Rain threatened to delay the championship final of the Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament from concluding on Sunday as the early afternoon brought forth some showers. Luckily the skies cleared up and the championship match between # 1 seed John Payette and Nathan Smith began only one hour late.
And a tremendous climax to the tournament it was. Both players were comfortable in the early going having great baseline to baseline rallies. John took an early break and seemed to be in cruise control throughout the first set as whatever shot he made towards the end of an rally would almost always turn into a winner. John would take the first set 6-1.
As has been the custom throughout this tournament though, Nathan proved resilient, and began asserting himself at the net early in the second set, staying stride for stride with John as they were on serve with the score tied at 4-4.
Sensing this was his moment to capture his first championship, John managed to break Nathan's serve at 30-40 and serve out the championship. And with the sun setting in the distance, a timely net shot would prove to be the winning point as John dropped his racket and gave two fist pumps to the crowd as he realized that he had won his first Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament Championship. The final score: 6-1, 6-4.
The Consolation Championship also took place during the afternoon between Bob Streicher and Paul Fischer. This match was back and forth with Bob and Paul splitting the first two sets. In the end, Bob would win his first Consolation Championship with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory.
The end of Sunday's matches concludes the Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament for another year. For those who could not attend or who would like to watch the match again, the Championship match will be displayed on Rogers Cable 22 on Wednesday, July 31st at 9:00 PM.
In addition, the winners of the week-long raffle were announced following the trophy presenation. Here are the winners and their selective prizes:
Kirija Murali: A new tennis bag
Samir Bhatnagar: Autographed Maria Sharapova Shoes
Eli Nasrallah: Two tickets to any Regular Season Ottawa Senators Game
Bryde Fresque: A New Barbecue
Nhan Doan: To Be Determined (Awaiting to Contact Individual as they were unavailable for the final)
Robert Muranyi: To Be Determined (Awaiting to Contact Individual as they were unavailable for the final)
Joe Jaksic: To Be Determined (Awaiting to Contact Individual as they were unavailable for the final)
Phil Menard: To Be Determined (Awaiting to Contact Individual as they were unavailable for the final)
Thank you to all the players who participated in the fifth annual Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament as well as those who made donations towards the Phil LeBlanc Memorial Fund. I enjoyed every minute of this tournament (okay, maybe not the rain delay part this afternoon) and cannot wait to begin planning the 2014 Phil LeBlanc Memorial Tournament!
Regards,
Patrick LeBlanc
Tournament Co-ordinator
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