Our entry level league for the Women starts with this league and this year there were 6 teams of players who have either just started playing competitively or have played a couple of years and are starting to understand the demands of the game. For some people, the thought of competition scares them off from participating, but being competitive is to give your best effort and to start noticing what aspects of your game need work so you can keep improving. Midtown-Chicago played against College Park in the semis with each team winning 2 matches. When that happens we look to see how many sets were won by the team. On court 4 the match was decided by a 10 point match tie-breaker. College Park won the tie-breaker and the match but because MTC won one of the sets, they won 5-4 in sets. Lakeshore played against Glenbrook and won 4-0. What isn’t reflected in the match scores is the fact that 3 of the 4 matches were decided by match tie-breakers. As anyone who has played match tie-breakers knows, it can go either way. Midtown-Chicago and Lakeshore will face off against each other at The Libertyville Club on May 11th at 11am.

The two other teams in this league, Midtown-Palatine and Midtown-Bannockburn, played against each other in what we call the “Experience Finals” The 3rd set is played out with no time limit. Three of the four matches went to 3 sets. Each team won 2 matches so the decider was sets which Midtown-Bannockburn won 6-5.

Our 4.0 Wednesday teams are very competitive with one another. The players themselves have played a number of years and have their strong points and their weak points. At this level, who you play against may impact your wins or losses. You may like players who hit hard and will win against them every time but against a defensive lobber, you are toast. Every win or loss are opportunities to work on your weaknesses and strengths. It just takes a little more effort to work around those pesky players. With 8 teams in this league, and the defending champion no longer in this league (they moved up to the 4.5 Green), it was probable that some of the teams who were in the playoffs last year show up against this year. Midtown-Palatine was in the finals last year but Midtown-Chicago, who made the playoffs last year only to lose to Lakeshore, dashed their hopes this year with a 4-2 win. Glenbrook and Midtown-Bannockburn built up their team this year and both teams were extremely competitive with one another. Three of the matches went to a 3rd set 10 point match tie-break. But because Glenbrook won 2 of the matches in 2 sets and the 3rd match in a match tie-break, they broke the 3-3 match tie by one set. Glenbrook and Midtown Chicago will play against each other on May 10th at Five Seasons Sports Club at 11am.

The Women’s 3.5 Doubles League has 11 teams but only 4 teams make it to the playoffs. The top two teams ended the regular season with a 75% and 71.79% win percentage with most of the rest falling in the 40-55% win percentage range. Midtown-Chicago and Midtown-Palatine both had a stellar season. Midtown-Palatine is the defending Champions and despite moving several players from last year’s team up a level, they still managed to end the season in 2nd place. Midtown-Chicago lost to College Park last year during the semis losing by sets. This year, Midtown-Chicago played Lakeshore and won 6-0. Midtown-Palatine played against College Park and won 5-1. The Finals will take place on May 10th at Glenbrook RAcquet Club at 10am.

Midtown-Palatine has two teams in the NC Womens’ 3.0-3.5 Singles league. Last year, they only had one team and won their match against RC Lake Bluff. This year, MTP not only moved some players up to the 4.0-4.5 singles league but managed to recruit a few more players to play in the 3.0-3.5 singles league. Why is singles important? If you want to improve your game and fitness, singles is the way to go. Coming up against players with different styles of play, fitness levels, mental focus and game plans make singles fun and frustrating at the same time. This year Midtown-Palatine 2 was in 1st place in the regular season and went up against Libertyville. Midtown-Palatine 1 was in 2nd place in the regular season and went up against RC Lake Bluff, who was the finalist last year. In both cases, Midtown-Palatine came out ahead winning 4-0 in matches. Midtown-Palatine’s singles coach, Krisztina Anderko should be proud of her player’s accomplishments. Her two teams will play each other in the finals on May 9th at The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff at 11am.

Libertyville and Midtown-Palatine will face off against each other in the Finals! Libertyville played North Shore and won decisively 4-0. Midtown-Palatine came up against College Park. One of CPAC’s players was ill before the match so MTP was up a match at the get go. But even without the default on court 2, they won the other 3 matches. The finals will take place at The Libertyville Club on May 7th at 7:30am.

RC Lake Bluff’s Men’s 4.5 Singles team has dominated this league over the last few years so it was no surprise to see them end the regular season in the top spot. Libertyville has usually ended up in the finals against RCLB but this year they met them in the playoffs and was not able to unseat the defending champions. This year North Shore, who played against Lincolnshire in the playoffs, will challenge RCLB. Despite coming up short with eligible players, NSRC managed to squeak out a win against LINC with an extra set win. The finals will take place on May 7th at The Lincolnshire Club at 7:30am.

NCM4.0 Singles – playoffs on 4/30/17
In the last regular season match, College Park needed to win 7 points to tie the 1st place team, Libertyville, who had a Bye and 7.5 points to take the lead. As it turned out, North Shore thwarted their plans and only gave CPAC-E 6.5 points. The playoff pairings are as follows: Libertyville vs. North Shore and College Park East vs. Midtown-Palatine.

We are on a break this week in order for all of us to gather together with our family and friends and perhaps even some strangers (for now) to celebrate Thanksgiving. Give thanks, enjoy and after you’ve had your fill of food and more food, work off those calories with a game of tennis. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One of the messages I take with me on the court is from the movie Galaxy Quest where Tim Allen famously says over and over again, “Never give up, never surrender”. If you watched the Cubs last night, that was clearly evident in the 9th inning. How many times have you been in a 2-5 down situation and have come back to win the set? Your mental strength will play an important role in getting you out of those bleak situations. If you haven’t seen the movie, go see it. Have a laugh and remember – “Never give up, never surrender.”

CITA leagues begin on September 7th. Are you ready? Schedules are available online.