Haverhill City Tennis Tournament Director Peter Lynch must have done something to anger Mother Nature.
The Haverhill City Tennis Tournament managed to fit in a rain-delayed singles final on Saturday, June 20, after a week's postponement, but now the doubles tournament finale, scheduled for Sunday, July 21, is on hold. Blame the weather again.
The doubles competition was played all the way to the final round, which had to be postponed because of rain.
In singles action on Saturday at the John J. Lynch Memorial Courts at Winnekenni Park, defending champion Ray Reed won the title by defeating Eric Schulz of Newbury, 6-4, 6-3, in the championship match.
Reed, of Amesbury, won the crown for the third straight year and the sixth time overall.
Schulz's patient baseline style gave Reed trouble each set, but Reed's experience and savvy prevented Schulz from gaining any lead and Reed ultimately took the title convincingly.
Reed has been a force in the tourney for over 15 years, compiling a match record of 24-5 in singles and 32-4 in doubles. Schulz was competing for the first time in the tourney and surprised many. The high point was his upset of 2006 champion Ken Paul in the second round.
Before the final round, Reed squashed Haverhill's Todd Proia's title hopes in the semi-finals, defeating him, 6-2, 6-0. It was a rematch of the 2007 final, when Reed defeated Proia by the same scores.
In the other semi-final, Schulz ended the run of Central Catholic's young Tom Flannery, 6-4, 6-1. Flannery, of Andover, started well but was worn down by the steadiness and depth of Schulz's shots. Flannery was the No. 2 player at Central last season.
Reed's work wasn't finished with the singles tournament. He is aiming for a doubles title as well with Randall "Bubba" Seabrook.
A win would be their fourth title together and fifth overall for Reed. They defeated 2002 title holders Steve Iola and Lynch, 6-2, 6-2, in the semi-finals.
Standing in the way of Reed and Seabrook's doubles championship are Proia and his partner Dave Meaney of North Andover. They defeated the British Commonwealth duo of England's Walter Long and Eric Russell of the West Indies with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
The doubles final was postponed until the weather clears and all four athletes are available to play. No date has yet been set.
A total of 47 players participated in this year's event making it the largest number of entries since 1999.
The city championship is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the region, played annually since the 1930s.
The event is supported and sponsored by Vincent Ouellette and the Haverhill Recreation Department.
