River Trails and Midtown-Palatine came into the Men’s 4.5 playoffs as the #1 and 2 team respectively and both of their Men’s 4.0 teams were headed to the finals.  So one might assume the same would happen to their Men’s 4.5 teams but in both cases their dominance was cut short.  River Trails played against North Shore and were tied in matches (3-3), but having North Shore win two of their matches in 2 sets and one match in 3 sets gave them a one set lead over River Trails to get them to the finals.  Midtown-Palatine had the benefit of receiving a default from The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff so they already were ahead 1-0 at the start of the match but RCLB wasn’t about to make it easy for Midtown-Palatine.  Court 5 gave MTP another 2 set win but RCLB countered with a 2 set win on court 2.  Then one by one on courts 1,3 and 4, each of the 3 set matches came off the court as a win for RCLB who won 4-2.  RCLB will play NSRC in the finals at College Park Athletic Club on May 10th at 2pm.

Two years ago River Trails and Midtown-Palatine met in the finals and Midtown-Palatine took all 6 courts.  Last year Midtown-Palatine met River Trails in the playoffs and took 4 out of the 6 courts.  This year, RTTC and MTP meet again in the finals and we shall see which team will hoist up the trophy.  In order to get to the finals though, River Trails played against College Park East 2.  It was because two of their court wins were 2 set matches that they edged out CPAC-E 2.  Midtown-Palatine played against Libertyville with 4 of the 6 matches going to 3 sets.  Unfortunately for Libertyville, 2 of the matches MTP won were 2 set wins which gave them the edge in sets.  River Trails and Midtown-Palatine will play at College Park East on May 10th at 12pm.

River Trails shared the travails of getting players to the right location and on time.  RTTC played against RC Lake Bluff with players from both sides just managing to get there on time or being late.  Talk about anxiety.  RTTC won 3-1 over RCLB and will play against North Shore Racquet Club.  In North Shore’s match up against Midtown-Palatine, all the matches were 2 setters.  Both matches took place at 10am.  NSRC won courts 1 and 2 and MTP won courts 3 and 4.  In games, NSRC won 37-33 over MTP.  RTTC will play NSRC at College Park Athletic Club on May 10th at 10 am.  Hopefully everyone will get there on time.

The top three courts of Glenbrook’s team won decisively with the bottom three courts up for grabs.  Glenbrook was able to pull out one more win at court 4 with a 3 set win over College Park East’s team.  GRC won 4-2 against CPAC-E.  North Shore, who has repeatedly been champions in the Open Red league, played against Northbrook.  Northbrook’s matches started first.  NRC won courts 4-6.  Court 3 clinched it for NRC 4-2.  On court 1, if they hadn’t replaced the balls in the 3rd set, the fuzz on them would have been gone.   Great playing!!  The finals will take place at College Park Athletic Club on May 9th at 10:30am.

Sometimes you make it to the playoffs and your key players can’t play.  You hope for the best with the players you have.  River Trails came up short and had to default 2 courts which put them in the hole 0-2 at the start.  Midtown-Palatine with 23 qualified players drew on their strength and won 6-0 against River Trails.  Midtown-Bannockburn 2 (they have 2 teams in this league) played against RC Lake Bluff and won 4-2. The finals for the Open Green will take place at Five Seasons Family Sports Club on May 9th at 11am.

Lakeshore Sports and Fitness and Mdtown-Chicago were tightly matched.  Three out of the six matches went to a 3rd set and the 2 set matches were very close.  In the end, LSSF won 4-2 over Midtown-Chicago.  North Shore played against River Trails and won 4-2.  Lakeshore will play against North Shore at Glenbrook Racquet Club on May 9th at 12pm.

The NC Women’s Green Playoffs will pit Midtown-Palatine against Lincolnshire.  Midtown-Palatine won by 2 sets against RC Lake Bluff.  The matches were tied 3-3 but Midtown-Palatine won 8-6 in sets.  Lincolnshire thought they had lost but unfortunately for North Shore, an ineligible player was played on court 1.  A player must play 3 times during the regular season to qualify for the playoffs.  As a result all points from court 1 down to court 6 went to Lincolnshire.  The NCW4.5 Green finals will take place at Glenbrook Racquet Club on May 9th at 10am.

It is fitting that the two teams who were tied for first place should play against each other.  The Racquet Club of Lake Bluff played against Midtown-Palatine and won 4-2.  Midtown-Chicago played against River Trail and won 4-2.  The finals take place at Northbrook Racquet Club on May 9th at 12pm.

College Park West will go up against North Shore in the trophy finals on May 8th at The Libertyville Club at 11:30am.  Midtown-Palatine will go up against Libertyville in the experience finals on May 8th at Glenbrook Racquet Club at 10am.

The NCW3.0-3.5 Singles Finalists are RCLB and NSRC. RCLB had a 3-1 win over GRC and NSRC had a 3-1 win over CPAC-W. Courts 3 and 4 had to go to a match tie-breaker which ended up favoring NSRC.
The NCW 4.0-4.5 Singles Finalists are MTP and MTB 2. #4 MTP ousted #1 RCLB winning 35-29 in games.
The NCW 4.5-Open Singles Finalists are NRC and GRC.  GRC won the top 2 courts.  MTB 2 the bottom 2 courts but the number of games made the difference.  GRC won 38 games to MTB 2’s 32 games.