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REPORT ON QUEEN'S CUP MATCHES
by Betty Eisenstein

This was the second year of ITF sponsored Cup matches for 75+ women players.  Last year's inaugural venture in Austria, with its delightful venue and fine weather, was a hard act to follow, but this year was no less successful.  Club Ali Bey is a large sports village on the shores of the Mediterranean.  It is so large that we got lost at first when trying to get to the dining halls, the tennis courts or the beach.  It offered all the amenities one could hope for ~~ including gargantuan buffet spreads for every meal with more than 30 varieties of bread and 40 kinds of desserts.  There were almost 60 well-maintained red clay courts.  I did not count the varieties of nations that were represented, but was impressed by the large number of different flags that were carried by the children who led our parade on central court at the opening ceremonies.  That event was enhanced by folk dances performed by charming young Turkish women in colorful costumes.

Last year's idyllic weather in Austria was matched by this year in Turkey.  During the entire week of Cup matches, we enjoyed blue skies, hot sun, soft breezes and cool starlit nights.  (The following week of individual play was less fortunate with one day of gale-force winds and another of heavy rain.)

Our team consisted of Olga Mahaney #1, Elaine Mason #2, Barbara Davidson #3, and your aging reporter #4.  Elaine served as our playing captain and we were all grateful for her expert guidance.  I especially appreciated her arranging things so each of us had a chance to play both singles and doubles.

On Day 1 against the Germans, the opening match was more exciting that anticipated.  Elaine raced ahead of a hard-hitting German, Marianne Schulze, to get to 4-0 and 40-30.  Marianne's ball went out, but Elaine's call was to quiet for the Germans to hear and they claimed the point.  Elaine did not argue and lost the game.  Heartened to find the score was 4-1 instead of 5-0, Marianne began to play inspired tennis and took the set to a tiebreak, which Elaine finally won.  She went on to win the second set 6-3 after both players had reached a remarkably high level of play.  The only other close call came on the last day when Olga split sets with Aussie player, Elsie Crowe 6-3; 3-6.  She got to 5-all in the tiebreak that was required as a substitute for a third set before winning 7-5.

The end of play saw a repetition of last year's results:  the Germans won second place over Aussies and the US team's perfect record of no losses remained intact.  Let's hope we can continue down the road next year in Philadelphia and that Queen's Cup competition will result in a perfect US record three times in a row.