75-year-old Meyerdierks is in full swing

By NANCY MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 13, 2001

Just because Bob Meyerdierks is 75, don't expect him to slow down.

In fact, the St. Petersburg winter resident seems to be increasing his activities.

An attempt to locate Meyerdierks at his home in Sapphire, N.C., requires waiting until he completes 18 holes of golf after a morning of tennis.

"It's typical for me to play about three hours of tennis, then to get in 18 holes of golf," Meyerdierks said. "That, for me, is a good day."

Meyerdierks, who first played tennis when he was 11, has competed in local and state tournaments most of the time since and began entering national competitions in 1955. Splitting his residence six months of the year has allowed Meyerdierks to earn Florida singles and doubles rankings, as well as national.

"Except for about three years during the war and some time off while working and raising a family, I've pretty much kept with tennis," said the retired car dealer. "I've been lucky and haven't gotten hurt much, so I've been able to just keep playing."

Meyerdierks was ranked fourth in Florida singles in the 70-plus division. This year, he's No. 1 in the 75 class in singles and No. 1 in doubles with Jim Mackay, who splits his residence between St. Petersburg and Virginia Beach. Nationally, Meyerdierks is fourth in singles and No. 3 in doubles with Mackay.

Recently, Meyerdierks was selected to compete on the U.S. senior international team of 75-year-olds in the Bitsy Grant Cup in Perth, Australia. The defending champions finished third behind Austria and runner-up Australia.

"This was my first time to compete, and it was such an honor," Meyerdierks said. "I didn't expect it to be such a big deal, but the ceremony was like the Olympics -- with all of the players from the 13 countries lined up in a stadium wearing uniforms to represent their country. I was so proud to be there."

Each team included two singles positions and a doubles. Meyerdierks joined forces with Bill Tully of New York in doubles. Other squad members, chosen from the top five ranked nationally in 75, were Tony Franco of New York and Graydon Nichols and Stanton Welsh of California. New York's Fred Kovaleski, the No. 1 player, was unable to compete.

"We played on grass courts, which were more like a putting green type of grass," Meyerdierks said. "None of us play that much on grass anyway, but we practiced as much as we could beforehand. You definitely want to get that first serve in and play a lot of serve and volley."

Meyerdierks hopes to keep his national ranking among the top five so he will be eligible for next year's cup competition in Austria.

LEAGUE UPDATE: Feather Sound Country Club clinched the women's 3.5 USA League Tennis local league championship with a 4-1 victory over East Lake Woodlands last weekend.

In the playoff match, Feather Sound relied on Debbie Komarnicki in No. 2 singles and the doubles teams of Terry Connors and Deborah VanBrunt, No. 1, Jane Gordon and Susan Powers, No. 2 and Martha Wells and Donna DiLonardo, No. 3. Also playing for the club is Elaine DiLoretto, Julie Mores, Tiny Read, Terry Hubener, Betty Oberding and Dede Natale.

Feather Sound brings an unblemished record to the regional tournament in July at Longboat Key.

In other action, the Renaissance Vinoy edged Safety Harbor Spa 3-2 in the second round of the men's 3.5 playoffs, as did the Racquet Club to Royal Racquet Club.

Saturday, the Vinoy plays host to the Racquet Club, and the Spa battles Royal Racquet Club in the final round of play to determine the league champion. The men's 4.0 playoff between Seminole Lake Tennis Center and Countryside Country Club is scheduled for Saturday.

SMART TENNIS: St. Petersburg's Morgan Basil upset top-seeded Kelly Palmer of Tampa 7-5, 6-3 in the girls 10-and-under division of the Train Smart Tennis Clay Court Junior Championships earlier this month. St. Petersburg's Garrett Betsarakis beat Wesley Chapel's Nicholas Moore 6-1, 7-5 in the boys 10 class.

STATE CLOSED: The girls scheduled to compete in the USTA Florida Section Junior Championships in the Orlando area include Alexandra Cercone, in the division for 10-year-olds; Lindsay Dvorak and Morgan Frank, 12; Christina Liles, 14; Bugsy Bauer, Katie Fenzl, Kaela Kennedy and Monica Sly, 16; and Jennifer Dent, Kelly Nelson, Evangelina Soriano and Natalie Tirapelli, 18. Among the boys are Nicholas Smith, in the class for 12-year-olds; Nicholas Berning, Sonny Kennedy and George Navas, 14; Ryan Buchanan, Haley Dodson, Patrick Gleason, Fred Johnson, Brandon Pierpont and Marc Sawyer, 16; and R.J. Murray, 18.

COMING UP: Suncoast Tennis meets Saturday at Safety Harbor Spa. Call 898-8140 for information. ... The St. Petersburg Tennis Center Junior Open begins Saturday for singles competitors 18 and younger. Call SPTC, (727) 893-7301, or Al Sarmiento, (727) 360-2643, today to enter.

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