As another Albany Tennis Club Championships draw to a close, I’d like to offer some memories, as well as some recent history and observations about tournament play at the club.
Some of my earliest memories of the club involve playing in the famed USTA Tri-County Open, which attracted many high-level players (think plenty of NTRP 5.0 players but even some players above 5.0) from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and as far as California.
I never had much success in the tournament in high school and college, but I was humbled and inspired by the skill on display. Years later, some of my most memorable matches would be against Larry Yakubowski in men’s open doubles and mixed doubles. I played in the doubles championship match against Larry and Dave Denny with Max Levine as my partner. Late in the second set, Max and I were on the verge of victory, but I started to feel emotional at the prospect of beating my coach and tennis mentor in a championship match and could barely put a ball in the court. Luckily, Max coolly carried us to the title!
While the Tri-County hasn’t taken place at the club since 2019, the Club Championships, which began in 2022, have kept some of the Tri-County’s competitive spirit alive, while fostering a strong sense of ATC community. The structure of the Club Championships has already gone through multiple iterations: The first year it took place the entire month of August, and draw sheets were kept in plastic folders at the club and manually updated; staff pros like me and Mark Mirasol played in the tournament alongside members. Another year there were many small level-based singles and doubles draws. And some years the draws were open to non-ATC members who paid entry fees to compete in the tournament.
Regardless of the format, the tournament has always created a buzz around the club. Indeed, what strikes me most this year are the many players, family members, and “tournament watchers” who came out to enjoy the great tennis and community. I think it’s fair to say that the Club Championships are truly becoming an ATC tradition!
