On a sun-splashed and mild holiday weekend, 135 tennis players converged on Sun Valley Tennis Club for the 2009 Lyle Pearson Labor Day Tennis Championships presented by Sun Valley Resort.
Much of the spotlight focused on college players and former NCAA stars from Boise State University and University of Idaho. Colorado-born brothers, former BSU singles stars and Men's Open singles finalists were Luke Shields and Clancy Shields.
This time, younger brother Clancy Shields won the Lyle Pearson championship match 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over 2008 All-American Luke Shields.
As expected, the top seeds clashed in the Women's Open singles championship match.
The winner was #2-seeded Gabriela Niculescu, 23, a recent senior transfer to the University of Idaho. She defeated #1-seeded Pichittra Thongdach of Thailand 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. BSU senior Thongdach is ranked among the top 50 players in the country.
Niculescu was the national singles' champion of Romania in 2000 and 2003. She played Pac 10 tennis for the University of Southern California (USC) as a college sophomore and junior and has transferred to Idaho.
Tournament director David Perry was excited about the sizable field of locals including Community School sophomore Karl Wilander. Last spring as a freshman, Wilander placed third in boys' singles in the Idaho State 3A prep tennis tournament—helping his team to the state team championship.
Wilander got his money's worth and won two singles classes Monday. He captured the Men's 4.5 title 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) over Boise's notable endurance athlete Michael Tobin, a Community School grad. Wilander also won 4.0 singles 6-0, 6-2 over Alvin Le.
Sponsors were Lyle Pearson Motors, Sun Valley Resort, Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters and Atkinsons' Markets. Top results follow:
Singles
Men's Open championship—Clancy Shields 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Luke Shields (32 players).
Semi-finals—Clancy Shields 6-3, 6-3 over Blaine Shields, and Luke Shields 6-2, 6-7 (5), ret. inj. over Vicente Joli.
Consolation finals—Tyler Neill 6-1, 6-4 over Dan Buckingham.
Men's 5.0 championship (round robin)—Jayson Mok won all four matches: 7-5, 6-2 over Bjorn Eide; 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 over Alec Marx; 6-0, 6-4 over Fredrik Sadler; and 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Matt Oddonetto.
Men's 4.5 championship—Karl Wilander 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) over Michael Tobin (8 players).
Consolation final—John Kanellitsas 6-0, 6-2 over Raleigh Grossbaum.
Men's 4.0 championship—Karl Wilander 6-0, 6-2 over Alvin Le (16 players).
Wilander won all four matches in straight sets: 6-1, 6-4 over Tate Nelson; 6-0, 6-2 over Ira Shepard; and 6-4, 7-6 (3) over Brent Bungard.
Consolation final—Phil Ellis 6-4, 7-6 (2) over Tate Nelson.
Men's 3.5 championship—Sam Thomsen 6-2, 6-2 over Michael Weaver (12 players).
Consolation final—Steven Eide 6-1, 6-0 over Rob Neely.
Women's Open championship—Gabriela Niculescu 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 over Pichittra Thongdach (10 players).
Consolation finals—Alexandra Ulesanu 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 over Jana Siwa.
Women's 4.5 championship (round robin)—Bianca Mok won both matches: 6-1, 6-1 over Lily Fink-Debray and 6-0, 6-3 over Alex Goode.
Women's 3.5 championship—Brooke Kempf 6-0, 6-3 over Lana Penrose (12 players).
Consolation final—Allison Greer 7-5, 6-3 over Jenny Tobin.
Doubles
Men's Open championship—Clancy Shields and Luke Shields 8-4 over James Meredith and Blane Shields (13 teams).
Men's 4.5 first place (round robin)—Alec Marx and Matt Oddonetto won all three matches: 6-1, 6-0 over John Perry and Kurt Snedeker; 6-3, 6-2 over Daniel Hart and Ira Shepard; and 6-0, 6-1 over Phillip Fry and Alvin Le.
Men's 4.0 championship—Phil Ellis and Robert Welch 6-3, 6-0 over Andrew Tzeng and Di-Yuan Tzeng (7 teams).
Consolation final—Edgar Blair and John Grabow 6-1, 6-0 over Phillip Fry and Tim Hawkins.
Men's 3.5 championship (round robin)—Buckner Harris and James Vavrek won all three matches: 6-2, 6-0 over Ben Swift and Michael Weaver; 6-3, 6-2 over Steven Eide and John Grabow; and 6-3, 6-3 over Richard Arave and James Grunke.
Women's Open championship—Gabriela Niculescu and Alexandra Ulesano 6-2, 6-4 over Chelsea Patton and Pichittra Thongdach (6 teams).
Consolation final—Bianca Mok and Fiona Mok 6-2, 2-6, 10-6 over Lily Fink-Debray and Rilee Moorhead.
Women's 4.0 championship—Barbara Figge and Kris Miller 6-1, 6-0 over Jenny Grunke and Mary Stone-Arave (6 teams).
Consolation final—Jennifer Adams and Jacqueline Samway 3-6, 7-5, ret. over Mary Burns and Susan Pavek.
Women's 3.5 championship—Janie Coleman and Lana Penrose 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 over Cindy Biedebach and Robin Ivanoff (6 teams).
Consolation final—Carol Hayden and Teresa McDonald def. over Brooke Kempf and Alexandria Kempf.
Combined mixed 9.0 championship—Fiona Mok and Jayson Mok 6-2, 6-1 over Stephen Dial and Lynda Dimick (7 teams).
Consolation final—Bjorn Eide and Lily Fink-Debray 6-3, 6-2 over Jacqueline Samway and Peter Samway.
Combined mixed 8.0 championship—Bianca Mok and Andrew Tzeng 6-0, 6-2 over Jennifer Adams and Edgar Blair (8 teams).
Consolation final—Alex Goode and Tanner Hayden 6-2, 6-4 over John Greer and Allison Greer.
Combined mixed 7.0 championship—Michael Sadler and Ann Sadler 6-3, 6-3 over Buckner Harris and Kara Lukoic (9 teams).
Consolation final—James Penrose and Lana Penrose def. over Andy Stento and Laura Stento.
Making contact on a return during last weekend’s Lyle Pearson Labor Day ennis tournament is former WAC “Men’s Player of the Year” Luke Shields. A 6-1 righthander from Colorado, Shields is now an assistant coach at his Boise State University alma mater. He lost in split sets to his younger brother Clancy Shields in the Men’s Open singles final Monday. Here, Luke Shields defeats another BSU assistant coach, Morgan Shepherd, in a preliminary.
