The Davenport City Tournament

Lots of fans turned out to watch the doubles competitions

5/28/07: Last year, Eric Smith played in the RTA/ARTP one day junior series events for novices, tearing thru the field and only losing to Zach King in the Masters final in September. This year he is moving through the draw in Boys 16s with the same finesse. His sweeping one-handed backhand - coming from a lefty- has made him the David downing the Goliaths in this year's tournament. #1 seeded Garrett Kellner, playing with a new Federer racquet, which may or may not have been a Factor, lost to Eric in straight sets, then met Smith and his partner Andrew Tarbox in doubles where he and his partner lost in three.

There were lots of similar David vs Goliath matches in doubles rounds on Sunday afternoon, but for many players, doubles is really a good way to practice net play for singles. A loss, while always hard to bear, is sometimes easier to handle with a partner. And when you're facing Callie Whitlock and Emily Hahn across the net -- two of Richmond's finest players in Girls 14s - then it's good to celebrate any game you can get.

Matt Waddell was a finalist in boys 14s to Max Schnur in the 2006 City Championship. This year, Matt had an earlier three set loss to Arjun Karthikeyan in singles. He is currently training with Romain Ambert at VCU. Ambert, a former standout at Misssissipi State, will assume the Associate Head Coaching position at VCU in August. "I will be working primarily with the Men's team," he said. But he still has time to work with some of the local outstanding players. Ambert called Waddell a "hard worker."

Congratulations to Emma Carl and Kelly Stewart, for winning the Finals of Girls 16 Doubles. They defeated Anne Massie McCartney and Katie Robins 6-1, 6-4. In Boys 18 Doubles, Godwin's Alex Knollman and Nathan Wood defeated Arjun Venkatasubramanian and his younger brother Shyam 6-1, 7-5.

Hunter Koontz, Max Schnur and Connor Garyotis.

Taylor Click, Meghan Nasta, Hannah Greenwood & Haley Moses prepare to play doubles in Girls 14s at Byrd Park

Christina Franzyshen and Keyshera Jackson in Girls 16s round robin play

Ehab and Adam Ali. Ehab played in boys 12s and Adam in boys 14s.

Elyse Anderson played in Girls 18 Doubles with her friend Lauren Baxter. Lauren is a freshman on the Midlothian team that won Districts this year. They played team-mate Elizabeth Addison and her partner Jessica Armes.

Tori and Lindsay Brown train at Raintree and are
"15 seconds" apart, agewise

Eric Smith, Brett James and Andrew Tarbox. Smith and Tarbox (in red) teamed up to take their game all the way to the Boys 16 Doubles Finals.

Shyam Venkatasubramanian with his pal Arjun Karthikeyan. Shyam is home-schooled and will attend the accelerated program at Moody Middle School next year. Arjun is a freshman at Godwin, where he plays on the varsity tennis team.