Roselle Nicholson’s 9.0 team recently represented the Mid-Atlantic Section in the USTA National Championships for 40-and-over mixed doubles. The tournament took place at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama from Nov. 1012.

Nicholson’s team won the Anne Arundel County League with an 8- 2 record and swept through sectional championships in September, 3-0). Their luck escaped them at the Nationals, though, because they fell in the same flight as both of the semifinalists. Needless to say, the completion was tough. Harris Rosenblatt and Marketa Chromkova went 2-0, while Jens Kemp and Roselle Nicholson went 2-1. The rest of the players in Mobile included Gregory Selby, Rikke Kemp, Afthab Zainudeen, Madan Nandhagopal and Vicki Gramil.

MILLERSVILLE TENNIS CENTER: Thursday was the last day for the public to comment on the 2017 Draft Land Preservation, Parks & Recreation Plan.

The plan outlines the master plan for recreational land use for the next five years. The current Capital Improvement Program includes the design and construction of an indoor-outdoor tennis facility at Millersville Park through a public-private partnership with the Tennis Alliance of Anne Arundel County. The participation in USTA league play continues to grow in the county, but many players have to leave the county in the fall and winter to find indoor courts available.

The estimated capital development cost is $7.65 million. The County contribution will pay for the park and infrastructure including site development, roads, utilities, parking lighting, and outdoor courts. The indoor tennis building and clubhouse will be funded by the Tennis Alliance of Anne Arundel County. Currently, the project is in the Design Phase with funding from the County Council in fiscal year 2017. To comment, look for the plan on the Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks homepage.

TENNIS ON CAMPUS: The USTA Mid-Atlantic Section held the sectional tournament for 18 college club teams at Old Dominion University in Norfolk over Halloween weekend. Tennis on Campus is a popular club sport that gives many former high school players the opportunity to keep playing in college. After two days of play, five teams earned automatic bids to the National Championship that will to be held at the new USTA National Campus in Orlando in April: 1st-Virginia Tech; 2nd-Georgetown; 3rd ((tie)-Virginia and Maryland, and 5th–UMBC.

AACTA NEWS: The End of Year Party will be tonight from 6-11 p.m. at Bowie SportFit. The party will start with awards for team tennis, ladders and special recognition. Then, the action will move to the courts for drills and games with the pros and Visit Aacta.com for information and registration.

ROAD WORK AHEAD: The county is making plans to resurface the tennis courts at Annapolis High School next summer. The courts will be out of service from July 9-Aug. 13 for repair. AACTA, AATS and the Tennis Alliance will deal with the closure by moving to alternate locations during the period. The goal is to return the courts to use in time for evening tennis under the lights. It is anticipated that Truxtun Park will be available by then and there is even a chance that the new courts at Severna Park High School will be ready by then.

TOURNAMENT NEWS: Margaret Machoian (Crownsville) was on the Mid-Atlantic Section’s team at the USTA National Women's Intersectional Team Event in Boca Raton from Nov. 13-19. In the Women’s 65s, she won both of her singles matches and one of her doubles matches.

Nate Krall (Annapolis) won the finals of the Boys' 14 Singles at the West Winds Early Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 18. He came back to defeat Caleb Boward (Smithsburg) by a score of 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9.

Nolan Whitney (Arnold) advanced to the finals of the Boys' 12 Singles at the Montgomery TennisPlex Thanksgiving Tournament in Boyds on Nov. 24. He dropped a close match by a score of 4–6, 7-5; 7–6 (10-6)).

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