2023 Fourth of July Tournament DRAWS

Keep checking this page for score updates!

 

Men’s Open Singles

  • Ivan Espinosa ivan-daniel.espinosa@colorado.edu 713-739-8840
  • Conrad Gordon conrad.e.gordon@gmail.com 224-422-8916
  • Edward Graft ed.graft@gmail.com 847-337-0954

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Gordon vs Graft

Championship

Winner A. vs Espinosa

Men’s 40 Singles

  • Neville Allen neville4you@gmail.com 847-274-4007
  • Derek Bogdan dbog555@gmail.com 847-361-8054
  • Jazz Burks jb100175@gmail.com 312-550-8069
  • Russ Kerr kerr.russ@gmail.com 312-399-8921
  • Rey Nano tennisstar754@gmail.com 773-787-8234
  • Danny Postel dannypostel@gmail.com 312-852-9079
  • Edgar Raya eraya96@yahoo.com 773-954-3908
  • Baird Smart bairdsmart@gmail.com 312-925-4000
  • Meeraj Thaker mthaker12@gmail.com 305-492-9444
  • Stefano Mereu ssmereu@gmail.com 847-644-6355

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by June 10

Round 2 must be completed by June 23
Round 3 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Bogdan vs Thaker

B. Burks vs Smart

Round 2

C. Allen vs Raya

D. Kerr vs Mereu

E. Winner A. vs Postel

F. Winner B. vs Nano

Round 3

G. Winner C. vs Winner F.

H. Winner D. vs Winner E.

Championship

Winner G. vs Winner H.

Men’s 60 Singles

  • Ray Boyer rayboyer@rboyer.com 312-330-6433
  • Richard Kuntz rkuntz@mindspring.com 312-203-1325
  • Terence McMahon tsmcmahon5@hotmail.com 947-877-6418
  • Baird Smart bairdsmart@gmail.com 312-925-4000

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by June 23

Round 1

A. Boyer vs Kuntz

B. McMahon vs Smart

Championship

Winner A. vs Winner B.

Men’s 3.5 Singles

  • Neville Allen neville4you@gmail.com 847-274-4007
  • Derek Bogdan dbog555@gmail.com 847-361-8054
  • Ivan Espinosa ivan-daniel.espinosa@colorado.edu 713-739-8840
  • Quinn Ford tqford2@gmail.com 312-671-1799
  • Matthew Pearson matthewdavidpearson@gmail.com 312-285-1423
  • Steven Houg stevenh788@gmail.com 847-271-3957

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by June 19

Round 2 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Allen vs Ford

B. Pearson vs Houg

Round 2

C. Winner A. vs Bogdan

D. Winner B. vs Espinosa

Championship

Winner C. vs Winner D.

Men’s Open Doubles

  • Naimesh Chaudhari nchaudh03@gmail.com 909-720-7329
  • Edward Graft ed.graft@gmail.com 847-337-0954
  • Andrew Ginsberg andrew.ginsberg@gmail.com 312-287-7659
  • Conrad Gordon conrad.e.gordon@gmail.com 224-422-8916
  • William Guthrie wbguthrie@hotmail.com 312-401-1408
  • Andrew Martin agmartn1@gmail.com 608-334-4311
  • Rey Nano tennisstar754@gmail.com 773-787-8234
  • Edgar Raya eraya96@yahoo.com 773-954-3908

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Chaudhari & Graft vs Ginsberg & Gordon

B. Guthrie & Martin vs Nano & Raya

Championship

Winner A. vs Winner B.

Men’s 40 Doubles

  • Andrew Ginsberg andrew.ginsberg@gmail.com 312-287-7659
  • Russ Kerr kerr.russ@gmail.com 312-399-8921
  • Edward Graft ed.graft@gmail.com 847-337-0954
  • Danny Postel dannypostel@gmail.com 312-852-9079
  • Rey Nano tennisstar754@gmail.com 773-787-8234
  • Edgar Raya eraya96@yahoo.com 773-954-3908

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Graft & Postel vs Nano & Raya

