Comeback story
Clay courts at Beverly G&T
returning to former brilliance

The 10 clay courts at the Beverly Golf and Tennis Club have had a busy few months.
In July, for the third straight year, Beverly was the home of the New England Junior Clay Court Championships and, in early August, the facility hosted the clay court portion of the New England Senior Slam event.

But ask 87-year-old Henry Tiberio what the most exciting part of the 2010 tennis season has been in Beverly and he won’t mention anything that has to do with the letters USTA or competitive tournaments.

Tiberio, instead, points to a Sunday morning when a group of casual doubles players enjoys a match and then each other’s company afterward. Thanks to new management of the golf course, Golf Facilities Management, and the same old’ tennis staff from Bass River Tennis Club, the clay courts in Beverly are looking and playing as well as they ever have.

“They’re beautiful,” said Tiberio. “They’re playing like a billiard table and all of the members are saying that the courts have never looked so nice.”

Known as “The Shoe” by its membership when the facility was initially created by the owners of the United Shoe Company, the Beverly courts weren’t always worth boasting about. In fact, Tiberio admits that the courts weren’t playable until about four years ago.

“Nobody cared,” Tiberio said. “[Ownership] wanted people out there on the courts as soon as possible so they could make a few bucks.”

It was a sad turn of events for the former 12-court facility that in its hay day hosted many of the major state and regional championships and was only rivaled by the sprawling complex at Longwood in size. Things changed when Bass River Tennis Club started a cooperative agreement with the golf course, operating the tennis courts for two years, then taking over the entire facility for two years before going back to running the tennis again this year.

“We wanted a compliment to our indoor courts,” said Mike Lapierre, the general manager at Bass River. “When we run outdoor programs, we can now move them indoors. It has worked out very well.”

Three years ago, Lapierre helped attract a junior tournament to Beverly. In the time since, the event has been renamed the Herb Schacter Memorial, in honor of the late owner of Nashua Swim and Tennis in Nashua, N.H., who was a well-known booster of youth tennis.

The Senior event in August was an exciting new addition to the clay court lineup in Beverly.

“It’s a whole new concept,” LaPierre said of the “Senior Slam” idea created by Ken and Dorcas Miller of Concord. “We’re thrilled to be a part of it.”

The Senior Slam is mirroring professional tennis’ grand slam, pitting the top senior players (ages 50 and up) in New England against each other on three different surfaces; hard court, clay and grass.

The hard court surface selected was at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. where the Pilot Pen pro event is held each summer, the grass court event will be run in Newport, R.I., home of the tennis Hall of Fame, over Labor Day weekend and the clay tournament will be held primarily in Beverly along with the Concord Country Club.

“It’s a great idea,” LaPierre added, “and we’re trying to show [USTA] national that we, in New England, can run high-quality events.”

Tiberio said the past few years on the Beverly courts have been a pleasant surprise, from the new tape along the tops of every net to the way the courts are maintained.

“They’re out there at 6 a.m. rolling them,” said Tiberio, who met his wife on the clay in Beverly many years ago. “[Clay courts] need care. When big, heavy players run for a ball, they can dig in like a sprinter and dig them up. You have to replace those holes like you do [with divots] on a golf course. These guys make sure they don’t let people out onto the courts too early and they roll them, they’re the best they’ve ever been.”

The clay courts are open to the public for a fee of $30 per hour. There is a pass that players can buy for the summer that covers all court fees for the season, which runs from May 1 into October.

“For people that play regularly, it’s a heck of a deal,” LaPierre said. “These are as good of clay courts as any you’ll find.”

Out and about on the local courts

It’s a festive time around the courts of Beverly. While Bass River Tennis Club is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, its outdoor counterpart at Beverly Golf and Tennis is enjoy a milestone of its own, 100 years. The talent at Bass River has done its best to create some hoopla as well.

After several mixed doubles teams won New England championships and advanced to nationals, Bass River had a handful of teams participating in the USTA adult district tournament on Aug. 7 and 8.

“We’ve been fortunate,” said LaPierre. “We’ve done very well. It’s been a fun USTA year.”

Representing Bass River at districts was a men’s 4.5 and men’s 4.0 team and women’s teams at both the 3.5 and 4.0 levels. Bass River also had a women’s 5.0 team and a men’s Senior 4.5-level team wins their respective USTA flights.

The Manchester Athletic Club (MAC) sent six teams to districts led by both a men’s and women’s 4.5 squad. The MAC also had a women’s 4.0, women’s 3.0 and two women’s 3.5 teams make the playoffs.

Alex Howard had a terrific first season as a coach of many of the MAC squads. Howard helped a mixed 10.0-level team reach the nationals in Arizona in November, coached the women’s teams from levels 3.5 to 4.5 and helped the men’s 5.0 team reach the sectional finals set for Aug. 27 in Springfield.

Another MC coach, Alberto Romea Gonzalez, also had a fine year as both a player and an instructor. On Aug. 28, the former Auburn University at Montgomery standout was at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in N.Y. and was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as a member of the ITA all-star team, which includes the top-ranked players from the ITA college tennis rankings.

At the MAC’s Tennis Academy, Gonzalez’s impressive resume includes four players ranked No. 1 in New England, 16 players in the top 10 and 75 players ranked within the top 100. One of the Academy’s star pupils has been Nicole Frenkel. The 12-year-old is currently the top-ranked 12-year-old and, when she plays up, 14-year-old player in New England. Frenkel is ranked No. 3 nationally among 12-year-old players.

Several other area clubs had plenty of representation at the district playoffs.

Cedardale in Haverhill had five women’s teams advance including two 4.0-level teams, a 3.5 team, a 3.0 team and a 2.5 team.

Newburyport was represented by five teams including a men’s 4.0 and 3.5 and women’s teams at the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 levels.

The Willows in North Andover had seven playoff teams. Men’s teams from the Willows qualified at the 3.0, 4.0 and 3.5 levels behind the captaining of Eric Kalajian. Two 3.5 men’s teams made the cut from Willows. Women’s teams also qualified at the 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 levels.

Highlighting the USTA season at Northeast Tennis Center in Middleton was the 4.0 Senior Men’s team, which accomplished quite a feat. The squad, captained by Skip DiFronzo, finished a perfect 6-0 and failed to drop a single match during the course of the six victories. In all, Northeast’s first-place team lost only three sets. ”