The road to the championship concluded this past weekend with the Midwest Open Series Championships played in conjunction with the ATP Championships held August 21-23 at the Lindner Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Oh.
Congratulations to our winners: Javier Llanes of Wheeling, Il. (Men’s Open Singles); Robert Gates of Kankakee, Il., and Adam Morgan of Inverness, Il. (Men’s Open Doubles); and Zorana George of Toledo, Oh. (Women’s Open Singles).
In Men’s Open Singles action, Llanes battled back from one set down to beat Morgan 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final. John Cincola of Fox River Grove, Il., and Lance Koetter of Cincinnati, Oh., also competed in this division.
In the Men’s Open Doubles draw, Gates and Morgan defeated Koetter and Arthur Peller of Cincinnati, Oh., 6-3, 6-3 for the title. Anthony McPherson of Glen Ellyn, Il., Aaron Rusnak of Alsip, Il., Gabe Higgs-Howell of Columbus, Oh., and Kevin Metka of Worthington, Oh., also participated in this championship event.
On the other side in Women’s Open Singles competition, George took the title after Kristen Flower of Columbus, Oh., withdrew due to an injury. Kelsey Kinnard of Columbus, Oh., and Ty Ana Williams of Chicago, Il., also competed in this division.
Williams was the youngest player in the championship match at the young age of 12 years old. She held her own in the semifinal match against Flower, and is a player to watch in the next few years.
Players in this championship event earned prize money and received grounds passes for three days of the tournament. Their matches were played right along the courts used by the professional players. Andy Murray was among the players who practiced right next to the courts used by our Midwest players during the weekend.
Participants in the Midwest Open Series Championships included the top finishers from the Midwest Open Series. The Midwest Open Series included the following tournaments which counted as Midwest Open Series qualifying events: Midwest Hard Court Championship-May 23-25 in Downers Grove, Il.; Pearson Ford Open-June 26-28 in Indianapolis, In.; and Midwest Hard Court Championship-July 1-5 in Columbus, Oh.
The Midwest Open Series was started in 2009, and highlights the finest men and women “open” level tennis players from throughout the Midwest, and has been patterned after the highly successful US Open Series. Open Men and Open Women division players have an opportunity to earn prize money in this series. Players also earn points from each tournament with the top eight point winners for men and women advancing to the Midwest Open Series Championship event. In total, the Midwest Open Series featured four singles and four doubles competitions for both men and women, and awarded over $20,000 in total prize money.