Florida Pros at USPTA Nat'l Grass

Posted by T. A. Niles Aug 22, 2008

Five Florida USPTA professionals made the trip to the National Grass Court event at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Philadelphia, PA. Paulo Barros (No.1 seed) of Orlando and Jamie Feagan (No.6 seed) of Clermont represent Florida in the Men’s Open division, Mary Dailey of Delray Beach and Jackie Bohannon of Sarasota vie for supremacy in the Women’s Open, and T. A. Niles (No. 3 seed) does battle in the Men’s 45s.

Barros finished as the top-ranked Open Singles player and Feagan finished No.6 in the USPTA’s 2007 National Open Singles rankings. With a number of quality professionals entered in the Open Singles draw, it will be interesting to see how the superb clay-court game of Barros adapts to the slick grass of the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Both Feagan and Barros are excellent doubles players, so it would be no surprise to see them in the later rounds of the event. Jackie Bohannon is currently second in the Women’s Open Singles and No.1 in the Women’s Doubles national rankings points race. Dailey is No.1 in the Doubles race, so both women have games well suited to the grass. Despite Dailey's senior status (Women's 45s is her natural division), she could pull the upset.

Niles is a natural serve-volleyer but is a grass court virgin. He faces stiff competition in his first match against Al Hernandez, who is unseeded in this event, but is seeded 10th in the USTA National Grass Court Championships which begin on Sunday. Even if Niles were to make it past Hernandez, William Pilardi, seeded No.6 in the USTA event, and other seasoned grass court players are also in the draw.

I’ll keep ya posted. Game, set, match…..