Championship

Winner A. vs Ginsberg & Kerr

Mixed Doubles

  • Jazz Burks jb100175@gmail.com 312-550-8069
  • Allison Miller alison.miller84@yahoo.com 847-606-9751
  • Maggie Galinska maggie.galinska@gmail.com 847-707-0302
  • Danny Postel dannypostel@gmail.com 312-852-9079
  • Paula Grabow paulagrabow@gmail.com 773-633-9301
  • Terence McMahon tsmcmahon5@hotmail.com 947-877-6418
  • William Guthrie wbguthrie@hotmail.com 312-401-1408
  • Alex Ritter alexritter424@gmail.com 630-240-7798
  • Matthew Pearson matthewdavidpearson@gmail.com 312-285-1423
  • Margaret Peterburs margaretmgordon@gmail.com 313-636-5956

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by June 19

Round 2 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A, Burks & Miller vs Pearson & Peterburs

Round 2

B. Winner A. vs Guthrie & Ritter

C. Galinska & Postel vs Grabow & McMahon

Championship

Winner B. vs Winner C.

Century Doubles

  • Neville Allen neville4you@gmail.com 847-274-4007
  • Derek Bogdan dbog555@gmail.com 847-361-8054
  • Ray Boyer rayboyer@rboyer.com 312-330-6433
  • David Fenn dfenn930@aol.com 847-846-4386
  • Jazz Burks jb100175@gmail.com 312-550-8069
  • Allison Miller alison.miller84@yahoo.com 847-606-9751
  • Terence McMahon tsmcmahon5@hotmail.com 947-877-6418
  • Meeraj Thaker mthaker12@gmail.com 305-492-9444
  • Daniel Murphy dmurphy@murphylaw.us 847-814-0189
  • Matthew Pearson matthewdavidpearson@gmail.com 312-285-1423

Early Self-Arranged Match Schedule:
Round 1 must be completed by June 19

Round 2 must be completed by July 2

Round 1

A. Allen & Bogdan vs McMahon & Thaker

Round 2

B. Winner A. vs Boyer & Fenn

C. Burks & Miller vs Murphy & Pearson

Championship

Winner B. vs Winner C.

2023 Fourth of July Tournament RULES AND REGULATIONS

TOURNAMENT CHAIRMAN (for all pre-July 4 communications): Richard Bell, rsbell@ameritech.net

1. ELIGIBILITY

This is an open tournament. However, all participants must be members of ECTA. Joining ECTA is automatic upon submitting a paid entry that includes applicable dues. Must be 16 or older by June 1, 2023, in order to participate. Players participating in 40 (and Over) or 60 (and Over) events must be those ages (or higher) by June 1, 2023.

Further information about the association and the tournament can be found at www.evanstontennis.org. Players may enter up to three events, including two doubles events. A full list of the events is on the entry form. A few rules related to those events are highlighted here.

Community Tennis Events: The century doubles, 40 (and over) and 60 (and over) singles and doubles, mixed doubles, women’s doubles and 3.5 (and under) brackets are designated as Community Tennis Events. In order to promote a more enjoyable and competitive tournament experience for each entrant, pros will not be allowed entry into community tennis events.

Community tennis events are intended to provide players of moderate ability the opportunity to compete against their peers rather than in the open events. Generally, players with NTRP ratings higher than 3.5 or similar abilities are ineligible. The definition of a 3.5 player can be found on the USTA web site at www.usta.com/leagues. Some brackets are age-sensitive. Your age in this tournament is determined as your age as of June 1, 2023.

2. E-MAIL
In order to receive tournament updates, please register your email address on the bottom right of the ECTA homepage at www.evanstontennis.org where it says “Keep informed and up to date by entering your email address here.” E-mail will be the primary form of communication with you on all tournament matters.

3. ONLINE REGISTRATION
All registrations will be made online. (Contact the Tournament Chairman if this is a problem). You can register directly at www.evanstontennis.org. Each entrant must submit a completed official Entry Form. Doubles partners must each submit a completed form with entry fee.

4. ENTRY FEES
Tournament Entry Fee is $30 for each player, which covers up to three events (no more than two doubles events allowed per person), provided you are a member of the ECTA ($25 for 12 months). If you are not currently a member, please make full payment of $55.

