Being an avid tennis player, I was excited to be able to photograph the 2nd Annual Infinite Energy Atlanta Slam. This year featured professional tennis players Bob and Mike Bryan, Luke and Murphy Jensen, Sam Querrey, and James Blake.

The day started out with a press conference introducing the players.

Shortly after that the Kids Clinic was held where kids were able to high with the pros.

Then came the Party with the Pros where guests are able to meet and talk to the Pros. Next was the Run ‘n Roll with the Jensen Brothers.

There was even a marriage proposal and yes, she accepted.

The Brian Brothers showed an exciting and fun match against the Jensen Brothers.

There’s even a performance by American Idol Top-12 Finalist, Michael Johns. He played an entertaining short set.

The night ended with the match between James Blake and Sam Querrey.

To see a full gallery of pictures of the event, click here;.

1 Singles – John Saunders – LOST in two sets

2 Singles – Huy Cat – LOST in two sets

1 Doubles – Jay Posey and Robert Cornett – WON in two sets

2 Doubles – James Livingston and Jason Novoselsky – WON in two sets

3 Doubles – Terry Whitlock and Mark Crichett – LOST in two sets

So we fell short for the finals. We’re off to play for 3rd place. Here’s what Captain Mike has going.

1 Singles – John Saunders – WON in two sets

2 Singles – Mark Critchett – WON in three sets

1 Doubles – Jay Posey and Robert Cornett – WON in two sets

2 Doubles – James Livingston and Jason Novoselsky – WON in two sets

3 Doubles – Mark Gupton and Rick Huff – LOST in two sets

We are now officially 3rd place in the National Championship. The team, San Diego, that beat us in the semi-finals won the 1st place over Colorodo.

Here’s quick picture of the trophy taken at the airport. It’s about 6 inches tall.

Here are some photos from today.

1 Singles – Kav Tucker – LOST in two sets

2 Singles – John Saunders – WON in two sets

1 Doubles – Terry Whitlock and Mark Crichett – WON in three sets

2 Doubles – James Livingston and Jason Novoselsky – WON in two sets

3 Doubles – Jay Posey and Robert Cornett – WON in two sets

YES, this means we’re into the semi-finals on Sunday morning. Here are some pics from today’s play.

1 Singles – Robert Cornett – 3-6, 6-4, 1-0, WON in three sets

2 Singles – John Saunders – 6-3, 6-3, WON in two sets

1 Doubles – Terry Whitlock and Mark Crichett – 6-4, 7-5, WON in two sets

2 Doubles – James Livingston and Jason Novoselsky – 6-3, 6-2, WON in two sets

3 Doubles – Jay Posey and Kav Tucker – 6-7, 6-4, 0-1, LOST in three sets

For Round 2, Captain Mike has put the same lineup in against Middle States from Philadelphia. They lost earlier this morning, but they were definitely a strong team.

1 Singles – Robert Cornett – WON in three sets

2 Singles – John Saunders – WON in three sets

1 Doubles – Terry Whitlock and Mark Crichett – WON in two sets

2 Doubles – James Livingston and Jason Novoselsky – WON in two sets

3 Doubles – Jay Posey and Kav Tucker – LOST in two sets

Here are some pictures from Round 1.

Here we are, just arriving to Darling Tennis Center and standing in front of their Center Court.

During the lengthy delay and to get used to the 50mph wind gusts, the guys were warming up in the lawn.

Terry and Mark in play.

James and Jason in play.

Robert Corner in play.

… on center court

John Saunders in play.

And check out the view of the mountains behind the courts.

Kav and Jay in play.

We had breakfast at the buffet here. Wow, only $7.50 for an all you can eat buffet. It was pretty darn good, and tasty. After that, we headed out to get the “feel” of tennis in Vegas. Gupton was able to secure three courts at Arbor Park, a nearby park in a planned neighborhood. As you can see, it’s pretty nice.

