Curry wins singles, mixed doubles divisions

Laura Curry had a pretty nice introduction to the Lawrence Open tennis tournament last weekend.

Curry, who went 10-0 as a freshman at William Jewell College last season, easily won her open singles quarterfinal and semifinal matches Saturday  her first time taking part in the tournament.

She started Sunday by winning the division and finished with another victory in the mixed doubles finals.

After losing just four games in two singles matches Saturday, Curry defeated defending champion and Lawrence resident Gabrielle Giertz, 6-1, 6-0.

“I just think I had a really good day today,” Curry said, “and on any other day when I wasn’t playing that well it would have been a closer match. She’s a good player and she’s really consistent. I just had a really good day today. That’s what it came down to.”

Giertz had a different explanation.

“Just power, placement and consistency,” she said. “It was fun to play her. I’d seen her playing next to me and I knew she had great shots, but when I got that first forehand back I was like, ‘Uh oh. This is going to be a problem.’ She was just a beautiful player. She was amazing. I was happy to get a game.”

The two weren’t done competing, though as Curry, from St. Joseph, Mo., teamed with former William Jewell player J. D. Gravina for a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Giertz and Greg Hurst in mixed doubles.

Hurst lost his other doubles final, too. Don Carter and Kitcha Paranjothi beat Hurt and William Zung, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in the men’s open doubles championship  a battle of Lawrence residents.

Carter was the only player other than Curry to win two titles, picking up the men’s 45 singles championship with two round-robin victories Saturday.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Carter said. “This is the one tournament I make sure I play every year. It’s nice to play in a tournament and not lose a match, that’s for sure.”

Curry said the level of competition at the tournament was as difficult as what she faced at college. Carter said the field was as tough as it’s ever been.

“I think our doubles competition was probably some of the best competition I’ve played in a while,” he said. “The win we had in the semifinals was really a quality win and to beat Will and Greg, a couple of buddies of mine, was kind of fun, too.”

In a matchup of the top two seeds, Johnson County Community College sophomore Karol Zarucki won the men’s open singles title with a victory over No. 1 Sergio Esteban.

Zarucki lost the first set, 6-2, but bounced back to win the second and third, 6-2, 6-1.

“He’s a very tough opponent,” Zarucki said, “and I’m very glad to have gotten back in the second set. The first set I played pretty nervous, and I wasn’t warmed up enough to play my game but in the second set I started to play my game. In the second set, I think all my shots, especially my serve, started working, and I think my serve is my most important weapon.”

In other finals, Jim Branine of Olathe defeated No. 1 seed Chuck Pisano of Lenexa, 6-0, 6-2, in the men’s 3.5 singles division; Syke Carroll of Springfield, Mo., defeated Lawrence’s Chris Cox, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in men’s 4.0 singles; Fort Scott duo Roger Bailey and Lynn Barr defeated the brother tandem of Dan and Eric Becker, 6-2, 6-4, in men’s 3.5 doubles; and Roy Hall and Roger Herting def. Cox and Jim Digiovanni, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) in 4.0 doubles.