5. PAYMENT
Payment may be made via PayPal upon submitting your online form or by check. Personal checks should be made payable to Evanston Community Tennis Association and sent to:

ECTA Treasurer
1313 Cleveland Street
Evanston, IL 60202

7. DRAW POSTING
Event draws will be posted online and sent out via email the Tournament Director reserves the right to reassign entries in all brackets in order to allow for the best tennis experience and reserves the right to cancel or combine events with insufficient entrants. (If cancellation leaves an entrant without any event in the tournament, that entrant’s fee will be refunded.)

All final communications and information will be posted on the ECTA website and sent out via email. Inquire with the Tournament Chairman if you have any questions.

8. EARLY ROUNDS OF PLAY
Early-round matches will be self-arranged and completed two days before Fourth of July finals. Entrants may be defaulted for failure to play by the deadline. To protect yourself against default, immediately advise the Tournament Chairman of any reason you will be unable to keep to the schedule.

10. MATCH FORMAT
Each match is decided by two out of three sets. If a match is even at one set apiece, the third set will be determined by USTA 10-point match tiebreaker (first team to 10, winning my two), sometimes referred to as a super tiebreaker.

Each singles player or doubles team must bring a can of new USTA-approved tennis balls to each match. The winner of the match keeps/gets the unopened can.

11. MATCH RULES
International Tennis Federation (IFT) rules of tennis govern all matches. USTA’s Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations” also are applicable. The code for unofficiated matches governs all matches except those played with chair umpires.

12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Any dispute should be settled by the players in accordance with the tournament’s Match Rules (see above) or by directing an inquiry promptly to the Tournament Chairman. The Tournament Director shall have the final decision-making authority over any dispute that arise during tournament play.

13. DEFAULTS
Any player may be defaulted for failure to appear for a scheduled match; inability to complete a match in progress due to injury, illness, or personal emergency; a failure to maintain the tournament schedule, including scheduled semi-final or championship matches; and any other grounds specified under the tournament’s Match Rules (see above). The Tournament Director has discretion to default a single player/team or both players/team(s) whose match is not completed by the deadline. Any potential default must be ruled on by the Tournament Director before it is effective.

14. REPORTING RESULTS
The winner of each match is responsible for promptly reporting the result to the Tournament Chairman.

15. POSTING OF RESULTS
Final match results will be posted on the ECTA website.

16. CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
Most championship matches will be played at Ackerman Park (as indicated by “ACK” on draw sheets) on July 4. Participants must be available to play on July 4 unless the match is played at a self-arranged time with the consent of the Tournament Director. The Referee will schedule the specific times of all championship matches. The schedule/draws will be posted at www.evanstontennis.org and shared via email.

2023 Spring Doubles Round Robin RESULTS

Thanks to everyone who played, including for your patience with our rescheduled date due to weather and further delays the day of the tournament! Here are this year’s results:

Mixed Doubles Winners: Maggie Galinski and Danny Postel

Men’s Doubles Winners: Andrew Ginsberg and Danny Postel

 

 

ACEing Autism Is Coming to Evanston Starting April 23

ACEing Autism is coming to Evanston! The organization, currently running programs in 125 communities in 34 states., has a new location at the Lovelace Park tennis courts. Classes for kids ages 5 to 18 will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. starting April 23. It will run every Sunday through June 4, except on May 21. For full details or to register a child, visit the ACEing Autism website.

ACEing Autism is on a mission for children with autism to grow, develop and benefit from social connections and fitness through affordable tennis programming, uniquely serving individual needs while filling a national void for this growing and worthy population.

Spring 2023 Evanston Tennis Courts Resurfacing Schedule

The City of Evanston will begin the reconstruction of 14 tennis courts at James Park, the Robert Crown Community Center, Burnham Shores, and Bent Park the week of April 24. Construction will last around 25 days at each location. Half of the courts (three of six) at James Park and both courts (two) at Bent Park will feature blended lines for both tennis and pickleball.

SAVE THE DATE: 2023 Spring Doubles Round Robin

Save the date for the ECTA’s 2023 Spring Doubles Round Robin—the first outdoor event of the season—to be held Saturday, April 29, at Lovelace Park in Evanston! Refreshments, giveaways, and prizes will be provided. Enter up to two events:

Men’s Open Doubles

Women’s Open Doubles

Open Mixed Doubles

Registration details coming soon!

