drury (l.) d. #5 Jeff Sheng/John Ramos 6-3 6-4

B Singles

#2 Tim Chulanand Thianthal (l.) d. #6 Michael Vasquez 6-2 6-1

B Singles Consolation

Juan Tafolia (r.) d. Jonathan Afalia 6-1 6-1

B Doubles

#4 Will Pitharn/Dennis Nakata (l.) d. Scott Williams/Dennis Holmes 6-4 6-0

C Singles

#7-8 Michael Sengmanivong (l.) d. Kevin Kim 6-4 7-6

C Singles Consolation

Matt Whitfield d. Steven Dunbar (not pictured) 6-2 6-4

C Over 40 Singles

#1 Ray Duenez (l.) d. #2 Casey Weitzman 7-5 6-3

C Doubles

Jury Candelario/Nick Truong (r.) d. James Patacsil/Lee Winterstein 6-3 3-6 7-6

D Singles

#1-2 John Vida (l.) d. #1-2 Shane Que Hee 6-0 4-6 6-0

D Singles Consolation

Winner Lynda Lefever

D Doubles

Round Robin Winners: #1 Mike Kalvoda/Jon Marinas

Thanks to everyone who participated, and we look forward to seeing you at the LA Open in 2013! Full results for Center Court 2012 can be found here.

Hello LATA Members!

The doubles portion of the Mitch Nutick Club Tournament was played this weekend, and thanks to the tireless efforts of our Tournament Director Steve Sax, turnout was excellent — and so was the standard of play, with some really competitive and entertaining matches played all through the weekend. Steve also thanks PAC Cuppers Dennis Nakata and Alec Gomez for helping out on the desk, and, as always, Board Secretary Travis Siems for his help with planning. D-E and F-G Divisions were combined for the tournament, which is why a couple results appear to be missing. And here are those results and winner interviews (with apologies that I didn’t get to speak with the worthy E victors)!

Open Doubles (Round Robin Only, No Final Played)

Winners: Jose Sambas/Sean Beougher (right)

Runners-Up: Elliott Law/John Ramos (left)

If you’ve played a lot of GLTA tournaments, or have been in LATA for a while, you probably know the names Jose Sambas and Sean Beougher, but the two of them, both LATA members for 10 years, aren’t a regular doubles partnership. Jose, an LA native, started playing tennis at the age of 13, while Sean, who grew up in Orange County, started even earlier at 12. Both have been members of LATA for many years and play lots of GLTA tournaments, but while Sean, an advertising account supervisor, also still competes in USTA events, Jose, a field consultant for 7-11, left those behind a few years ago, explaining, “Those straight guys are out for blood.” But don’t let that quote or Jose’s mild manner fool you — he’s a terror to play against, as he proved when he won the bronze medal at the 2002 Sydney Gay Games, which he considers the highlight of his tennis career. Similarly, Sean points to the 2010 Gay Games in Copenhagen as his fondest memory, as he competed for the bronze medal in doubles (with Eric Davenport) there. In Burbank, Jose and Sean won all three of their matches, showing that despite their lack of experience playing with each other, their top seeding was entirely deserved.

A Doubles

Thom Adcox/Rodolfo Valdez (left) d. Sergio Diaz/Anthony Vo (right) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (3)

Four days before the tournament started, Thom Adcox didn’t even have a partner. But given that he’d successfully recovered from vertebrae replacement surgery that kept him out of tennis for six months, he wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stop him. A few days later, Thom, an actor, was standing on Burbank’s center court with a partner he recruited into LA, Rodolfo Valdez, who’s originally from Colima, Mexico and now works as a cook at the Olive Bistro in Downtown, facing a match point in the third set. And the drama didn’t end there — after Thom and Rodolfo escaped and earned a break point, one of their opponents, Anthony Vo, started cramping severely in the extreme heat. After a short pause sanctioned by the TD, the competitors soldiered on to the inevitable outcome — a third-set tie-break, which Thom and Rodolfo won 7-3 to earn the winner’s trophy. Thom, a native of Detroit who started in LATA as an F player and found the league through — surprise — his chiropractor, had won tournaments with Elliott Law and Paul Yates, but this is his first A win. Hard earned and well deserved!

