THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090217
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 71 lines
Mike Mustgrave wasn't surprised to see protege Kelly Walls recognized by officials of the Baker-Damron Eye Center Junior Tennis Tournament as one of its best sportsmen.
What caught the Elizabeth Manor Country Club head pro off guard was the fact that Walls also emerged as one of its best players.
Walls, a Portsmouth native, rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to upend Virginia Beach's Jessica Sperling, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, in the girls 16s division of the 29th annual tournament last week at Elizabeth Manor.
The rising freshman at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy was also the girls recipient of the Bernie Seagall Memorial Award for sportsmanship.
``Kelly's a really nice girl, but in that match she showed a lot more fortitude than I had ever seen her show before,'' said Mustgrave, who trains Walls at Elizabeth Manor. ``The thing about Kelly is, she's not 100 percent tennis. She plays field hockey, swims, plays golf . . .
``But she was really going after it in this tournament. She won another match in three sets, too.''
Virginia Beach's Joe Neely, a semifinalist in the boys 16s, took the boys Seagall award.
Seagall, who died of cancer in 1992 at age 71, won 24 straight Portsmouth city tennis titles, helped found the junior tournament and is considered to be the city's greatest player.
Walls' performance was one of the highlights of the Portsmouth tournament, which was lauded by Mustgrave as another in a series of successful events. Players in singles and doubles divisions received the event's patented first-class treatment, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Elizabeth Manor Ladies Tennis Association, the group which, led by president Charlotte Damron, took most of the work in putting on the event out of Mustgrave's hands.
``They bring baked goods for the kids, provide transportation, you name it,'' Mustgrave said. ``They just get so involved. They're the backbone of this tournament. Without them, it wouldn't be nearly what it is.''
Alas, even with them, it still isn't nearly what it once was. The tournament, which was plagued by persistent rain and the absence of most of the area's top juniors, was also marked by the lowest turnout in recent memory.
Only 70 players signed up for the event, approximately 60 fewer than last year and well shy of the nearly 200 that took part in the tournament's heyday.
Mustgrave blamed the low turnout on the proliferation of similar events that have crowded the summer schedule.
``There's just too many tournaments,'' he said. ``We also usually draw a lot of kids from the Richmond and Washington areas. There were very few of those this year. That was very surprising.''
The fact that this is an unusually strong year for elite players in South Hampton Roads also hurt the Baker-Damron event. Virginia Beach's Ryan Davidson and Michael Duquette, the top two boys 16s players in the Mid-Atlantic Region, were preparing for the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Virginia Beach's Mily Kannarkat, No. 2 in the Mid-Atlantic girls 16s, and Suffolk's Michelle Grover, who had won at least one division in Portsmouth every year since 1991, also have been concentrating on national tournaments and bypassed this year's Baker-Damron.
Although national-caliber players will likely continue to opt out of the Baker-Damron event in future years, Mustgrave said the possible addition of a consolation draw could attract more recreational and club-level types for next year's field.
In addition to the turnout problem, daily afternoon showers played havoc with scheduling and forced the event to be extended an extra day. Play was conducted on the four hard courts at Elizabeth Manor and also at the nearby Marlin Swim and Racquet Club.
``It could have been worse, though,'' Mustgrave said. ``At least we never had to go indoors.''
The tournament was formerly known as the Central Fidelity Invitational. Baker-Damron became the primary sponsor in 1993. by CNB