Last Chance to Impact Evanston Pickleball/Tennis Courts Decision

Attend the Parks & Rec Open Forum Tonight, March 16, and Email Evanston City Council Members This Week!

If you are an Evanston resident, please READ AND ACT.

We have two major opportunities left to influence the city’s upcoming decision regarding the Spring 2023 resurfacing of four Evanston tennis court locations. 1) By attending Parks & Rec’s final open forum tonight and 2) By emailing City Council members.

At present, only Bent Park, Burnham Shores, Robert Crown, and James Park are being considered for resurfacing and converting to pickleball-only based on the city’s proposed budget. Once this resurfacing/conversation takes place, it will not be undone for years to come, if ever, due to the associated costs.

  1. Evanston Parks and Recreation’s final open forum on this topic will take place tonight, March 16, at 6 p.m., at the Evanston Ecology Center. Following this final open forum—at which members of the Evanston community will be allowed to briefly address the board—Parks & Rec will vote on this issue. Their final recommendation will then go to the Evanston City Council for approval. (This makes item #2 in this email all the more important.)

At a previous invite-only meeting for members of the tennis and pickleball community, players in attendance voted (informally) to convert both (2) courts at Bent Park, no courts (0) at Burnham Shores, two (2) courts at Robert Crown, and one (1) court at James Park to pickleball-only.

One (1) tennis court = three (3) pickleball courts, per Parks & Rec’s proposed plans. If the Parks & Rec board decides to vote along the above lines, it would result in a total of 15 pickleball-only courts and 9 tennis-only (no dual lines) courts—two (2) at Burnham Shores, two (2) at Robert Crown, and five (5) at James Park.

Local tennis leagues/teams need at least one location in Evanston with five (playable) tennis courts: James is the only option right now, as Lovelace is largely unavailable due to the city’s tennis program.

As you know, Robert Crown is the only one of the above locations that offers lights for nighttime play. Residents living in that area have been complaining to Parks & Rec as well as the city about the increased noise level that adding more pickleball courts would create. Tennis players also would be affected by the fact that as many as 12 pickleball players could be playing next to them at one time, if the above vote is ratified.

Parks & Rec has received more than 150 emails from Evanston tennis and pickleball players with various opinions. Members of the pickleball community have been especially vocal. Don’t let someone else speak for you! If you have not expressed your opinion via a recent Parks & Rec meeting or in an email to Parks & Rec Director Audrey Thompson (athompson@cityofevanston.org), please try to attend the open forum tonight.

THERE IS MORE YOU CAN AND SHOULD STILL DO.

  1. Both Parks & Rec and ECTA highly recommend that you email Evanston aldermen/the City Council with your concerns and opinions. Specifically, if you believe the city should put additional funds toward building stand-alone pickleball courts instead of converting precious Evanston tennis courts to pickleball-only, please email the following council members ASAP this week!

ckelly@cityofevanston.org

kharris@cityofevanston.org

mwynne@cityofevanston.org

jnieuwsma@cityofevanston.org

bburns@cityofevanston.org

tsuffredin@cityofevanston.org

erevelle@cityofevanston.org

dreid@cityofevanston.org

jgeracaris@cityofevanston.org

athompson@cityofevanston.org

mcallahan@cityofevanston.org

darlenecannonfor2nd@gmail.com

maryrosinski@gmail.com

lstowe@cityofevanston.org

dbiss@cityofevanston.org

As we all know, many other Evanston courts are in need of resurfacing, but there is no timeline for those at this point, so whatever happens this spring is all we can count on this year.

Make your voice heard before it’s too late!

Thank you,
Evanston Community Tennis Association

Make Your Voice Heard: Pickleball/Tennis Courts Meeting Feb. 16

Attention, ECTA members and friends!

Evanston Parks & Recreation will be holding an open forum during their board meeting this Thursday, February 16, (6 p.m. Evanston Ecology Center, 2024 N. McCormick) to hear from community members about converting certain tennis courts to pickleball-only courts this spring.