B Doubles

John Kokum/Dave Watts (top) d. Larry Lawrence/Matt Whitfield (bottom) 7-5 7-6 (3)

The bleachers were full for this one, and the players didn’t disappoint, as the occasional partnership of Dave Watts and John Kokum toughed out Larry Lawrence and Matt Whitfield 7-5, 7-6 (3). John normally plays with Robert Arnold, and having lost to that team in a past edition of the club tournament, Dave opted to team up with one of his vanquishers, with very successful results. Dave, who served a stint on the board as website director, joined LATA 15 years ago as a D player after being set up on a blind date with a current board member — we’ll let you guess who. Prior to joining LATA, John, who’s also served on the board, had tried a gay volleyball league but had found the players “surprisingly rude,” and thus was thrilled when he found LATA and its welcoming members. He tested as an E, but “through hard work and cheating” moved up over the years. Both of them have traveled extensively for tournaments, with Dave having been to two Gay Games, in Sydney and Milan. Can’t wait to see what happens the next time they’re across the net from each other!

C Doubles

Michael Sengmanivong/Don Stewart (left) d. Abhijeet Golwelkar/Roland Lyons (right) 6-7 6-4 6-2

Michael Sengmanivong and Don Stewart won all their round-robin matches in straight sets, and then recovered from losing a first-set tie-break to take the C title. They’ve been playing together for a year and a half, and last year got to the club doubles final — but in the D flight, so it’s fair to say they’ve improved tremendously. Don took up tennis six years ago when his boyfriend at the time insisted they go to tennis camp, and, as he puts it, “I lost the boyfriend but kept the tennis.” Don, a nurse, agrees that he’s more consistent and quieter on court, while Michael, a nursing student, hits more winners and errors and is “the loud one.” Now that he’s taken home a doubles trophy, Michael’s goal is to win a singles event. If they keep improving like they have, maybe he and Don will play for a title soon?

E Doubles (Round Robin Only, No Final Played)

Winners: Vidas Javorskis/Johnny Vinton (right)

Runners-Up: John Vida/Brendan Hug (left)

Vidas Javorskis and Johnny Vinton dropped only one set in four matches en route to claiming the E title. The team that won the first set from them, Brendan Hug and John Vida, went undefeated in their other matches to take runners-up.

F Doubles

Winners: Daniel Todd Walkup/Jongo Yuk (right)

Runners-Up: Manuel Lopez/Jonathan Smith (left)

Regular partners Daniel Todd Walkup and Jongo Yuk didn’t drop a set in three round-robin matches in storming their way to the F title. Daniel, a motion graphics operator, and Jongo, who works in computer lighting animation for Disney, credit the communication that comes from a regular partnership as a big factor in their results, and also the training they do at Weddington. They’re both trying out for West Coast Cup — maybe they’ll be able to use those communication skills against our San Diego and San Francisco rivals!

And that’s a wrap for the 2012 Club Tournament! Entries for our Labor Day tournament, Center Court, will be open soon — check back here for an announcement!

Hello LATA Members!

The singles portion of the Mitch Nutick Club Championship was a lot of fun back in January and produced some great tennis — in case you missed the write-up, here it is. And now it’s time for the doubles half! The doubles tournament will be held June 16-17, with registration closing this Saturday, June 2. If you’re planning to play, now’s the time to enter Here’s the latest from our awesome and underappreciated tournament director Steve Sax:

Hey LATA Members! The below is from Paul Yates, our new Team Tennis Director, who did a fantastic job running his first season. And as he says, Summer League signups are open, including the new Saturday league at Cheviot. Don’t wait until everything’s filled up! — John Ramos, Score Editor

Winter 2012 Team Tennis is in the books. Thanks to everyone who played!

Special, special thanks to all the commissioners and scorekeepers for the leagues, the unsung heroes who make Team Tennis run so effortlessly.

Summer Team Tennis signups are open now and leagues start July 22nd. Ranking day is July 14th. Deadline for refunds is July 8th. Go to lataweb.com to sign up!

Congratulations to all our winners who received a $25 voucher to their next LATA activity.

Monday Team Winners

TEAM D

Brian Burkle
John Huang
Steven Smith
Larry Breeding

Tuesday Singles League Winners

POOL A – Jeff Sheng
POOL B – Harold Boger

Tuesday Doubles League Winners

POOL A – John Ramos/Steve Sax
POOL B- Tony Minutelli/Rocco Pascale

Wednesday Team Winners

TEAM  B

Bryant Edwards
Matt Whitfield
Lee Winterstein
Bridget Trumpet
Jonathan Hughes
Fernando Bonilla

Thursday Doubles Winners (Photos Below!)

