Best Night of the Year

July 22, 2010

All the planning, all the meetings, all the headaches, all the hard work is all worth it when the first ball is tossed into the evening sky and the tournament officially begins.

All the players are on site in their tennis whites, their lean athletic figures bearing virtually no resemblance to the club players normally displaying their range of talents on our club's show courts.

The difference is more dramatic when they step onto the clay and stroke their first ball across the net. They hit balls back and forth with the rhythmic regularity of a metronome, the sound of each groundstroke concussive on impact, each ball streaking across the net, landing within feet of the baseline and inexorably returned on the same path. Players keep the same ball in play for minutes at a time, looking relaxed and almost casual in their efforts.

But when they step on the court, all casualness disappears and their shots that were previously kept accommodatingly in play are now hit with brutal intent. The game is on, the courts are full and a champion will emerge on Sunday. Don't miss it.

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A Chance to Play With the Big Boys

July 21, 2010

One of the underrated stories of each year's tournament is the competition among young local teams in our Qualifying Tournament to gain one of two reserved berths in the tournament's main draw. 

The competitors in the Qualifying Tourney are typically local high school or college players who want their crack at competing with the NCAA and tour players in the main draw. 

Their chances of winning even a single match are small, but they represent the consummate underdog story, attract a local retinue of supportive fans and add to the flavor and excitement of the event every year.

They kick off play in one hour. Drop by the club and get your tournament started.

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The CRC Facebook Invitational

July 21, 2010

We landed the two highest ranking teams in tournament history yesterday, all thanks to Facebook.

 

We try every year to attract high ranking ATP touring pros to our event, but have to compete with ATP sanctioned events in Atlanta and Lexington. Since the players we want are competing for ATP points to ensure entry into the US Open, it's nearly impossible to get early commitments from any pro player.

 

What we hope for is a talented team that gets upset in the first round of one of these ATP events and wants to compensate for their loss by picking up a hefty paycheck for the week. Of course, it's unlikely that any of the top teams will lose in the first round, so we have to pursue whatever options are available to us to fill out our draw.

 

However, this week we watched online as Atlanta's #1 and #4 seeded doubles teams were upset on Monday night. We sprung into action on Facebook and extended invitations to all four losing players to come to Cleveland. The lure of a $10,000 payday for winning four matches in a private tournament proved alluring and both teams accepted our invitation.

 

So, with the aid of Facebook, we were able to reach out to the teams of Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski and Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr immediately after their losses, offer them a profitable alternative to hanging out in Atlanta to practice and have the chance to make an indelible impression on them with our hospitality and professionalism so they return year after year.

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The Inevitability of Feast or Famine

July 19, 2010

One week ago, we were wondering how we could possibly fill out even our main draw with qualified teams. There were over a dozen openings in the main draw with just a week to go before the opening toss.

 

We were even considering moving every single team entered in our qualifier tournament directly into main draw, just to ensure that we had enough teams to showcase on opening night in front of hundreds of hot dog scarfing fans.

 

That was then. This is now. Today we have only three slots left in the main draw, which we expect to have filled by teams coming up from the Challenger event in Lexington, or by other pros who we've been talking with over the past few weeks without getting a firm commitment. All of the qualifying teams will have to play their way into the main draw, and even the qualifying tournament has a wait list.

 

The best news is that all of the late entry teams are composed of current or former tour players who all have a terrific chance of winning the tournament. We may not have one of the tour's biggest names in this year's tourney, but the depth of talent is extraordinary and the caliber of play will be exciting to watch.

 

Opening toss Thursday, 5pm. Don't forget.

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The mad scramble for teams

July 17, 2010

The two weeks before the start of the tournament are defined by a furious attempt to recruit teams to Cleveland to play in our tournament. 

 

The single biggest problem we face is competition from ATP tour events during the same week as our event. Since we want to attract the strongest field possible, that means we need to recruit players from the pro tour. However, the players on tour face a difficult choice. Players on the Challenger tour want to play in the US Open for the prestige and the money. To get invited to the US Open, or even the US Open qualifying, they need to boost their ranking and need as many ranking points as possible.

 

Since we are not a USTA sanctioned event, winning in Cleveland doesn't improve their ranking. It improves their bank balance significantly, but at the potential cost of missing out on the US Open.

 

So, we touch base with dozens of players, letting them know that they're welcome in our draw and making sure that we gain mindshare should they lose in an early round in Lexington next week. Our 2008 champions and 2009 runners-up both drove up from Lexington and had the biggest paydays of their year. There's no doubt it could happen again. As long as we keep the recruiting effort going through next week. Then we can relax the recruiting on Thursday when the first serve is put in play.

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