ALTON - Men's top seed Evan Erb of St. Louis, and women's top seed Autumn Rabjohns of Lake Forest, Ill., won their open singles crowns, as other players and doubles teams won titles in the 41st annual Bud Simpson Open tennis tournament, played over the weekend at the Simpson Tennis Center in Gordon Moore Park.
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The tournament is named for Bud Simpson, a longtime supporter of tennis in the Alton area. was well known in the Alton area for kindness, dedication to both the game and young people, and being a true sportsman. He and his family are still very highly thought of in the Riverbend area.
In the quarterfinals of the men's open singles. Erb won over Colin Fox of Winnetka 3-6, 6-3, 11-9, while John Varley of St. Louis won over Ethan Foucheaux of Jefferson City, Mo. 6-1, retired due to injury, Stefan Hester of Palos Verdes, Calif., won over Danny Radke of St. Charles, Mo., 5-7, 6-3, 10-2, and Case Fagan of St. Louis defeated Jesse Hattrup of Edwardsville 6-4. 6-0. The results of the semifinals showed Erb winning over Varley 6-2, 6-3, and Fagan eliminating Hester 3-6, 6-3, 10-4. Erb won the final over Fagan 6-1. 6-2.
In the 35-and-over singles, Joe Oakes of Collinsville won a round-robin format, going 2-0. Oakes won over Yangdong Pan of Edwardsville 6-1, 6-0, and Brian Stachowski of Maryville 3-6, 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreak), 10-6. In the other match, Stachowski won over Pan 6-0, 6-1.
In a round-robin format for the 45-and-over singles, the winner was Nick Mueller of Troy, who won over Greg Malone of St Louis and Centron Felder of St. Louis, both by 6-0, 6-0 scores. The other match was won by Malone over Felder 6-2, 4-6, 10-4.
The 55-and-over singles opening match was won by Christopher Goo of O'Fallon, Mo., in a walkover against Rob Lowry of Carbondale. In the semifinals, Rick Tao of Chesterfield, Mo., won over Ulises Arteaga of Hazelwood, Mo. 6-1, 6-0, and Jeff Jackson of House Springs, Mo., defeated Goo 6-0, 6-0. In the final it was Tao winning over Jackson 6-1, 6-2.
In the men's open doubles, Fox and Fagin won over Alex Meyer of Lake St. Louis, Mo. and Colton Hulme of Edwardsville 6-1, 6-1, Rob White and Steve Moehn, both of St. Louis, eliminated Jai Patel and Paul Castleman from St. Louis 2-6, 6-3, 10-5, it was Erb and Nathan Chan of St Louis winning over the Edwardsville of Hattrup and Jade Dynamic 6-2, 6-1, and Hester and Radke won over Devan and Dylan Faulkenberg of Troy 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreak), 6-0. The results of the semifinals showed Fox and Fagan winning over White and Moehn 6-0, 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreak), and Erb and Chan won over Hester and Radke 7-5, 3-6, 11-9. In the final, it was Fox and Fagan defeating Erb and Chen 6-2, 6-4.
In the Men's 35-and-over doubles, in a round robin tournament, Tim Hasara of St. Louis and Dave Snider of Collinsville won the championship by going 2-0, defeating Eric Armbrecht of and Ryan Calfee, both of St. Louis, 6-1, 6-3, and Malone and Felder 6-1, 6-0. In the other match, Armbrecht and Calfee won over Malone and Felder 6-1, 6-2.
In the women's open singles, Rabjohns won over Rya Arreazola of Janesville, Wisc. 6-0, 6-1, Aryn Walker of St. Louis defeated Isabel Wells of O'Fallon, Ill., 6-3, 6-3, Shannon Gordon-Carney of Elsah won over Mia McIssac Fairview Heights 6-1, 6-0, and Chloe Koons of Edwardsville won over Jocelyn Carmody of Troy 6-1, 6-2. In the semifinals, it was Rabjohns winning over Walker 6-0, 6-2, and Koons defeated Gordon-Carney 6-4, 6-2. Rabjohns took the championship over Koons 6-4, 6-1.
In the women's 45-and-over Trish Arreazola of Janesville won the round robing tournament, by winning both of her matches, defeating Laurie Berke of St Louis 6-1, 6-0 and Sarah Rose of Alton by injury walkover. Burke won the other match over Rose by injury walkover.
In the women's open doubles, Koons and Hannah Colbert of Edwardsville won their quarterfinal match over Trish and Rya Arreazola 7-5, 6-1, McIssac an Carmody won over Katie Woods and Sophie Byron of Edwardsville 2-6, 7-5, 11-9, and Yvonne Shannon of St. Louis and Walker won over Julia Harriss and Zoe Byron of Edwardsville 6-2, 6-1. In the semifinals, Koons and Colbert defeated Katie Ferguson of Wildwood, Mo. and Daniela Rosenberger of St. Louis 4-6, 6-4, 10-3, and Shannon and Walker got past McIssac and Carmody 6-2,6-2. In the final Koons and Colbert won the title over Shannon and Walker 6-0, 6-4.
In the open mixed doubles, Schaefer Bates of Edwardsville teamed up with Sophie Byron to go 2-0 and win the round-robin competition. Bates and Sophie Byron won over Josie Wojcikiewicz and Matthew Lehr of HIghland 5-7, 6-0, 10-7, and Kathryn Claywell of Alton and Jacob Guse of Troy 6-0, 6-2. In the other match, Wojcikiewicz and Lehr defeated Claywell and Guse 2-6, 6-3, 10-3.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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