Jul 20, 2018
Photo Credit: Brian Coleman/NY Tennis Magazine
Centercourt Athletic Club of Chatham recently hosted the St. Barnabas Medical Center UTR 15K Men’s Singles Championships, featuring Long Island native and current ATP World Tour professional Noah Rubin as its top seed in the Men’s Open Division. The event culminated on the final day with the championship matches of the Men’s Open and Men’s 40 draws, followed by a BBQ and live music.
As part of the event, the New York Open Skills Challenge gave participants the chance to win prizes including tickets to the New York Open in 2019 and tennis accessories from Dunlop.
“It was a wonderful tournament, and I received tremendous positive feedback from the players and the fans. It was more than just tennis, and that’s what made this such a great event,” said Clay Bibbee, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Centercourt. “We had food trucks, an open bar with cocktails, an interactive NY Open Skills Challenge area, an ice cream truck, pool slide, raffle, ball boys and girls, etc. … you name it, we had it.”
Rubin faced Croat Matija Pecotic in the finals as the late afternoon turned into evening, and spectators gathered around Court 12 at Centercourt Chatham to take it in. Rubin dialed up some near flawless tennis throughout the match, winning the title with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
“I was really focused on this final,” said Rubin. “I knew Matija from the Tour, and know how good of a player he is. I’m really excited to play the way I did, and it was a great weekend as a whole. Centercourt ran a great tournament with a great crowd, and I’m really excited for what’s to come for this event.”
Preceding the Men’s Open final, Martin Bengtsson defeated Raj Vaswani 6-4, 6-3 in the finals of the Men’s 40 Division, as the two players dazzled the crowd with long rallies and many exciting points.
“Today was a tough match, the whole weekend was tough in fact,” said Bengtsson. “When you don’t practice as much as you used to, playing for three straight days gets difficult, but it was great, it was so much fun. Centercourt is a great club with great facilities. Clay [Bibbee] does a fantastic job of getting people here. The set up when you are playing on Court 12 is great. The outdoor house is right behind us, plus the bar and swimming pool which creates a really nice atmosphere. It feels like you’re almost playing in a party, and I like that.”
Throughout the day, spectators could enjoy food and drinks at stations that were set up by Mexican Spice Cocktails and 13th Street Cocktails, and the finals were followed by live music by Poet Section.
“I want to send a huge shout out to our title sponsor, St. Barnabas Medical Center. Without their support, this awesome event would have never taken place,” said Bibbee. “We do have some ideas to grow the event, including increasing the prize money or adding a Women’s Professional Division.”
Click Here to see more photos from the St. Barnabas Medical Center UTR 15K Men’s Singles Championships.
|
Brian Coleman Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com |
