The Allan Jay Jr. Memorial Tennis Tournament Draws Record Turnout

One hundred ten tennis players at all levels gathered at Mead Park on Saturday morning to participate in the  seventh annual Allan Jay Jr. Memorial Tournament. 

The tournament was organized by Mary Singh and Sharon Stevenson of Friends of Mead Park, Tournament Director Hal Schaeffer and New Canaan Recreation Director, Steve Benko. 

All proceeds from the first spin of the racket to the post-tournament party will benefit the Mead Park tennis courts and surrounding area.

The first goal is to replace the rusted fences surrounding the courts as part of an overall renovation.   "We want to bring the tennis area up to the standards of the baseball fields to make it fully functional and to keep Mead Park as one of New Canaan's treasures," Singh said.

Players competed in three divisions  held at three venues. Mead Park hosted the Championship draw, comprised of 18 teams of high quality players, including were two Division 3 champions,, a former Davis Cup player from Kenya, players who have accumulated ATP points, a number of former Division 1 players and a half dozen local professionals.

The Recreational "A" division consisted of 16 teams, mostly but not all men, and one women's team, along with some excellent mixed doubles teams. Recreational "A" division was held at the Country Club of New Canaan..

The third site was the Woodway Country Club, which hosted the Recreational "B" draw, and attracted 20 teams, mostly women, but with some mixed as well.

The format in the Championship draw was an eight-game (total) set with a tiebreak if needed at four-all. After the early rounds and a  lunch break the teams resumed play. The four best teams moved into the semi finals with the winners moving into the best-of-three sets final.

The winners were John Pastel who played at Davidson and recently won the pre-qualifying at the Pilot Pen. His partner was Mark Warnken of Darien who captained the Yale tennis team in 1998. They defeated the team of J.J. Cramer, who was an All-Ivy player at the University of Pennsylvania, and Adam Mirsky, who was a highly ranked junior.

In the Recreation "A" draw, Todd Forman and Jim Gelwicks straight-setted Chris Hughey and Rob Rios for the title. In the "B" bracket, Hooey and Jeffery Wilks defeated "Sam" Loomis and Joan Patterson in the championship match.

Sponsors included Gatorade, Milligan Reality, Karl Chevrolet, Bob's Sports, Francos Wine, USTA, and Pilot Pen. Head supplied gifts, dinner, drinks for the tournament and the post-tournament party featuring live music by Barnstorm.