JOURNAL SPORTS
If you want to know the state of tennis in Shreveport-Bossier, just take a look at results from The City Tennis Tournament that was held last week at Bossier Tennis Center.
And remember, the event had gone dormant for almost 10 years when it was brought back to life by Jeffrey Goodman, Todd Killen and Rick Holland.
“The City has always been a barometer for the health of our tennis community,” Goodman told the Shreveport-Bossier Journal after this year’s event. “With more than 320 players this year — the most we’ve had since we brought The City back — it’s clear that our tennis community is thriving and growing, from young beginners to older beginners, to players of all levels.”
The City celebrated its 100-year anniversary with this year’s event, which was held May 22-28.
“It was an extra special year for The City,” said Goodman. “It was first played in 1923 and we wanted to make sure we properly honored this incredible milestone. We did a few things different this year. We had articles all around the walls, inside and outside of the clubhouse, documenting the rich history of The City.
“We asked all participants to wear all white on Sunday. And of course, we honored three of our community’s all-time greats — Andy Lloyd, Julia Sippel and Jean Hundley — in this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony.”
Champions were crowned in 23 events, with over $8,000 awarded to the winners — including Stafford Yerger (Men’s Open Singles), Marta Sramkova (Women’s Open Singles), Kirk Fisher/Arturo Rodriguez (Men’s Open Doubles), Bianca Schulz/Claire Hammond (Women’s Open Doubles), Tori and Kirk Fisher (Mixed Open Doubles), Suren Visvanathan/Surinder Tank (8.0 Men’s Doubles), Somer Young/Nick Nunn (8.0 Mixed Doubles), Chad Doyal/Hayden Knight (7.0 Men’s Doubles), Whitney Withem/Faith Ann Quarles (7.0 Women’s Doubles), Jackie and Albert Hardison (7.0 Mixed Doubles), Cody Faust/Jamie Pipes (6.0 Men’s Doubles), Lynn Ferry-Nelson/Ashlie Plunkett-Kyle (6.0 Women’s Doubles), Nicole and Michael Mazur (6.0 Mixed Doubles), John Fream/Brian Bouillon (5.0 Men’s Doubles), Brooke Romero/Kim Smith (5.0 Women’s Doubles), Liz and Jeff Wagner (5.0 Mixed Doubles), Stephanie Risher/Roxanne Voigt (Tennis Apprentice), Cody Faust (Coed Open Singles), Somer Young/Becky McFarlain (Mother-Daughter Doubles), Eloise and Sanders Graf (Mother-Son Doubles), Summer and Dirk Rainwater (Father-Daughter Doubles), Kevin and Todd Killen (Father-Son Doubles), and Kristen and Brian Bernard (Husband-Wife Doubles).
