By Dawson Lane & Xanthe Ranger

On the weekend of October 23rd – October 25th, The Tuxedo Club hosted the 2015 Hadden Tomes . Before going into detail on the court tennis, racquets, squash and social activities of the weekend, a BIG THANK YOU is extended to the following people:

2015 Hadden Tomes Chairs: Kim Kilgore & Laura Tillsley

2015 Hadden Tomes Co-Chairs: Charles de Casteja & Xanthe Ranger

The following families for their ‘legendary’ Tuxedo hospitality:

  • Sara & Guy Devereux
  • Dee & Greg Gross
  • Emily & Chris Heffernan
  • Lisa & Dan Laukitis
  • Barbara & Peter Regna
  • Rowena & Josh Scherer
  • Penny & Arnold Spangler

Play started at 2 PM on Friday and continued virtually around the clock until late on Sunday afternoon. Many matches were played and a few tears were shed. 42 competitors were involved in the HCP Doubles Court Tennis Competition, 8 players in the HCP Racquets Doubles and 10 players in the singles squash competition.

In what is a rather unique format; Tuxedo endeavors to pair all Court Tennis competitors with not only different partners in each round, but also different opponents each round as much as possible (a different format to the usual knock out format with potential back draws found at most competitions). After the round robin matches finished up early Sunday morning, 11 players had moved through to the 3 flight finals, with three players tied for the coveted twelfth and final spot….Joe Ehrlich, Sewall Hodges & Xanthe Ranger, with Joe Ehrlich making the cut as a result of the all-important drawing of the lucky name.

Fahey Final – Guy Devereux & John Beam defeated Peter Cipriano & Josh Scherer.

In a three set battle that produced many ooh’s and aah’s from an appreciative gallery, Devereux & Beam righted a ship that had been taking on water badly after dropping the first set. In the end, the impressive combination of Cipriano and Scherer could not match the speed and accuracy from Devereux and Beam, however all four players proved their worth in this top flight final.

Etchebaster Final – Steve Klepper & Petra Napolitano defeated Joe Ehrlich & Peter Bender.

Relative newcomer Klepper takes home hardware in his first event, partnering with veteran player Napolitano from the National Tennis Club. Bender and Ehrlich took a little while to gel, but made the victors earn their title with their play in a very competitive second set.

Ronaldson Final – Mary Livingston & Chris Bruner defeated Ben Riley & Kevin Shea

Points leader after the round robin matches Bruner continued his strong play partnered by a very impressive Livingston and held off a determined all Tuxedo team of Riley & Shea. 

Racquets

For the second year, Racquets was a part of the Hadden Tomes festivities and was a huge hit once again! Eight players competed in a HCP Doubles round robin matches that were not only entertaining but very tightly contested – assisted by some fantastic handicapping by the professional staff! Dan Laukitis unfortunately suffered an injury in a brutal on court collision and had to pull out of the Finals despite playing through the pain and qualifying as one of the top four players.

Chris ‘Let Please’ Heffernan & Peter Cipriano defeated John Beam & Will Fantini in a tightly contested 15/13 15/11 Hadden Tomes Rackets HCP Doubles Final.

Saturday Night Speakeasy & the Roaring Racquets

On Saturday evening, Kim Kilgore and Laura Tillsley invited everyone to the opening night of the elusive Tuxedo Club Speakeasy. Players swapped their tennis whites for glamorous flapper dresses and black tie and descended to the 1920’s themed bar hidden beneath the Club for cocktails. Dinner and dancing followed until the early hours of the morning, with the annual after-hours Regna Table-Tennis Championships again adding a fourth racquet sport to the Hadden Tomes weekend.

Thanks must go to Tim Chisholm and Josh Dodgson for marking and tireless assistance over the weekend, to Janice Pearson for travelling to Tuxedo to share her massage abilities with tired competitors, to Shelby LaCombe for her behind the scenes efforts, especially for Saturday’s festivities and to Kim and Laura for organizing their first of what we hope will be many successful Tuxedo tennis events.

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