Members of the Midtown Athletic Club in Weston are in a celebratory mood after capturing the USTA 8.0 Mixed 40+ Sectional Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando with a 2-1 victory over Hillsborough County. The victory automatically qualified the team to compete in the upcoming USTA National Championship in Surprise, Ariz., Nov. 11-13.
Lizette Ibarra found success in just her second year serving as the team captain. In her rookie season as captain, she brought her 18+ team to the semi-finals in a respectable showing. Winning the USTA Sectional title proved to be a thrilling experience for all the players involved.
Broward County has a reputation for great tennis play and being crowned the Broward champion is a big accomplishment. That challenging local competition prepares Broward teams when the USTA Sectional tournaments roll around.
“We had a large talented group of players who collectively made big contributions during the season,” Ibarra said. “Our team was very good and committed to our matches. We had some injuries and some people had personal circumstances that prevented them from competing. Our entire team stepped up and performed great.”
The top teams from across the state converged on the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Each team that made it to the Sectional Championship represented the top team in their local leagues. The championship match featured Hillsborough County (HCC Tennis Complex) versus Broward County (Midtown Athletic Club of Weston). In the best of three doubles matches, the Midtown Athletic Club won the first two matches to clinch the title.
Midtown’s No. 2 line of Kenny Torrellas and Garbine De La Mora had a dominating 6-0, 6-2 victory over Hillsborough’s Jeffrey Stern and Christina Dausch. The win only took 45 minutes, which turned the playing partners into cheerleaders to root on their teammates. The No. 1 line of Midtown’s Lizette Ibarra and Ronald Coletto went on to defeat Thing Duong and Tibbie Fransworth 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the title. With the championship already secured the Midtown third line of Antonio Macias and Kerri Paul retired during the match to celebrate with their teammates.
Ibarra has been playing tennis for only seven years and started at the Midtown Athletic Club at Weston. She gradually kept moving to a higher class as her game continued to improve.
“I’m a late tennis bloomer and always wanted to play tennis as a kid but never got the opportunity,” Ibarra said. “That’s what makes this so exciting and fun. We will be practicing on hard courts for the USTA Nationals. We have scheduled hard practices with strong players to prepare us for better competition.”
Members on the Midtown Athletic Club of Weston roster are Captain Lizette Ibarra, Co-Capitan Pipo Torrellas, Maria Brozzi, Sondra Carpio, Ronald Coletto, Garbine de la Mora, Clarena Furtado, Antonio Macías, Kerri Paul, Paulina Rivero, Maria Suarez, Felipe Soto and Kenny Torrellas.
The Midtown Athletic Clubs Tennis Director is Ismael Rosales. Visit .
