Avory Cup 2007

October 24 - 27, 2007
La Jolla, CA, USA
La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club

The sixth playing of the Ted Avory Cup match between the International Clubs of the United States, and Great Britain took place in La Jolla, California at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. The matches were hosted by Bill Kellogg, whose family owns this prestigious tennis club. The Club is situated on the beach at La Jolla which turned out to be essential to even conducting the event in light of the terrible fires that burned a short distance away. We had sea breezes the final four days, which cleared the air enough to play in relative comfort. The 2003 match was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston and in 2005 the matches were held in London. This year the US Team was victorious by a score of 36 to 18 and after six matches dating back to 1997 the series score is even at 3-3.


The United States team consisted of the following players:

Open Men: Kaes Van't Hof and Jason McNaughton

Open Women: Hannah Holiday and Julie Chidley

35 Women: Gretchen Magers and Jessica Schlotterback

35 Men: Howard Sands, Gene Carswell and Hunter Galloway

45 Women: Lucia Stark and Robin Harris

50 Men: Geoff Cyckman, Tom Smith and Larry Belinsky

55 Men: Brian Cheney, Chas Hoeveler and David Nash

55 Women: Sherri Bronson, Kristin Fullam and Anne Mariucci

65 Men: Fred Drilling and Lee Housman



The team captains were David Nash and Kristin Fullam and Armisted Neely provided a visual record of the match.



The match followed the same organizational structure this year as a result of an agreement between the respective IC's to have a specific number of matches to be contested for the Cup. Each age group played two singles and two doubles with reverse singles in the morning of the second day and mixed doubles in the afternoon. The mixed matches which were most enjoyable to watch and very much appreciated by the players. There were some outstanding mixed matches and the many guests and club members who watched were treated to some tremendous tennis on both days. The quality of play was exceptional the entire two days and reflected the strong teams on both sides.



The British team was led by Mark George who was the Captain for the third consecutive year. The British team was made up of a number of familiar names including a several who played in the British win in 2005 in London. The British women were strong once again but our women's team was the strongest we have ever fielded. Their play was exceptional and due to the fires we scrambled to add three members to our team at the last minute. They all played well contributing important wins on both days. Gretchen Magers, Jessica Schlotterback and Sherri Bronson were dominant in their age groups and were undefeated in four matches. Overall the US Women were 12-8 against the British women and were winners on 6 of 8 mixed doubles.



The US Team started strong on Day One and carried their strong play to a lead of 17 to 10. The singles was 10-8 for the US but our doubles won 7 of 9 to increase the lead to 7 matches after Day One.Because of air quality issues the matches were played two out of three sets with a tiebreaker for the third set. Eleven matches ended up in the third set tiebreaker and the US won 6 of these matches. Key matches on Day One were Brian Cheney's incredible win over Robin Drysdale, Hunter Galloway winning over Paul Scullard and the doubles team of Carswell/Galloway over Scullard/Ground. All of these were closely contested third set tiebreakers.



On Day Two the air cleared again and the US Team dominated in singles and mixed for a final score of 36-18. For the United States side there were several players who distinguished themselves by winning important matches. Tom Smith won twice, Larry Belinsky and Julie Chidley won their mixed and Hannah Holiday, our 17 year old High School player, beat Romy Hutchins in a great third set tiebreaker. The 65 men continued their strong play as they won all matches without losing a set. Our Open Men who are current members of the University of Southern California Men's Team were also unbeaten, were a treat to watch and represented the IC well. The day two result was 19 to 8 for the US. Overall it was an extremely satisfying result and our players can be proud of their strong play and great sportsmanship in keeping with the IC spirit.



There were wonderful social events hosted by the Club with an opening Italian buffet dinner and a beach picnic on Thursday night. Bill Kellogg spoke to the history of the Club and Julian Tatum spoke to the origins of the Avory Cup. On this night we honored Dodo Cheney as our guest for her incredible tennis career and induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The first 300 of her gold balls are on display at the Club. The British players enjoyed meeting her and we were pleased to have her in attendance at all the matches. Linda Nash, Anne Cheney and Alice Prendergast provided pashminas in IC colors to all the ladies for the beach night and Alice made earrings in IC colors for the British women players. Chas Hoeveler arranged for shirts for all the players and we appreciate the additional financial support from Jim Wilson,one of our Directors.



