Chris And Carson Spahr Capture U. S. Father & Son Open Doubles Crown; Millers, Zugs And Curtises Take Age-Group Flights
by Rob Dinerman
Dateline April 21st --- Ousted a year ago by the reigning and eventual champions, former Harvard captain Geordie Lemmon and his power-hitting son B. G., Chris Spahr, the longtime University Club Of Boston head pro, and his precocious son Carson narrowly (17-15 in the fourth) avenged that setback in the semifinals and then emerged victorious from a taut though straight-set 16-14 15-13 15-12 final over the 2006 Father & Son winners Scott Simonton and his son Will this afternoon to win the ninth annual U. S. Father & Son Doubles Championships, headquartered as always at the Racquet & Tennis Club in mid-town Manhattan. The Spahrs demonstrated an affinity for playing their best squash in each game’s closing stretch, winning those tight games primarily by keeping the ball too tight to the wall for the Simontons to handle on each game’s final exchange.
Incredibly, the Simontons were appearing in their seventh Father & Son final in the past eight years, more than double any other family’s total in the Open division. They advanced to that stage this year with sequential wins over first highly-ranked U. S. Under-17 junior Timmy Brownell and his father Bob, a surprise first-round winner over 2005 Under-17’s champs Simon Aldrich, the longtime chairman of this event, and his son Dillon, and then 2005 Yale captain Josh Schwartz and his father Sandy, who won this tourney three years ago. Will Simonton’s southpaw cross-court power frequently drives the right-wall opponent deep in the court, setting the table for his father Scott’s highly effective reverse-corner, and this formula worked throughout most of the final round’s opening game as well, with Carson Spahr frequently being forced to retreat and coughing up what appeared to be some nerves-induced tins as well.
That first game was one the Simontons really needed, having gained an edge both on the scoreboard and in court positioning, and it had to have been a bit deflating for them when a late Spahr run forced a best-of-five tiebreaker, which they swiftly converted when Chris Spahr first nicked a backhand three-wall, then scored on a roll-corner, and then (two points later) elicited a tinned serve-return from Scott Simonton. They sagged at the outset of the second, falling behind as far as 11-5 before a late resolute rally, topped off by a lunging Scott Simonton get on which he nudged a cross-drop into the front-left nick, brought them to 13-14. Had they managed to win the ensuing point, the entire dynamic of the match might have changed, but Carson Spahr was able to hit a wall-clinging forehand rail that Scott Simonton was unable to scrape back into play.
The third game went similarly to the second, with the Spahrs moving ahead to 6-2 and 11-7 advantages and the Simontons admirably bootstrapping themselves back to 12-all. Scott Simonton hit the ball back at himself for a stroke call, following which Will Simonton hesitated just long enough on a floater across the middle to wind up fanning on his eventual swing, by which time the ball had reached the left wall. On the subsequent match-ball, Chris Spahr, who throughout the match in his own low-key way dictated the play with his savvy shot selection and ball placement, guided a cross-court lob that then ran so closely along the right wall that Scott Simonton was unable to do any more than foul tip it as it plummeted downward. Four-time winners of the junior age-group categories of this tournament, the Spahrs have now added the Open trophy to their Father & Son collection, and with Chris Spahr still playing at a high level and looking as sleek and fit as ever, and his son Carson still a few days short of his 16th birthday and by far the youngest player ever to participate in the final on the Father & Son Open division, they figure to be contending for this crown for many years to come.
In the three remaining competitive categories, Peter Miller and his son Peter Jr took the 13-And-Under draw (which had nine entrants, the most ever in this age-group category) with consecutive five-game comeback wins, first in the semis over Tom Harrity and his son Michael (who led 2-1 and were at 11-all in the fifth) and then in the final over Max Finkelstein and his son Michael, who had dethroned 2012 winners Todd Anderson and his son Bo and who had a third-game match-ball opportunity thwarted when Peter Miller came up with a front-court winner and his team prevailed during the final pair of games. Jim Zug, 40 years removed from teaming up with Victor Niederhoffer to win the 1973 U. S. National Doubles, and his son James Jr. went undefeated in a Century round-robin in which all four teams (including two-time defending champs Tom Poor and his son Morgan, 2008 winners Jim McLain and his son Jamie, and 2010 winners Jack Wyant and his son, current Penn head coach Jack Jr) were past Century champions. Finally, Harry Curtis and his son Samuel swept through the three-team round-robin 17-And-Under flight.
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