Holzmann, Gill defend Open singles crowns

KINGSTON, N.Y. » Shawn Holzmann and Karen Gill defender their Open Men’s and Open Women’s title, highlighting Sunday’s singles champions at the Ulster County Open Tennis Tournament at Forsyth Park.

Top seed Holzmann captured his fourth title overall (2017, ’16, ’14, ’13) with a come-from-behind 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 4 Bill Blake that also gave Holzmann his fourth career grand slam by adding Sunday’s singles title to the Open Men’s Doubles (with Dave Jutton) and Mixed Doubles (with Shannon Mulcahy) championships he won last week.

Holzmann advanced to the final with victories over Tomas Pesko-West, 6-0, retired, in the quarterfinals and Finbar Stuart, 6-0, 2-6, 6-0, in the semifinals, while Blake upended No. 2 seed Ravi Ramaswami, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals after outlasting Vern Chrisjohn, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Stuart reached the semifinals with a default victory over No. 3 seed Greg Tellier, while Ramaswami earned a berth in the semis with a 6-2, 6-0 sweep of Evan Haruta.

Top seed Gill, meanwhile, defeated Mulcahy, 7-5, 6-1, in the third consecutive finals showdown between the two. Mulcahy defeated Gill in three sets in 2015, with Gill

bouncing back for a 6-0, 6-1 win last year.

Gill reached the final with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Elissa Staub in the quarterfinals and a 6-0, 6-2 sweep of Nok North in the semifinals. Mulcahy earned a berth in the final with wins over Melissa Germano, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarterfinals and Claudia Brown, 6-1, 6-3 in the semis.

North reached the semis with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Aliyah Feeney, while Brown had a default victory over

Andrea Grunblatt in their quarterfinal.

Second-seeded Trent Shorter, meanwhile, captured the 3.5 Men’s crown by defeating top seed Doug Milford, 6-1, 6-2.

Shorter and Milford reached the finals with straight-sets victories in the semifinals. Shorter downed Larry Lux, 6-3, 6-3, while Milford swept Lawrence Roper, 6-4, 6-3.

Second-seeded Jay Han captured the Senior Men’s crown by upending top seed

Vic Ricci, 6-6, 6-1, in the final.

Han swept David Loewen, 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and TN Thompson, 6-0, 6-1 in the semis, while Ricci advanced to the final by defeating Jack Duval, 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 (super tiebreaker) in the quarterfinals and Mike Hale, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 10-2 (super tiebreaker) in the semifinals.

Hale reached the semis with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Don Guidi, with Thompson advancing with a 6-0 6-0 sweep of Joe Picuri.