Lots of 'love' on the beach

The 2009 Beach Tennis USA National Championship demonstrated two days of exciting, fast-paced action in Long Beach over the Labor Day weekend. Teams from all over the world competed using paddles rather than conventional tennis racquets, and the European athletes, who have played with paddles for years, were the teams to beat in this tournament.

In the Men’s Pro division finals on Sat. Sept. 5, it was two Italian teams that would square off: Gianluca Chirico and Massimo Mattei versus Maurizio DiCori and Emanuele Bianchedi. Both teams are very familiar with the sport of beach tennis, having competed in over 100 tournaments in Italy, combined. Although DiCori and Bianchedi were new-comers to American sand, it was no detriment to their game, as they defeated Chirico and Matei 8-5.

Over on the Ladies Pro Division, the finals match consisted of two Southern California teams, Lee Whitwell and Joslynn Burkett of San Diego,versus Lucy Streeter and Kristen Flagler of Hermosa Beach. Flagler and Streeter knocked out Nadia Johnston of Long Beach, and Nicole Melch of Cresskill, New Jersey, in the semi-finals to advance. But they were no match for the duo from San Diego as they easily captured the first Paddle Battle title by a score of 8-4.

Sunday, Sept. 6 featured the tennis racquet version of the 2009 Beach Tennis USA National Championship. In the Men’s Pro Division, the two-time defending champions Matteo Marighella and Alex Mingozzi of Italy advanced to the finals to face off against former national champions Chris Henderson and Phil Whitesell of Charleston, South Carolina. Henderson and Whitesell, who won titles in 2005 and 2006, were eager to defeat the Italians and bring the trophy back to the U.S. In dramatic fashion, the pair of Americans stunned the crowd as they delivered powerful serves, which was enough to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Italian team, 8-6.

In the Ladies Pro Division, it was the duo from San Diego that would again advance to the finals. Lee Whitwell and Joslynn Burkett would face the hometown hero, Nadia Johnston, and her partner, Nicole Melch, who have been unstoppable in the tournaments in which they competed this season. The only thing fiercer than competition was the wind that made it very difficult to serve the ball. But the Ladies battled through and seemed to be on par since a tiebreaker set was necessary. The San Diego team proved to be too much for Melch and Johnston as they gained and maintained momentum in the tiebreaker set to win it, 9-8(5). Whitwell and Burkett cleaned up in Long Beach, winning both the Paddle Battle finals and the 2009 Beach Tennis National Championship.