2007 DAVENPORT
& COMPANY CITY OF RICHMOND
TENNIS TOURNAMENT
MEN'S SINGLES FINALS
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Mixed Doubles Championship |
5/21/07: The best way to sum up the Men's Singles Final: The Crowd. It's really not fair, how they showed up, packed in the bleachers like colorful sardines to watch the men play.
Not fair --when the entire number of fans at the women's final the day before could have sat on two bleacher-seats.
I was sitting on the steps (for lack of other seating on Sunday), camera at the ready, when a woman snuck up behind me. "I play on the C-7 team at Westwood," she confided. "Sometimes Sean or Brent will come and watch our match.
"The other women will ask, 'Where did you get such cute pros?'....Oh, we're really lucky!"
So, that sums it up. The Westwood Club members came out in droves to support their guys. I should finish the story right there, I guess, but I know that some of you faithful readers expect more.
Brent Wilkins, who surprisingly had quite a bit of The Crowd behind him, will have to go back to working on a new strategy to defeat his Head Pro & boss, Sean Steinour.
"I just never felt like I played my game today," the Westwood Asst. Pro lamented. "But, Sean does that to you."
Wilkins, who played in the Open Singles Division one other time, lost to John Snead "in the first or second round." At least it's a much better finish for the Virginia Tech grad, who grew up in Richmond in the shadow of the one and only Sean Steinour, who is a celebrity in the Richmond tennis culture. Steinour has now won 8 City Singles titles, more than any other man.
Sean isn't the only celebrity in the family. His wife, Leigh Mahaffey, anchors the CW news in Richmond at 10:00pm Monday - Friday. And 8 month old Trent is so cute, his proud dad reached for him first thing after winning the title, which makes him a celebrity too, in his dad's eyes.
The Crowd got to watch an exciting match, although not as long of one as it may have wanted. There was a point in it though, where one game lasted a good while. It was 3-4 in the second set, with Wilkins serving. In the stands, people murmured, "Oh, this is an important game, yes, it is! If he loses this, why, he will be down 3-5!" Funny how everyone is so good at commenting on the obvious, me included.
Anyhow, Wilkins tried to overcome the wind, his own impatience and two double-faults at ad-in, but he couldn't. Steinour's compact swing was made for windy days, and Brent's go-for-the-gusto play not so much. After he finally cracked under Steinour's more conservatively placed forehand, Wilkins dejectedly sat on his chair. Steinour hesitantly approached.
"Can I have some water?" Steinour asked his Assistant Pro.
Well, what's an employee to do? Wilkins handed his boss one of his extra bottles. Steinour gulped it down and then proceeded to take Wilkins down right after.
After the match, I asked Wilkins about it. "I have just one question to ask you," I said. "Did you ever, for a millisecond even, consider not giving him any water?"
"No," Wilkins replied.
During the winner's presentation, Steinour gave a most excellent speech.
"The wily veteran came out today," he told The Crowd. "I had to play a little ugly in order to win. I'm on the way out, and he's on the way in."
Steinour thanked Davenport & Co. for sponsoring the tournament, the RTA for making it happen, and, of course, The Crowd for coming out to support the players.
Later, I was standing near Wilkins as he threw his racquets into his bag. He'd had some time to mull over the match. "Maybe I shouldn't have given him the water," he muttered.
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Men's Singles
Champion with 8 month old Trent
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| Finalist Brent Wilkins |
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Brent gives the balls back in exchange for an engraved clock |
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| by Sara James |