Arkansas (Southerns) Wins Nationals

Check out my latest book, Tennis Players as Works of Art, now available on Amazon. Called “madly ambitious” and named one its 5 featured books of 2024 in the category of Art/Imagination/Creativity by Publisher’s Weekly Booklife, Tennis Players as Works of Art has also been named “One of the Best Books we Read in 2024” (Independent Book Review) and “Book of the Year” (Inside Tennis Magazine.)

First few days of February. The weather cold and windy, colder in Phoenix, Arizona than in all of Arkansas. I wasn’t happy about and I didn’t dress for it. Few did. Fans and teammates shivered (and cursed) through the first two days and nights of watching the highest national level of senior tennis in the 65 and over 9.0 division. Somehow, Arkansas (Southerns), came out on top.

Actually, I know exactly how Arkansas won the National Championship. Three Arkansas players–John Bailey (6-0), Greg Fess (5-0), Lynn Stewart (4-1 with one default)–and one Georgia player, Chris Bussert (4-0 with one default), were stellar. John Bailey and Lynn Stewart played all six matches in three days. John seemed relatively unfazed. Is it because there’s not an inch of fat on his body? Lynn, whose new nickname is Ironman, was not unfazed. Ironman’s rusting, he texted, after the second day. Then he pulled a groin in the fifth match. Then he pulled it a little more running down a drop shot on the first point of the sixth match. Somehow he managed this injury perfectly to win both his matches in the semis and finals on Sunday.

Other players on the team played important roles. Bobby Tillison and Timothy Stewart, both from South Carolina, had perhaps the most important single win of the tournament when they won in straight sets in Sunday’s semifinal match against Mid-Atlantic, helping to clinch our place in the finals against Texas, who had upset last year’s champion, Northern California. This key win allowed Lynn Stewart and Chris Bussert to suddenly default after John Bailey and Greg Fess won their match, saving Chris and Lynn, especially Lynn, another thirty to forty minutes on court before the final.

We also had a deep bench of players–Bill Bodie, David Linebarger, Johnny Johnson, Ray Pascale–who played, altogether, a total of 5 matches, giving other players a much needed rest at crucial times. Our Captain, Victor Palafox, managed the lineups perfectly while also dealing with all our healthy egos and multiple perspectives. Without Victor, there would not have been a championship.

Is it OK to say “Go, Hogs!” Bill Bodie, Johnny Johnson, and Ray Pascale were all Arkansas state champions playing out of Pine Bluff well before computers and cell phones. Greg Fess and John Bailey are both in the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame. Lynn played his college tennis in Arkansas and has lived here all his life. ”Go, Hogs,” then, with a nod of gratitude to Georgia’s Chris Bussert and South Carolina’s Bobby Tillison and Timothy Stewart for coming along for the ride, for helping to make it happen.

For free posts every Thursday in your email featuring original art from around the world and creative new perspectives and prose, follow Tennis Players as Works of Art below:

Happy to announce that this blog has been named one of Feedspot’s top tennis blogs, websites & influencers of 2024.