Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 11, 1995 TAG: 9506120031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The U.S. Tennis Association Women's Circuit of Roanoke, which has brought some of the best up-and-coming women's players to Roanoke since 1988, will not be held this year. John Barker, the tournament's director, said he and other organizers want to spend the next year recruiting more financial backing in hopes of bringing better players to Roanoke.
``We felt that was too much to take on this year,'' said Barker, the pro at Hunting Hills Country Club where much of the tournament is held. ``We needed to take a year off. We'll be back next year.''
Barker is hoping to get support from the local chambers of commerce in drumming up sponsorship. The tournament purse likely will remain $10,000, although it may be increased after next year.
``In the future, I could see a 25 purse [$25,000] for this tournament,'' Barker said.
Mary Pierce, one of the top players on the women's tour, won her first prize money as a professional during the 1989 Roanoke tournament. Pierce, then 13, teamed with University of Georgia standout Shannan McCarthy to win the doubles title.
``Hopefully, people will miss this tournament so much it'll come back better than ever,'' Barker said.
PLAYING WITH PROS: For Roanokers Patsy Dillon-Long and Sharon Troy, meeting former pro player Virginia Wade and playing on the same court that Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova played on would have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, save for the fact that they'll get to do it again.
Smith and Stone won the 3.5 doubles competition during the Virginia Slims Legends regional tournament in Richmond. They got there by winning a grassroots tournament in Roanoke in April, a victory that allowed them to see some of the legendary players in women's tennis. Dillon-Long and Troy also attended a clinic conducted by some of the legends, including Wade.
``I idolized Virginia Wade as a teen-ager,'' said Dillon-Long. ``I was a basket case when I met her. She came up to congratulate us ... and I was an idiot. It was the most amazing thing I've ever been involved with.''
Later, before they watched Evert and Navratilova play at Richmond's Robins Center, they were awarded their championship trophy by Billie Jean King and Tracey Austin.
``We were shaking,'' said Troy.
They even got some personal instruction from Betty Stove during a volley clinic.
``She was watching me and I wasn't doing very well,'' said Dillon-Long. ``She said `You won this, didn't you?' I said, `Yes, we did.' She said, `How?'''
Smith and Stone advance to the national tournament in December in Delray Beach, Fla., where they once again will see the legends.
Linda Leffler and Helen Smith, winners of the 4.5 doubles title in Roanoke, also traveled to Richmond.
HEART BEAT: In 1975, the year he lost his grandmother to heart disease, Larry Lineberry was asked to help direct the very first American Heart Association doubles tournament in Roanoke.
Twenty years later, the tournament has become the longest-running tennis event in the Roanoke Valley. Lineberry moved to Arizona three years ago, but the tournament has grown steadily under Barker, who became the tournament's director after having assisted Lineberry since 1988.
``I do not believe there are many sporting events in the Roanoke Valley that have lasted the 20 years this tournament has,'' Barker said.
The tournament almost did not make it past the first year.
``We only had 13 players registered for nine events,'' said Lineberry, now the tennis pro at Sedona (Ariz.) Racquet Club. ``The tournament made it to a second year because I thought it was a good way to give back to the community. Arthur Ashe [who suffered from heart disease] was my hero and he was very involved with the work of the American Heart Association. I thought, `That's good enough for me.'''
Lineberry and Barker estimate the tournament has raised more than $60,000 for the Roanoke chapter of the AHA. Lineberry said the tournament wouldn't have made it without the support of players such as Chas Houston, Gary Atkinson, Alan Cannaday and Bill and Betty Branch.
``Chas has played in every [AHA] tournament but one,'' Lineberry said. ``He's probably the most physically sore player in the tournament's history.''
The tournament's funniest moment might have been when four women - all reluctant net players - stayed on the court for three hours in a straight-sets match. Points seemed to last an eternity.
``There was a guy who had to go out in the parking lot and change a flat tire while these ladies were playing,'' Lineberry said. ``He jacked the car up, took the lugnuts off, [took] the old tire off, [put] the new tire on, threw the old tire in the trunk - all during one point!''
That's a long point. Then again, the AHA tournament has made a point with its longevity.
LOBS: Ken Veney has been named the tennis director for The Homestead in Hot Springs. Veney, a native Australian, played on the professional tour for five years, winning the Australian National Team championship in 1983. ... Tim Strawn, who runs a racket shop in Roanoke, traveled to Houston in May to work during the National Racquetball Championships. For three days, Strawn worked 10 hours a day stringing rackets in a suite at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston.
by CNB