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Binghamton Professional Tennis Tournament
Tournament winner Noam Okun of Israel during a light moment.Our 11th Annual Binghamton Professional Tennis Tournament concluded this past Sunday. Once again this event was tremendous, producing incredible tennis and entertainment for all in attendance.
Beginning with the Qualifying event Sat/Sun Aug 7-8 (with locals Billy Mendler & Jordan Magarik, and Binghamton University current and former players Brad Sherwood, Akshay Rao & Dan Hanegby putting in solid performances), through the finals on Sunday Aug 14, there was great tennis throughout.
Players enjoying themeslves during the Gennett Ace with Pace competition.
Just a few of the event highlights would include:
Jordan Magarik and partner Henry So qualifying into the main draw of doubles, and winning a set against pros Mashika Washington and Kianti Thomas in the 1st round of the main draw. Pretty impressive tennis from the Vanderbilt freshman.
Early round play of Michel Kratchvil of Switzerland, who appeared so invincible in his victories.
Dmitriy Tursonov as the #1 seed. At #67 in the world on the ATP rankings, the highest ranked player to ever compete in our event.
The finals, in which Noam Okun of Israel, #138 ATP defeated Danai Udomchoke of Thailand 6-4,2-6,6-1.
Gennett Ace with Pace Competition, in which pros competed for $1,000 in prize money. There were two events. Ace the amateur, in which pros had 5 chances to ace local juniors, and a fast serve contest, won by Brad Sherwood, who recorded a very unofficial 178 MPH serve.
Kids Day. Over 100 kids from the summer fun in the park program receiving free tennis lessons and adding excitement and energy to our site
The tennis. Absolutely over the top. Every player in the main draw appeared capable of beating one another. Scintillating shot making, precision accuracy and thunderous serves. The level of tennis was simply the best I have ever seen at this event. As Leo O'Connor noted, having just returned from the Cincinnati ATP tour event; "outside of the top 4 or 5 players, the level of tennis is the same." Strong sentiment indeed.
So, even as we wrap up another great event, questions loom in the air. Challenger events throughout the country, like ours struggle to find sponsors, volunteers and spectators. We are no exception.
• Gaining a title sponsor has proved difficult, with no bidders to date. More local sponsorships are needed.
• The tourney staff is overburdened, and in need of new recruits to help us grow and evolve.
• And while there appears to be a core group of spectators, we certainly lack many tennis players and fans in the area, notably absent from such a seemingly great tennis event.
Marcus Sarstarnd of Sweden competing on Center Court.
The future of our event is in doubt. Its fate looms in the air, as with so many local efforts in other sports and venues. While we have gained back AHL hockey and AA baseball, we were fortunate to do so and suffered in their absence. If we lost this tournament, it will be tough to gain back in the future. Do we need a new venue? The City of Binghamton has been unbelievable in their support; I could imagine no better friends than Mayor Bucci and Dave Cody, but would Binghamton University, with its move to Division 1, addition of the Events Center and possible court facility renovation pick up spectators and momentum? Would the addition of more spectator events like the Ace with Pace and a Wilson Demo Day bring out more fans? Are there people out there willing to lend a hand to the event, and sponsors we don't know about willing to purchase packages? Are their certain components of this tournament the committee should be addressing to make the event better? What would you like to see, or not see?
These are important questions, the answers to which, will help guide us in our efforts to keep pro tennis in the area. It seems to me our tennis community needs this event, and losing the tournament will be a setback. Maybe I am wrong? One could say that my involvement in local tennis creates an unnatural sentiment, but there are many others like me who love this event and look forward to its arrival each summer.
Your suggestions, opinions and critiques are sought and welcomed. You may post your comments, for others to see right on this website. You can post anyomously if you wish. You may also e-mail to BTC@tennisctr.com. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing form you.
ps. I would be remiss to not recognize and thank Laurie Bowen, (tournament director), Jeff Hirst and Dickey Sopchak for their unbelieveable efforts in running this event. They spent countless hours this year to make sure this event happened in spite of the many challenges and setbacks they faced. To the many other volunteers who also spent the entire week at the event, using their vacation time to help, what can one say? The energy this event creates is truly impressive. Many thanks from all of us are in order
Mike - I'm sure you and your great volunteer group must be exhausted, but I'd hate to lose this event. Two local events which went thru similar identity issues (Thater Run and the Spiedie Fest) now are hugely popular and important to our area for numerous reasons. Sometimes these events take time to grow into people's conciousness Thanks for all you do for tennis here!!
Posted by: Mark Gorgos at August 17, 2004 11:25 AMGreat tournament this year - I hope next year will be all the same. I think your article states many of my concerns for the tournament very accurately. The volunteer situation was grim this year, not to put down the outstanding help from everyone who did donate their time, but we need many more people willing to help in order to keep this tournament alive. I, myself volunteered for grounds crew, and I trained and ran the ball kids this year. I can tell everybody first hand that volunteers were very limited. You can never get enough help in an event like this tournament, since it is much better to have more people busy than everyone becoming burnt out. One other thing that is needed to kick start this event in the future is advertisement. I know that with limited finacial support, spreading the word of this great event is difficult, but it must be done in order to attarct more people and donations to this event. Almost anyone in the Southern Tier will tell you they have heard about the Thater Memorial Races or Spiede Festival, but when I asked people on my own tennis team if they were going the the Binghamton Tennis Tournament, they were shocked to learn that the event actually existed. TV and Radio is littered with Thater Race and Spiede Fest ads, but in the weeks leading up to the tennis tournament, I managed to catch one ad from Professional Tennis here at Rec Park. It all loops back around again to needing more support for this tournament, both physically and financially. Great job to Laurie Bowen, who didn't have time to sleep during this tournament. She did an amazing job, along with all the other volunteers. Please help us next year to make this tournament more successful.
I also have doubts about the future of this tournament...things are definitely changing. My family has attended since the first year; I have vivid memories of hanging out in the ball kids' tent when I was small and watching my brothers work on the courts. I never imagined that I would be running the tent with Brandon. He is right - there was a serious dearth of volunteers. We just need more bodies to do things. Especially for the reason that this tournament is run solely on volunteering and sponsorship, the tennis community needs to be more involved. A lot of familiar faces were missing. Nonetheless, I had a spectacular time (as usual) and the tennis was decidedly the best I've seen here. My summers just wouldn't be the same without the tournament.
Posted by: Vidya Santosh at August 19, 2004 09:02 AMI would ike to see the tournament return to the Binghamton University courts. It's a center for sports activities (Empire Games, basketball and other play-offs, etc.), a familiar venue. The Rec Park locale is not generally as well known to those outside Binghamton and somehow carries with it the idea of just another local affair. Also, advertising other than items buried in the Sports Pages, while costly, usually pays off. It's been my experience that you really have to search to find out when the tournament will be held.
Posted by: B. Blossom at August 23, 2004 09:55 PM