#2 seed John Payette and #4 seed Jim Catton came into the finals today with one goal: Outplay the other player to capture the championship. Through the beginning, it was clear to the spectators sitting in attendance that we were about to view a classic match. Rallies were thrilling as one second you would think one competitor had the point won and than in an instant the other competitor would find a way to hit a remarkable winner.
Capitalizing on a break point opportunity late in the first set, Jim stole a game off of John's serve and took the first set 7-5. John turned his game up even higher in the second set, pressing to take the match to a third. John even pushed his body to get seemingly impossible points, going so far as to unfortunately hurt his leg stretching for a down the line winner from Jim Catton. Luckily it was just a small cut and John climbed back to hold serve at 3-2.
At 3-3, a distraction provided a temporary annoyance for the players as a remote-control airplane flew over the tennis courts (I can't make this stuff up :P). When finally the distraction was eliminated, Jim had broken John's serve to go up 4-3. The 8th game of the second set saw some of the best tennis this tournament has ever seen as John Payette found another gear and hit a great backhand winner like he has done so many times this tournament to break back and even the set at 4-4, generating a large applause from the crowd.
Jim would not be denied on this day however. He would break back to serve for the match at 5-4. And in one of the greatest championship points ever witnessed, Jim managed to put an exclamation point on his stellar tournament play with a remarkable half volley drop shot. With it, Jim Catton captured his second Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament Championship with a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
In other matches that occurred earlier in the afternoon, #1 seed Samir Bhatnagar won the third place matchup, defeating #6 seed Grant Gibson 6-1, 6-2. And for a second consecutive year, Ha Nguyen won the Consolation Final, defeating Matt Hepburn in straight sets.
The conclusion of this day brings to a close the 2012 Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament. Thanks to everyone's generous donations, we were able to raise over $2000!!! I would also like to thank everyone who participated in the tournament. I had a lot of fun organizing this event and you all made this possible by being so accommodating.
I look forward to organizing this event next year and hope to see you all in 2013!!!
Regards,
Patrick LeBlanc
Tournament Co-ordinator
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