Chris Walker & Andres Vargas Win Gold Racquet Invitational by Mark Hinckley
photos Mark Hinckley
December 8, 2016
- I say it every year, and this year is no exception...thanks to each
of you for coming out to Lawrence and participating in the Gold Racquet
Invitational. You guys put on a great, entertaining show, and
that's one of the reasons our membership is so willing to underwrite
the weekend. Well done to you all.
More particularly this year, I, and I know I speak for Peter as well,
was touched by the presentation of the signed tributes to Peter, the
Club, and to me for our efforts over the past seventeen years to make
the Gold Racquet a special weekend. Dylan Patterson deserves
special thanks for all the time and effort he put into the
project. Peter and I were completely surprised, and, as I said,
we were very touched by Dylan's and Hamed's kind words. To each
of you who were able to leave your signature: thank you.
For those of you who couldn't stay for all or any of the action yesterday, here's a quick wrap-up of Sunday's play.
In the singles draw, the 10 am semi-final matched Yasser El
Halaby against first-time GR appearing and fellow Princeton graduate,
Dave Letourneau. Yasser was fast out of the gate and never let
up, winning 11/7, 11/3, 11/9. Dave, coming off a Saturday which
included a doubles match in the middle of the day bracketed by two
tough, 5-game singles matches, may have been fatigued, but, in the end,
a very fit and sharp Halaby was not to be denied. A similar
result was in evidence in the 11 am semi. Rei Hergeth (Trinity
'13), despite arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in October, also
appeared very fit and sharp against the ageless Richard Chin (Cornell
'91), who had pushed through to the semis with 2 gritty, 5-game matches
on Saturday afternoon. Rei prevailed, 11/3, 11/4, 11/8.
Richard said to me afterwards, "I got steamrolled. I was tired
before my body got warmed up!"
Yasser and Rei squared off in the final after lunch. At that
point, neither player had lost a game all weekend, but a very
determined, fit, and powerful El Halaby appeared to be on a mission,
and he very quickly and efficiently took control of the match, winning
by the scores of 11/4, 11/7, 11/6, thereby securing his first Gold
Racquet.
On the doubles court, the 10 am semi-final saw last year's champions,
Addison West and Will Hartigan get off to a quick start, winning the
first two games, 15/13 and 15/12. However, as he had all weekend,
Peter Kelly started to put together his shots, hitting any number of
tight reverse corners and short cross-courts into the nick. Josh
was solid on the left wall, and the momentum shifted completely as they
closed out the match with scores of 15/12, 15/9, and 15/8. The
second semi pitted last year's finalists, Carl Baglio and Jordan
Greenberg, against the former world # 1 doubles player, Chris Walker
and Andres Vargas. Baglio/Greenberg struck first, winning game
one, 15/9, but thereafter it was all Walker and Vargas, with Walker
mixing up his lobs and tight drops while Vargas was tracking down
everything in sight and finishing with his crisp, tight reverse.
In the afternoon doubles final, the two teams split two very close
games, with Walker/Vargas winning the first, 15/14, and Schwartz/Kelly
taking the second, 15/13. Thereafter the momentum seemed to shift
in favor of Walker/Vargas. Peter Kelly was not quite as sharp as
he'd been all weekend and neither Walker nor Vargas gave Josh very many
opportunities to exploit his shot-making skills. Again, Vargas
was all over the court, and, as the match wore on, Walker seemed to get
sharper. In the end, they closed out the match 15/8 and 15/9.
In his first appearance at the Gold Racquet, Chris, despite still
feeling some of the effects of his 2015 hip replacement surgery, was a
strong presence on the court, and Andres's quickness, fitness and
improved shot-making since his first appearance in the doubles draw two
years ago, carried the day. Andres now becomes the 16th player to
have won both the Gold Racquet Singles and the Ray Chauncey Doubles,
joining recent additions to that list, Chris Callis and Dylan Patterson.
Congratulations to Chris and Andres for their doubles win and to Yasser El Halaby for his first Gold Racquet singles win
Thanks again for helping to make the 85th edition of the Gold Racquet
Invitational so successful. Happy Holidays and a healthy New Year
to you all.
