On June 29th - July 2th, the 2017 Keith Donoff Cup was hosted in Arlington, Texas. We are very proud of the four Arkansas residents, Steve Duffel, Larry Back, John Bailey, and David Reding for representing our state in this fun and exciting tournament. More about the tournament is listed below!
Congratulations to Team USTA Southern, who captured their 4th straight Keith Donoff Men's Challenge Cup Championship this year in Arlington, TX. Team Southern captured the championship 48 points to 44 over the home team from USTA Texas. The key to the victory was a 12-8 win over Texas on Day 2 with the 55s Southern team winning all 5 of its matches over a very strong Texas lineup. Several matches with Texas went three sets and Southern captured five of those three setters.
The Donoff Cup is a team sectional competition held annually and brings together the top senior adult players from four USTA sections. Southern will go for its 5th straight Donoff Cup championship in 2018 when the cup is hosted by Middle States.
The 2017 Southern team members shown in the attached photo are:
Bottom row, left to right: Miles Walker (GA), Steve Duffel (AR), Ralph Grieco (GA), Ken Koelling (MS), Russell Buchi (TN), Al Cannon (SC), Drew Meyers (Captain) (LA).
Top row, left to right: Maxime Buyckx (GA), Jim Hinson (SC), Padg Bolton (LA), Jon Buise (LA), Larry Back (AR), John Bailey (AR), David Reding (AR), Marty Pearson (MS), Cleburne Simon (LA), Andy Steingold (SC), Chris Bussert (GA), Gert Van den Heever (GA), Art Abbott (NC).