If you are interested in voicing your opinion about which/how many courts at Bent Park, Burnham Shores, Robert Crown, and James Park will be converted to pickleball only when those courts are resurfaced in April/May of this year, please attend this meeting! The last two meetings held by the city on this topic were last-minute (called by pickleball players) and invite-only (for both pickleball and tennis players), respectively—both meetings were attended largely by pickleball players. Members of the ECTA board attended both, but we cannot speak for everyone.

The tennis community needs to speak up.

A (non-final) vote taken of attendees at the last meeting resulted in a recommendation to completely convert both (2) courts at Bent Park to pickleball, 2 courts at Robert Crown to pickleball, and 1 court at James Park to pickleball. The vote was to make Burnham Shores tennis only.

While some people have suggested continuing to stripe some courts at each location for both tennis and pickleball, as the city was already doing, the vast majority of both pickleball and tennis players have requested dedicated courts for their mutual sports—this will make lines clearer to see for all and also give pickleball players more than one court on a standard tennis court, due to the smaller size of a pickleball court.

The city does not have the budget (or approved space) to build new pickleball courts at this time, so the only solution right now is to convert some tennis courts to pickleball only.

Please be aware that once this decision is made by the city, it cannot easily be undone in the future due to the expense of conversation, which is more expensive and complicated than simply striping courts. It is TBD which other courts in Evanston may be resurfaced and converted to pickleball in the future.

Note that the courts mentioned above are the only ones in Evanston that will be resurfaced and considered for pickleball conversion at this time due to budgeting (these locations have been on the list for resurfacing for over a year due to poor court conditions).

Many of you may have emailed the new director of Parks & Rec, Audrey Thompson, with your thoughts on this issue earlier this year (she has received over 100 emails from both pickleball players and tennis players, to date). If you are unable to attend tomorrow night’s meeting, I recommend emailing Audrey (again, if it will be your second time) at athompson@cityofevanston.org to say that although you cannot be there this Thursday, you want your vote to count, and express your thoughts on the courts at Bent Park, Burnham Shores, Robert Crown, and James Park, specifically.

It should be noted that a forth and final open forum on this issue will be held in March by Parks & Rec, but a date for that meeting has not yet been set, so this week’s meeting remains critical.

Note: If you did not receive the official memo that Thompson sent out to pickleball and tennis players this week, feel free to email ECTA President Debbie Cassell at debbiecassell@yahoo.com, and she will forward you that memo.

Make your voice heard before it’s too late.

Thank you,
ECTA Board of Directors

REGISTER NOW: 2023 Winter Doubles Scramble

White snowflake against black background
Register by noon on January 1 for our first event of the New Year! Event info is below.

When: Saturday, January 7; 4-6 p.m. (check-in at 3:30 p.m., followed by warm-up time)

Where: Northwestern University’s Combe Tennis Center (in Henry Crown Sports Pavilion), 2311 N. Campus Dr., Evanston

Match Rules: Entrants will be scrambled each round. You’ll play 20-minute, no-ad matches, with a different partner for each rotation. No partner required! 3.0/3.5 rating or higher, please.

To Enter: Email Richard Bell at rsbell@ameritech.net by noon on January 1. Space is limited!

Cost: $25 per player, plus yearly (rolling) ECTA dues (Not sure of your membership status? Email ECTA Membership Chair Patrick Brennan at audgrad@yahoo.com.)

To Pay: Send a check made out to “ECTA”  for $25 (if your membership is up to date) or $50 (if your membership is not up to date) to:

ECTA Treasurer
1313 Cleveland Street
Evanston, IL 60202

You may also pay your membership dues online, here.

Must be age 16 or older to enter

SAVE THE DATE: Winter 2023 Doubles Scramble

White snowflake against black background
Mark your calendars! Registration details to come!

When: Saturday afternoon, January 7; two  hours of play following 15 minutes for warm-up (official start time TBA)

Where: Northwestern University’s Combe Tennis Center (in Henry Crown Sports Pavilion), 2311 N. Campus Dr., Evanston

Match Rules: Entrants will be scrambled each round. You’ll play 20-minute, no-ad matches, with a different partner for each rotation. No partner required! 3.0/3.5 rating or higher, please.

Cost to Enter: $25 per player, plus yearly (rolling) ECTA dues (Not sure of your membership status? Email ECTA Membership Chair Patrick Brennan at audgrad@yahoo.com.)