all present? Top-seeded Jacqueline Cako, who won the tournament in 2008 when she was only 16 years old, could be missing if she wins this week in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by rocky ross)
The courts at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club are fully occupied and alive with the thuds and squeaks of ongoing tennis matches.
Pro Mark Hanson, who normally oversees a tight-fitting schedule of lessons and clinics, is feeling his multi-tasking abilities reaching critical mass as a cadre of tennis professionals have descended upon the club for the 119th Pacific Northwest Open Tennis Championships.
Hanson is responsible for the players’ lodgings, meals and other miscellaneous details that accompany the running of the tournament.
Right now, early in the week of the tournament, as he comes off the court from a clinic, he is pondering whether or not he will have to re-draw the seedings for the women’s bracket if his top seeded player is not available.
Jacqueline Cako, the 18-year-old from Snohomish County who won this tournament as a 16-year-old in 2008, is playing in a tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. She has won two matches and if she continues to win, she would miss the opening round on Friday morning of the event here.
Hanson knows Cako pretty well. He has been coaching her since she took up the game seriously at the age of 12.
“All I can say is, that if she doesn’t make it here, she better win in Lexington,” Hanson says with a smile.
Hanson is pleased with the way the tournament has come together and will see the return of the 2009 defending champions, Roman Borvanov, who will be the top-seeded men’s player, and Kelcy McKenna, who is third-seeded among the women.
Last week, Borvanov fought off a stiff back to win his second $25,000 Safeway Foundation Men’s Open Tennis Tournament in two years, defeating No. 1-seeded Nicholas Monroe 6-3, 6-2, doing back stretches in between sets.
“If I’m not injured, I always play (in tournaments),” Borvanov told the Denver Post.
Borvanov, from Portland, weighed the decision to play the Tacoma event after his Denver victory and determined he is more than well enough to attend to the defense of his title in Tacoma.
Borvanov, originally from the former Soviet Union, began playing in tournaments year-round after he graduated in 2005 from the University of Portland.
Last year he defeated top-seeded Robert Yim, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.
McKenna won in last year’s finals against Dominika Dieskov, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the third set, winning 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
McKenna was on the losing end of the finals in 2008 to Cako, who will be joining her at Arizona State this year.
A rematch of the two in this year’s finals would be an entertaining event, if Cako’s bid in Lexington falls short.
But second-seeded Story Tweedie-Yates, a former Texas Christian University standout, is going to pose a big challenge to either one of the future ASU teammates.
McKenna’s first match is July 22 at 9 a.m. against Natalie Allen. Tweedie-Yates will face Aya Suquimoto at noon.
Stephanie Chang is the fourth seed in the women’s bracket, followed by fifth seed Suzanne Matzenauer and sixth seed Irina Tereschenko.
Clancy Shields is the No. 2 seed for the men, followed by third seed Joli Vincente and fourth seed Luke Shields, Clancy’s brother and defending champion doubles partner.
The tournament runs this week through July 25. The women’s finals are set for 10:30 a.m. The men’s finals are at noon.
The Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club is at the corner of Tacoma Avenue and 6th Street. The phone number is (253) 383-5934.