POOL A – Shawn Dougherty
POOL B – Mike Kalvoda
POOL C – Koko Lytie
POOL D –  Alex Lane

Sunday Team Winners

TEAM E
Chris Bland
Tony Minutelli
Jose Escobar
Theoda Sing
Manuel Lopez
Jongo Yuk

Shawn Dougherty

Mike Kalvoda

Koko Lytie

Alex Lane

We promised you a lot more photos from the LA Open, and thanks to a lot of work from  — who else — Steve Sax, we’ve got two video montages to share with you. Thanks again to all the photo contributors. And get those comments coming! — John

Part One

(URL here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y1tjPnrn5I)

Part Two

(URL here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jstNvsJVa8U)

Hello LATA members! It’s been a couple weeks, but we’ve gotten all our many photos together from the LA Open (thanks to everyone who contributed photos, including as always our Social Director Indiana Jerry). It was a great weekend of tennis, thanks to our many volunteers, including on-site directors Donald Wong and Jim Kloes, raffle prize securer and organizer Ralph Gorgoglione, banquet organizer Brian Truong, player’s program assembler Chris Norlin, and, as always, board members and organizers Travis Siems and Steve Sax. And many others too numerous to mention! The results can be found here: http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=B4C050C9-E360-4879-9DA8-2F42CF48D61E

Those of you who came to the tournament, or even the banquet, will surely know this already, but the Easter bunny took time out of his busy schedule to be a fixture at our tournament. You can see a lot more of him in a coming video montage Steve Sax is assembling, but he’s also prominently featured below.

And now, the tournament report, with a couple featured write-ups:

SINGLES

Open Singles (Featured Write-Up)

James Dao (1, rt.) d. Jose Sambas (2, l.) 6-0 6-2

If you chat with James Dao, you’ll quickly learn how much of a tennis enthusiast he is. What might not be as readily apparent, though, is how successful he is at the game. Our 2012 LA Open winner was also undefeated in four GLTA Open tournaments last year, followed by a win in the GLTA World Championships in Palm Springs in February (also beating Jose Sambas in the final), and that string of successes was enough to give him the #1 GLTA ranking worldwide and get him elected Player Of The Year. If you check out his scores, you’ll know that James is a fearsome competitor indeed.

But it’s not just winning that drives him — he loves the game wholeheartedly. Donald Wong joked that if you call James, no matter what time or how busy he is, he’ll find a way to get out and hit. Easy enough to do in Santa Ana, where James resides and is a self-employed real estate agent, but it wasn’t always so simple. James was a Vietnam boat refugee who came over to the US in 1979 and landed in Akron, OH. Upon seeing a tennis court for the first time, he was captivated by the fact that it “looked like a bigger ping-pong table.” His family then moved to Santa Ana in 1983, where James played extensively with his fraternal twin brother Mike. Alas, Mike quit the sport after college to raise a family, but James soldiered on, coming to love the game even more with every year he played.

As an adult, James first competed in USTA tournaments, also with great success — currently he’s ranked No. 3 in the over-40s in California, and is in the Top 25 in the nation. His tournament activity even allowed him to play a doubles match against multi-Grand Slam doubles champion Rick Leach, which he termed “an honor,” if not a rousing success. James might have kept on solely playing USTA and ITF tournaments if not for his friend Eric Stevens, who owns the Lakewood Tennis Center in Lakewood, a sometime site for LATA Team Tennis and GLTA tournaments; when Stevens mentioned those leagues to James, he joined up, playing GLTA tournaments and also Cal Cup, on which team he was #3 in 2011. James still plays USTA tournaments, but finds he can be more relaxed in the GLTA, and wants to continue to compete and to keep the Open player standard high. If he keeps playing this well, no doubt he’ll succeed!

A Singles

Chris Tomlin (unseeded, l.) d. Eric Geiger (1, rt.) 6-3 7-6 (2)

B Singles

Michael Sanchez (unseeded, rt.) d. Tony Hughes (1, l.) 6-3 6-2

B Consolation Singles (Featured Write-Up)

Will Pitharn (5, l.) d. Jeff Alabaso (11, rt.) 7-5 7-5

It’s tough when you lose in the first round, even if it’s to the eventual champion, but Will Pitharn made the most of it, toughing out Jeff Alabaso in two tight sets to win the B consolation. Down 3-1 in the first set, Will went on a tear and was up 5-2 in the second, only to see Jeff rally from the brink of defeat. “It was enjoyable — there were lots of fun rallies, and points were won rather than lost,” recalls Will. “I hung in there and kept the ball in play in some crucial positions.”

