Families take center stage

Families take center stage

■ Husband/wife teams advance in City Adult Mixed Doubles Tennis tourney.

By ANTOINE PITTS

NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

There’s no doubt that the city’s mixed doubles tournament is a family affair.

The Ann Arbor City Adult Tennis Tournament kicked off Saturday morning at Pioneer High School with 37 entries for mixed doubles play. The numbers are up from a year ago partly because organizers have brought back the husband /wife bracket this year.

The tournament has had some variance of husband/wife play in the past, but this is the first time it is being tried with both an “A” and "B” bracket at the same time. Subsequently, 11 teams of spouses signed up for husband/wife draw and many other husband/wife teams are also playing in the "B" bracket.

After Saturday’s play, one husband/wife “A” semifinal has Dave and Sue Bishop playing Todd and Cristina Austin. The other semifinal has Jon and Kathy Bowdler facing Jim and Paula Burdelski. Both matches begin at 10:30 a.m. today at Burns Park.

The tournament is a golden opportunity for people to play with someone they’re close to.

I always enjoy playing with Jim,” Paula Burdelski said. “He’s my favorite partner.”

Paula and Jim, who is the coach of the Huron High School boys’ tennis team, try to play at least once a week. Sometimes, the familiarity with one another can be a problem.

“I think the hardest thing is to play with someone who you’re otherwise connected to,” Paula Burdelski said. “It’s much easier to play tennis with someone you just know rather than it is to play with a family member.

“It’s much easier to get angry (at your spouse), which you never do at someone who you’re only friends with. It’s easier to say things that you wouldn’t say to somebody else. It’s much trickier. You have to watch yourself because it’s too easy to be negative.”

The Bishops, the top-seeded tandem in the husband/wife bracket, have been playing together for about 12 years. Sue is a former college player, while Dave is a teaching pro at Chippewa Club.

“When your husband teaches tennis, it’s even harder sometimes” Sue Bishop joked. “We usually can talk about things and it’s not too bad out there.”

The city mixed doubles tournament is just a continuation of everyday life for the spouses.

“We love doing a lot of things together - hike, bike, skate, play tennis,” Dave Bishop said. “She’s my best friend. That’s why it’s a joy to play with her.”

The Bishops are both such good players that they work very well with each other on the court.

“Sue’s a serve-and-volley player, and when I play in an open mixed doubles with a different player, I play with really aggressive players,” Dave Bishop said. “Sue’s very aggressive, so I don’t change my game at all. She’s really easy to play with because I always know what she’s going to do.”

The top seeds in the other two brackets also advanced to today’s semifinal action. No. l Jonathan Rowe and Susan Kessler, another husband and wife combination, will face Dave Carson and Sandell Bennett, while Ron and Mary Gregg take on Jon Anderson and Jackie Zick in “B” action at 9 a.m.

Carson and Bennett were the only two of the day that were able to win three matches. Because of the way the draw worked, they had to win three times to make it to the semifinals, while all of the other competitors needed just one or two wins to advance.

In the “A” semifinals, top-seeded Eric Johnson and Missy Pollick face Evan Hays and Cara Eisner, and Craig Capelli and Ruby Olegario take on Mark Randolph and Betsy Mehaffie and 9 a.m. Finals for all three brackets begin at 2 p.m.