The weather was pretty darn good. I’m guessing around 80 degrees. There was a pretty good gust of wind that hits the court throughout play. The balls did seem to be flying a little bit, not something we can’t compensate for. We were hardly sweating at all, and the wind made it very pleasant to play. It’s so pleasant, you have to remind yourself to keep hydrated.

After a few hours of play, everyone went back to the Suncoast. I went back to the buffet to eat lunch for $8.50. Another tasty bargain.

There’s a player’s party later on tonight.

Here we are at the hotel.

The banner may be too small to really make out, so I’ll list the sponsors out here.

Sponsors: Dr. Pepper, Atlanta Classic Cars, USTA Atlanta, USTA Georgia, netcord.com, Mark Gupton – State Farm, Leo Veiga – State Farm, Green Financial Resources, LLC., S&T Total Home Solutions, Wendy Luce – Keller Williams Realty, and Faith Realty

To follow the thread started here, it’s almost that time to fly to Vegas. Play starts this Friday, Oct 5th. For those of our team that can’t make the journey to the big game, I’ll try to keep things up to date here.

There’s 17 Sections divided in four flights. The Sections have the following states:

1. New England – ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, and CT
2. Eastern – NY
3. Middle States – PA and NJ
4. Mid-Atlantic – WV, VA, and MD
5. Southern – KY, AR, TN, NC, LA, MS, AL, GA, and SC
6. Florida
7. Caribbean
8. Midwest – WI, IL, IN, MI, and OH
9. Northern – ND, SD, and MN
10. Missouri Valley – NE, IA, KS, MO, and OK
11. Texas
12. Southwest – AZ and NM
13. Intermountain – MT, ID, WY, NV, UT, and CO
14. Pacific Northwest – British Colombia, WA, AK, and OR
15. Northern California
16. Southern California
17. Hawaii Pacific

Here’s the current schedule of play as I know. We’re playing for the Southern section (aka Atlanta/John Michael Hammond). Our flight is Flight VIII with Southwest (Randolph), Middle States (PATD Pennsbury Lightning), and Mid-Atlantic (VAB12 – Courtmasters).

Match #1: Friday, 10am vs Mid-Atlantic at Darling Tennis Center

Match #2: Friday, 3pm vs Middle States at Darlin Tennis Center

Match #3: Saturday, 10am vs Southwest at Darling Tennis Center

Match #4, Semi-Finals: Sunday, 7:30am. Winner of our Flight (flight VIII) vs Flight VI

Match #5, Finals: Sunday, 9:30am. In addition, 3rd and 4th place is also playing.

This is the 2007/2008 Summer USTA League, so the guys will be off till next year where they’ll defend the Sectional Championship from the 2006/2007 League.

]]> http://www.netcaptain.net/blog/2007/08/18/bunten-road-park-usta-city-champions/feed/ 0 http://www.netcaptain.net/blog/2007/07/20/bunten-road-park-usta-20062007-sectional-champions/ http://www.netcaptain.net/blog/2007/07/20/bunten-road-park-usta-20062007-sectional-champions/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:57:04 +0000 blog http://www.netcaptain.net/blog/2007/08/05/bunten-road-park-usta-20062007-sectional-champions/ Congratulations to Mike Hammond (Captain) and team for winning the 2006/2007 USTA 3.5 Sectional Championship. It’s been a long road here so far and we’re not yet done. One final step to go as we attend the National Championship in October in Las Vegas. But before I get ahead of myself, here’s a picture of the team.

Front Row, Left to Right: Kav Tucker, Jason Novoselsky, Rick Welsch, John Saunders, Chris Petrocco, Rick Huff, Robert Cornett

Back Row, Left to Right: James Livingston, Mark Gupton, Mark Critchett, Mike Hammond, Carter Broome, Jay Posey

Other teammates not shown: Jon Amsberry, Lorin Auner, Jeff Baker, Huy Cat, Mike Cope, Fuss Greg, David Haines, Randy Howell, Mike Jackson, Wilford Moore, Sam Peng, Jimmy Rhea, Art Torrance, Alan Tolbert, Greg Tyler, Steve Walker, and Terry Whitlock

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