After a grueling week of celebrating dual anniversaries at the 2002 Ektelon USRA National Singles Championships, it was Mike Guidry and Cheryl Gudinas who came away with the grand prizes – a first-ever national singles title for southpaw Guidry, and the fourth in a series of such victories for Gudinas. For the event itself, it was a 35th anniversary; for the venue, it was the 20th straight year that National Singles had returned to Houston. For the over 650 entrants to this year’s Finals, it was another chance to take home a national title.

The first game was played at an awesome pace, one that oddly seemed to suit Guidry more so than the younger Huczek, who was uncharacteristically error-prone. Guidry jumped out to an 8-3 lead before Huczek called a timeout that didn’t help much, followed by Guidry extending his lead to 14-6. Again he had trouble closing out the game as the two players exchanged seven side outs before Huczek ran four straight points to close the gap at 14-10. Guidry then appeared to win the first game, but Huczek appealed a non-hinder call and it was overturned. With both players moving well, three more hinders were called on game point before Guidry finally reached 15-10.

As fast as the pace had been in the first game, Huczek slowed it to a crawl in the second after finding himself down 6-1. Ironically it was Huczek who tried to speed up the pace in the finals last year against the notoriously slow and controlled Rocky Carson. The slowdown began to work for Huczek as he erased Guidry’s lead and took his own at 13-10. Guidry pulled within one at 13-12, but Huczek wasn’t ready to give up his title just yet and forced a tiebreaker by winning the second game 15-12.

“He slowed down the game and switched up his serve, which was a good call on his part,” Guidry said. “I just tried to stay aggressive, but not too aggressive to where I would make stupid mistakes.”

Where the first game may have been too hot and the second too cold, the tiebreaker was just right. Would Huczek earn his spot in the records by becoming the eighth player to win back-to-back national titles or would Guidry be able to overcome the odds to take home his first? The players were tied at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 before Guidry built the largest lead of the game at 8-4. Huczek brought the match closer at 9-7, but Guidry quickly moved to match point. Again he had trouble closing it out and Huczek came up with big shots when he needed them to pull within one point at 10-9. On his sixth try (again) Guidry got the monkey off of his back and earned his first national title 11-9.

“It’s always been a goal of mine and something that I am very proud of, especially at my age,” Guidry said after the match. “I probably don’t have a lot of years left.” Guidry, who turned 32 the following Tuesday, should talk to his doubles partner Ruben Gonzalez, who turns 50 in July, about just how many years he has left. •

First up was second seeded Rice against third seeded Fenton. Both players were trying to capture their first national singles championship and have faced each other several times in the past trying to get there.

Fenton set the tone on the first rally of the match. After receiving an odd bounce from a Rice pass, Fenton adjusted her shot and hit a winner between her legs. From that sideout she put together a run of four straight points on her way to a commanding 9-2 lead. Rice fought to even things up, but Fenton went on to take the first game easily 15-7.

Fenton again started out fast in the second game, serving an ace to start play, and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. This time it was Rice who’s hand would get hot as she scored seven unanswered points to take a 7-3 lead. Fenton fought back and tied it up at 11-11, and after exchanging serve four more times, Fenton took the lead for good on her way to a 15-13 win that put her into the finals.

“I felt like I played with a lot of intensity and focus,” Fenton said after the match. “I hit a wall (in the second game) but kept working at it until I eventually got through it.”

Both Gudinas and Hallander were coming off long tiebreaker matches in the previous round, and their match was likely to come down to who was able to recover the quickest. Neither player seemed fatigued during the first game as they both went all out, giving the crowd a thriller. Each player exchanged the lead and mini-runs several times. First it was Gudinas with an early 8-4 lead. Then Hallander tied it up and pulled ahead to 11-8. After a timeout, Gudinas came back on a run to earn game point at 14-11, before Hallander tied it up again at 14-all. Gudinas, known for her focus, didn’t fold but instead calmly earned a sideout and ended the game on a forehand pinch that the diving Hallander wasn’t able to retrieve.

Gudinas, not a fan of tiebreakers, came out looking to end the match in two. She jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead despite great diving gets by Kersten, who pulled within three points at 11-8. But that was as close as she would get as Gudinas closed it out and positioned herself for a fourth national crown on Sunday.

Gudinas felt that winning the first game was the key to the match. “Whoever doesn’t win a 15-14 game is going to come onto the court for the next game depressed. I think that is what happened to Kersten at the beginning of the second game.”

One more Time 
The finals were actually anti-climactic as Fenton began to experience renewed pain in her back and arms from her accident two years ago. “I felt good all week until today,” Fenton said after the match. “You have to have all of your tools physically and I didn’t. I am not taking anything away from Cheryl. She is a great player.”

As much as Fenton was feeling bad, Gudinas was feeling just fine, which didn’t make for a good combination on the court. “I think I played my best today,” Gudinas said. “I was a little uptight because I felt like I hadn’t been playing as well as last year, especially after watching the way Laura played all week.”

Gudinas won the match 15-6, 15-5 to become only the second woman to ever win four straight national singles championships. The other person is Michelle Gould who holds the record with five in a row. At 35, Gudinas has the record in her mind but knows that it won’t be a walk in the park to get there. “I just try to treat every tournament as a separate challenge,” she explained. “Next year isn’t going to get any easier.” •