We are indebted to Bill Kellogg who hosted the event at his fabulous club and whose staff were exceptional to work with on social events and room accommodations. Despite the unbelievable fires and smoke we delivered a wonderful sixth playing of the Ted Avory Cup and we look forward to going across the pond for the match in 2009.
2007 Ted Avory Cup
Oct 25th Results
Singles Day One

Open W Singles
Hannah Holiday Alex Napier Napier 6-4 6-2 GB
Julie Chidley Romy Hutchins Hutchins 4-6,6-3 (4) GB
35 W Singles
Gretchen Magers Karen Whishaw Magers 6-1 6-4 USA
Jessica Schlotterback Sally Godman Schlotterback 6-1 6-1 USA
45 W Singles
Lucia Stark Christine French French 6-2 6-1 GB
Robin Harris Anne Clarke Harris 6-2 6-0 USA
55 W Singles
Ann Marriucci Di Hill Hill 6-0 6-0 GB
Sherri Bronson Di Oakley Bronson 6-1 6-2 USA
Open M Singles
Kaes Van't Hof Mark Beim Van't Hof 6-4 6-2 USA
Jason McNaughton Mark George McNaughton 6-3 6-4 USA
35M Singles
Hunter Galloway Paul Scullard Galloway 4-6 6-3 (5) USA
Howard Sands Richard Ground Ground 7-6 (7) 3-3 (ret) GB
50 M Singles
Geoff Cyckman Mike Dawe Dawe 4-6 7-5 (5) GB
Tom Smith Paul French French 2-6 6-1 (8) GB
55 M Singles
Brian Cheney Robin Drysdale Cheney 2-6 6-2 (9) USA
Chas Hoeveler Nial Sweeneyq Sweeney 6-4 7-5 GB
65 M Singles
Fred Drilling Hank Nijeboer Drilling 6-2 6-1 USA
Lee Housman Julian Tatum Housman 6-1 6-2 USA
Day One Singles USA 10 GB 8





Doubles Day One
Open W Holiday/Chidley Napier/Hutchins Napier/Hutchins 6-3 6-4 GB
35W Magers/Schlotterback Whishaw/Godman Magers/Schlotter 6-0 6-0 USA
45W Harris/Stark French/Clarke Harris/French 6-2 6-4 USA
55W Bronson/Fullam Hill/Oakley Bronson/Fullam 7-5 6-3 USA

Open M Van't Hof/McNaughton Beim/George Van't Hoff/ Mcnaughton 6-4 6-4 USA
35M Gene Carswell/Galloway Scullard/Ground Carswell/Galloway 6-2 6-7(5) (7) USA


50M Cyckman/Smith Dawe/French Dawe/French 7-6 (5) 6-4 GB
55M Cheney/David Nash Drysdale/Sweeney Nash/Cheney 6-4 6-4 USA
65M Drilling/Housman Nijeboer/Tatum Drilling/Housman 6-1 6-2 USA
Day One Doubles USA 7 GB 2
Day One Totals USA 17 GB 10


2007 Ted Avory Cup
Oct 26th Results
Singles Day Two

Open W Singles
Hannah Holiday Romy Hutchins Holiday 6-4 6-7 (5) (5) USA
Julie Chidley Alex Napier Napier 6-3 6-1 GB
35 W Singles
Gretchen Magers Sally Godman Magers 6-0 6-2 USA
Jessica Schlotterback Karen Whishaw Schlotterback 6-3 6-0 USA
45 W Singles
Lucia Stark Anne Clarke Stark 6-3 6-4 USA
Robin Harris Christine French French 6-3 6-7(5) (8) GB
55 W Singles
Sherri Bronson Di Hill Bronson 6-4 7-6 (8) USA
Anne Mariucci Di Oakley Oakley 6-1 6-1 GB
Open M
Singles
Kaes Van'T Hof Mark George Van't Hof 7-5 6-2 USA
Jason McNaughton Mark Beim McNaughton 6-2 6-2 USA
35 M Singles
Hunter Galloway Richard Ground Galloway 6-0 6-1 USA
Howard Sands Paul Scullard Scullard 6-1 6-1 GB
50 M Singles
Geoff Cyckman Paul French French 6-1 6-3 GB
Larry Belinsky Mike Dawe Dawe 6-2 6-4 GB
55 M Singles
Brian Cheney Nial Sweeney Cheney 6-1 6-2 USA
Tom Smith Robin Drysdale Smith 7-6 (6) 6-2 USA
65 M Singles
Fred Drilling Julian Tatum Drilling 6-2 6-1 USA
Lee Housman Hank Nijeboer Housman 6-2 6-1 USA
Day Two Singles USA 12 GB 6


Doubles Day Two
Open MX
Van't Hof/Holiday George/Hutchins Van't Hof/Holiday 7-5 6-4 USA
Open MX
McNaughton/Chidley Napier/Beim McNaughton/Chidley 5-7 6-3 (5) USA
35 MX Sands/Schlotterback Ground/Godman Ground/Godman 4-0 Ret GB
35 MX Carswell/Magers Scullard/Whishaw Carswell/Magers 6-4-7-5 USA
45/50 MX Stark/Bill Kellogg Dawe/Clark Dawe/Clark 6-3 4-6 (5) GB
45/50 MX Harris/Belinsky French/French Belinsky/Harris 1-6 7-6 (5) (5) USA
55 MX Fullam/Smith Sweeney/Hill Fullam/ Smith 6-4 6-4 USA
55 MX Cheney/Bronson Drysdale/Oakley Cheney/Bronson 7-6(2) 6-2 USA
65M Doubles Drilling/Housman Tatum/Nijeboer Drilling/Housman 6-3 6-1 USA
Day Two Doubles USA 7 GB 2
Day Two Totals USA 19 GB 8
Final Results USA 36 GB 18

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