SAN ANTONIO TENNIS ASSOCIATION NEWS
Kerrville Pro Wins USTA Grass Courts Title
It looks like someone is going to have to start shopping around for a bigger trophy case. Garry Nadebaum, Riverhill Country Club’s Tennis Director, recently returned from the USTA National Men’s 45’s Grass Court Championships with two more gold balls following wins in both singles and doubles. The tournament, which took place August 26th-September 1st, was hosted at the historic Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia, PA.
Nadebaum entered the tournament as the returning champion, which gave some added pressure to the top seed.
“Coming into the tournament as last year’s winner was a bit tougher. I really wanted to defend the title, but it’s tougher when you are seeded #1 and players have nothing to lose when they play you,” Nadebaum said.
He handled the pressure like a champion would, winning all five of his singles matches in straight sets. Nadebaum faced Jeffery Layman in the finals, defeating the Allegheny Mountain native 6-2, 6-4.
In addition to his singles win, Nadebaum partnered with Willie Alumbaugh (Kansas) in doubles. With a target on their backs, they worked their way through the draw winning three consecutive matches before dropping Robert Labriola (Southern Region) and John Dokken (Virginia) 6-2, 6-4 in the championship match.
Nadebaum attests his success to specific training habits prior to tournaments.
“I do a lot of running, court footwork drills and some weight training on a weekly basis,” said Nadebaum. “I also like to arrive early to tournaments to acclimate myself to the weather and tournament courts.”
Next up on the Australian native’s tournament schedule is a USTA national clay court tune up before he heads to Mexico City for a ITF world clay tournament. He also hopes to be selected to represent Australia in the ITF World Team Championships.
