Titles shared at Seniors World Championships
 Seven
nations captured singles titles at last week’s ITF/ASG
Seniors World Individual Championships in Durban, South Africa.
Finals day provided some of the most exciting tennis of the
week, with five of the 10 title deciders lasting three sets.
On the men’s side, the most dramatic final came in
the men’s 40 age category where top seed Franck Fevrier
of France overcame both his opponent, No. 2 seed Manfred Hundstorfer
(AUT), and a leg injury to win the title for the second time.
Fevrier injured himself after winning the first set , but
with Hundstorfer also struggling physically, the Frenchman
was able to play through the pain to win 61 26 61.
The much-anticipated men’s 35 final between top seed
Juan Luis Rascon Lope (ESP) and No. 2 Sander Groen (NED) ended
in disappointment for the spectators as Groen was forced to
retire for the second year in succession, this time trailing
5-0 in the first set. Another final which ended surprisingly
quickly was the men’s 55s, in which top seed Andrew
Rae of Australia overwhelmed former world champion Tomas Koch
(BRA) 62 60
In the men’s 45 final, top seed Val Wilder (USA) had
an unexpectedly easy 63 62 win over local favourite Danie
Visser, seeded No. 3, gaining revenge for his defeat in the
Dubler Cup final. However the men’s 50 final was a hard-fought
contest as Australian No. 2 seed Glenn Busby, in his first
year in the age category, upset title favourite Trevor Allan
of France 76 63 to win his first world title.
The women’s singles finals proved even more exciting
than the men’s, with four of the five title deciders
going to three sets. The one exception was the 50 final, where
Brazil’s Patricia Medrado proved absolutely unstoppable,
thrashing fourth-seeded American Sherri Bronson 61 60. Medrado,
who claimed her third world singles title, lost just four
games in four matches during the week.
The closest final of the day was in the 55 event, involving
reigning world 60 singles champion Petro Kruger, in front
of her home crowd, and No. 3 seed Nicole Hesse-Cazaux of France.
Hesse-Cazaux came back from a set down to triumph 26 62 75
and win her first world title. Another first-time winner was
Agnese Gustmane, who became Latvia’s first ever women’s
champion when she defeated another Frenchwoman, Anne Degioanni,
in the 35 final. Belgium’s Klaartje van Baarle won her
fourth title with a 61 67 62 victory over Canadian Shelley
Roxburgh in the 40 final, while Ros Balodis of Australia also
won her fourth crown by coming from a set down to defeat France’s
Catherine Suire 16 63 63 in the 45 final.
There were few surprises in the men’s doubles finals,
with the top seeds winning four of the five events. South
Africans dominated the women’s doubles finals, with
Lettica Venter and Marina Steyn winning the 35s, and Petro
Kruger and Terrey Schweitzer capturing the 50s, both as unseeded
pairings, and Rene Plant providing half of the 40s winning
team with Rosanne Duke (AUS). Special mention must be made
of Elizabeth Allan and Kerry Ballard, whose win in the 55
event was their sixth consecutive doubles crown together,
a win which also marked Allan’s 14th consecutive world
doubles title.
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