| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay | September 2008 
Ricardo Meillon Wins 1st Annual Holiday Inn Tennis Tournament
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| | On the left, Ricardo Meillon, winner of the "A" championship at net with finalist Javier Diaz. | 
| | On the left "B" finalist Alex Saldaña with champion Aramando Villaseñor. | 
| | On the left "C" winner Felipe Corzo with finalist Miguel Ayala. | 
| | Ricardo Meillon ripping a two handed backhand that was a strong stroke for him his entire match. | 
| | Meillon and Diaz accepting their trophies for a well played tournament. | 
| | Javier Diaz hitting an effective topspin forehand that was a weapon in his final match. | | |
Ricardo Meillon, the tennis pro at the Westin Resort defeated Javier Diaz, playing out of the Canto Del Sol Tennis Club in the "A" finals Saturday afternoon to conclude the 1st Annual Holiday Inn Tournament. The week long amateur event began eight days earlier and with only two courts and rainy afternoons; play was slow as over 70 players competed in A, B and C divisions. For those that have played at the Holiday Inn, the old cracked courts have been resurfaced and painted blue, looking good and giving true bounces.
The "B" division was won by Aramando Villaseñor who defeated Alex Saldaña rather easily 6-2, 6-0. Villaseñor had a tough semifinal, defeating Holiday Inn teaching pro Jonathon Zuriel Gonzalez in a grueling 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 marathon the day before. Saldaña took out tough Claudia Peña in the semis 6-4, 6-2.
The "C" division final was actually better played than the higher division as Felipe Corzo defeated Miguel Ayala 7-5, 6-2. Corzo didn't lose a set the whole week and defeated Bob Cohen in his semifinal match. Ayala beat Luis Flores in his semifinal. Corzo, who will move up to "B" the next time he competes played an extremely consistent, calculating and error free match against the big serve of Ayala.
In the main event as the heat rose, the two "A" finalists took to the court. The last time the younger Javier Diaz played on this court over two years ago, he was the runner up in the "D" division and became a student of the game, playing and taking lessons at every opportunity. Younger kids can improve rapidly as this writer can attest to, as older players improve at a much slower pace. His opponent Ricardo Meillon was the Holiday Inn pro during the tournament that Diaz played in.
The two hit hard right from the start, with Meillon having an edge with a stronger serve, but Diaz was hitting superb groundstrokes to keep the match extremely close. The two were tied at 5-5 before Meillon held serve to go up 6-5 and then broke Diaz to win the first set 7-5. Meillon raced out to a 4-1 lead, thanks to two breaks of serve in the 2nd set and Diaz mounted a comeback that fell short as he dropped the set 6-3 and Ricardo was crowned champion.
Congratulations to the winners and all that dared to compete in conditions that saw heat indexes rise to over 115 degrees during afternoon matches. Another tournament at the Holiday Inn is planned for either late November or early December. With strong sponsorship by Berel Paints, Outback Steakhouse, Blue Shrimp, Bubba Gump, El Andariego and the Holiday Inn, the tournament was a success and more events are planned for the tennis club. |
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