Born in Thailand, Will grew up in Sydney, and started playing tennis in a club there 10 years ago — in fact, his friends and clubmates Cuong Hoang and Tyrone Andres came from Australia to compete in the tournament. Will might still be there too, if a dashing American hadn’t come to visit Sydney who, Will admits, “swept me off my feet.” Moving to LA four and a half years ago, Will didn’t know anyone besides his partner, so joining LATA was a great way to meet people and keep up his game. Last year Will played PAC Cup, and plans to try out again in 2012. He’s also encouraged his man to take up tennis, which he has. And Will says he’s getting better — “he’s almost ready to start playing competitively.” Let’s hope they at least end up on opposite sides of the draw!

C Singles (no photo available)

Russell Jenkins (1) d. Larry Lawrence (unseeded) 6-0 4-6 6-2

D Singles (no photo available)

Matt Slaymaker (unseeded) d. James Thompson (3) 6-0 6-0

D Consolation Singles

Daniel Todd Walkup (4, rt.) d. Manny Cuprill (unseeded, l.) 6-2 6-1

Open Doubles

Eric Davenport/Jose Sambas (2, l.) d. Gordon Paltimusa/Bradley Spencer 6-4 4-6 6-2 (unseeded, rt.)

A Doubles

Frank January/George Byrd (1, l.) d. Steve Dejong/Chris Tomlin (2, rt.) 6-4 6-3

B Doubles

Michael Vasquez/Joezen Punongbayan (4, rt.) d. Michael Sanchez/Todd Amoroso (unseeded, l.) 6-2 5-7 6-1

C Doubles

Larry Lawrence/Matt Whitfield (unseeded, rt.) d. William White/Kyle Winslow (1, l.) 7-5 6-4

D Doubles (Round Robin)

1st Place: Daniel Todd Walkup/Jongo Yul (1, rt.)

2nd Place: Paolo de Angelis/Massimo Dobrovic (unseeded, l.)

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated! Applications for the Centre Court Tournament, which will be September 1-3 at the Home Depot Center, will be available online very soon. We hope to see all of you there!

John Ramos

Editor, The Score

Hello LATA Members!

I’d like to remind you again that the deadline for the LA Open is fast approaching! Entries must be received by this Saturday, March 24th.

Online Entry

Cut and paste: http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=B4C050C9-E360-4879-9DA8-2F42CF48D61E

Also, the below is from our tournament chairman, Steve Sax. Please note the changes in venue for some of the flights, as well as info about the welcome party, banquet, and draws. And get those entries in!

Hello Everyone,

Hey LATA Members! Steve Sax, our Tournament Chairman, reminds us that the deadline to sign up for the LA Open is 3/24. It’ll be here before you know it, so don’t wait until the last minute! It’s going to be a great weekend of tennis and the accompanying banquet is always a fun chance to meet players from all over the world!

Online Entry: Link

Cut And Paste: http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=B4C050C9-E360-4879-9DA8-2F42CF48D61E

Original Post: Link

Also, please note that Cal State LA is no longer a location for this tournament. Further location information will come in future updates. Any questions, please email Steve at tournaments@lataweb.com.

It’s your last chance to save some serious money by entering the LA Open early! The prices go up after tomorrow, so get those online entries and checks in to Steve Sax!

Online Entry: Here

Online Entry Link To Cut And Paste: http://glta.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=B4C050C9-E360-4879-9DA8-2F42CF48D61E

Original Post: Here

Hello LATA members!

The below message is from our tournament chairman, Steve Sax. For those of you that don’t know him, Steve works tirelessly on our tournaments, and the LA Open is a big one, it being one of the two GLTA tournaments annually hosted in Los Angeles. It’s an amazingly fun weekend with a banquet where you can meet players from all over the world, so I encourage everyone to sign up! Even Steve can’t do everything himself, though, so please, if you’re interested in helping out, get in touch with him. And get those earlybird entries in!

Hi Everyone,