Tennis In The Community ...
Stephen Watson Jr . and Tayjhon McGee - players in Orlando along with the FTT Tournament Director , Dennis Turner .
Florida Tennis Tour ’ s 3rd Annual African American Tennis Open .
Orlando , Florida :
Nearly 50 players participated in the Florida Tennis Tour ’ s 3rd Annual African American Tennis Open this year . Players came from not only all over Florida , but also around the world representing Germany , Brazil , Aruba , Chile , Colombia , and the USA . The prize money event was open to anyone of any race , age , gender , or skill level . Most of the players did have a professional ranking . The event was sponsored by the City of Orlando and Commissioner Regina I . Hill , and held at the city ’ s iconic Orlando Tennis Center .
There are so many worthy athletes deserving of the spotlight , and we hope this event will give them some much deserved attention ”, said Commissioner Regina Hill . The event also hosted a free tennis camp and competition for the inner city rec center kids . OrlandoTennisNews . com Man of the Year Tom Sweitzer ran the free camp and numerous prizes were donated to the kids during the tournaments
In the men ’ s open , Patrick Sydow of Aruba defeated fellow Aruba pro Kyle Frankel 6-2 before Frankel retired in the 2nd set from a back injury . Defending champion Stephen Watson Jr . of Pine Hills defeated Deland ’ s Kurt
Collis 6-0 , 6-1 in his semi . Prophetess Gray defeated Special Olympics World Champion Brittany Tagliareni to get to her finals against Head .
The men ’ s finals was thrilling with numerous lead changes as both players were evenly matched . Watson took the 1st set 7-5 , Sydow took the 2nd set 7-6 ( 7-4 tie-break ), which forced a super-tiebreak to decide the 3rd set . It was Sydow ’ s day as he won 10-5 in the super tie-break . Sydow , who trains at the Jaime Oncins Academy in Montverde , won $ 500 for his efforts and will have his name forever engraved on the championship trophy which is held on display at the Orlando Tennis Center all year around . The ladies finals also saw the match go to the 3rd set super tie-break with 12 year old Nyzah Head defeating the 14 year old Gray to become the youngest woman to win the prestigious title . The Doubles finals was won by Jericho Grollman and Kaptan Kasper who narrowly defeated Stephen Watson and Tayjhon McGee 9-8 ( 11-9 tie break ).
Gainesville , Florida :
Orlando ’ s Stephen Watson of the Orlando Tennis Center clashed with # 1 Florida Tennis Tour Ranked Giancarlo “ Dominican Express ” Escotto for the FTT Masters title hosted by Newdash Tennis at the Jonesville Tennis Center September 24-25 . A strong field of 16 players traveled from Bradenton , Orlando , Monteverde , Jacksonville , Deland , and all over Gainesville for the prestigious title . The event also awarded UTR Universal Tennis Rating points to the players .
Watson ( L ) and Tayjhon McGee ( R ),, Watson and McGee also won the FTT Masters Doubles division taking home two paydays for the weekend . They defeated Brad Feussner / Juan-Carlos Asse in the finals . The win should put Watson into the FTT Top 20 Singles Rankings as well as the FTT Doubles Rankings .
NFL pros Ron Dixon of NY Giants and Lee Paige of Tampa Buccs joined the kids instructed by tennis hall of famer Tom Sweitzer and pro instructor Kurt Collis during a training session .