The tennis year is annually brought to a close at a three-event pre-holiday spectacular. Hosted by the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, the home of senior tennis, the trio of late November early December USTA National Championships – Men and Women’s 40 Hard Court, Father & Son, and Grandfather & Grandson – was as appealing as it was intriguing.

The level of play surpassed expectations, leading to almost daily results surprises. The singles champions were a case in point. The men’s final, a contest between Northern Californians, Jeff Greenwald of San Anselmo, the tournament winner in 2009, and Oren Motevassel of San Jose, who was the champion in 2011 and ’12, wasn’t played. (Greenwald received a walkover.) Motevassel injured his right knee in his 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 semifinal victory over Jesse Walter of Mercer Island, Washington. (Walter had slipped past Tony Bujan, the singles champion the past three years, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.)

Greenwald, the winner of the National Men’s 50 Hard Court title during the summer at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club, had been contending with a variety of injuries. Uncertainty about his readiness forced him to enter the tournament at the last minute. Any doubts about his fitness were erased after he survived a three-hour 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 semifinal contest against No. 1 seed, Stuart Ross Duncan.

The women’s final pitted Dina McBride, the top-seed and tournament winner in 2012 and 2014, against Hiromi Sasano, a native of Chiba, Japan, who now calls San Diego home. The No. 4 seed ran off with the first set, 6-1, and was up 5-2 in the second before McBride launched a ferocious comeback. She tied the score at 5-5, but a very painful end to the contest came in the eleventh game. She had a break point with Sasano serving 30-40, but injured her right leg while scurrying across the baseline, and was forced to retire.

Sadly, for McBride the outcome was Deja vous all over again. In 2011, in the Women’s 40 final against Jennifer Dawson, she collapsed at 3-3 in the first set when her left leg gave way and she was unable to continue.

There is an old saying – Horses are for courses –and given his record at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, it would be hard to find a better way to describe Peter Smith’s play. He was the Men’s 40 singles champion 2005 through ’07. In doubles, he claimed trophies with Paul Settles in 2006 and Jeff Tarango in 2009. He scored a trifecta with Neel Grover winning in 2012, ’14 and then once again, last year. This time out, he teamed with Mike Noel to slip past Pat Crow and Tarango, 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.

The Father & Son Hard Court Championship was first held at the at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in 1959. Since its inception, the tournament has showcased an all-star cast of participants. This year, the participant roster will likely “never be matched.”

Brad Gilbert, former world No. 4, teamed with Zachary (Zach), a former Cal Berkeley performer. Murphy Jensen, whose 1993 Roland Garros win with older brother, Luke, startled the tennis world, partnered with Billy Givens Jensen, who regularly plays Southern California junior tournaments. Jonathan Stark, who reached No. 1 in the ATP doubles ranking on August 1, 1994, played with Charles (Charlie), one of the top Pacific Northwest juniors. Jeff Tarango, a 1999 Roland Garros finalist with Goran Ivanisevic in 1999, and Jackson, one of the youngest juniors competing, were making their third appearance in the tournament. Erik van Dillen, a formidable Davis Cup performer with 14 US tie appearances, took to the courts with Hague, who played at California State University Sacramento.

The Gilberts were the top seeded “name” team at No. 6. The Starks followed at No. 9, the van Dillens were No. 10, and the Jensens were No. 12.

Aware that the “names” had limited Father & Son experience, and now play sporadically, (and rarely compete in anything other than pro-ams), tournament officials kept this in mind when making the draw. As a result, Peter and Tanner Smith, the USC men’s coach and his eldest son, (a member of his current team), were the No.1 seed. Bruce Man-Song-Hing, an All-American at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and Bruce Man-Song-Hing, Jr., who is now attending UCI, were seeded No. 2.

In the quarterfinals, the Man-Song-Hings downed the Gilberts, 6-4, 6-3, after they had defeated the van Dillens, 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 16. The Smiths stopped the Starks in that same round, 6-1, 6-2. Andrew and Thomas Lake of Davie, Florida ended the Jensens run in another round of 16 contest by the same score. The Tarangos played their hearts out, but dropped a first-round encounter.

Living up to their tournament seed, the Smiths were 6-2, 6-2 better than the Bruce Man-Son-Hings in the final. Having previously earned titles with Riley Smith in 2013, Tanner in 2014, and Riley last year, Peter Smith now has four straight triumphs. Bjorn and Carsten Hoffmann escaped with a third place victory over the Lakes, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

Historically, Dick Leach, the former USC men’s tennis coach, leads the Father & Son trophy count with ten titles (six with Rick and four with Jonathan). Brian and Brett Joelson, the Beaverton, Oregon duo who has nine championships over all, claimed eight in a row between 2003 and 2010.

It isn’t in the least surprising that competing in the same tournament with the likes of Gilbert, Jensen, Stark, Tarango and van Dillen will be one of the top “look back” memories for many of the contestants as well as the spectators.

“It is great to be playing the Father & Son with fathers who have won Grand Slams and played Davis Cup,” Smith said. “The draw is really strong. There are so many good teams, and only the Joelsons are missing.”

Gilbert noted, “Most of the teams that did well had a youngster in his late teens teaming with a father who could still move around the court.” He added, “The last time I played a USTA national tournament I was either 18 or 19, but I really wasn’t surprised. I knew that there were some good teams. I wish I had played better. I also wish we had done this six or eight years earlier. That was the optimum time for us, but it was hard to do because of our schedules.”

The Starks took part in their first Father & Son event in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After this year’s tournament Jonathan said, “It is a ton of fun being out on the court with Charlie. Each time creates a special memory that we will always have…”

For Paul Settles, the esteemed men’s tennis coach of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the tournament was very fulfilling. “In the past, I played with my father, Jim, Sr., and he also played with my brother, Jim Jr. He (my father) had a string of 58 appearances that was broken only a few years ago.

“I am playing with my son, Christian. He was one of the top juniors in the section in the 8s and 10s, but when he turned 11, he had grown tired of the ‘me against the world’ intense competition. He stopped playing (between the ages of 11 and 15), and took up beach volleyball (and became very good) because it was fun.

“A few years ago, we were at the Agawam Hunt Grass Court Championships and he saw how much my father and brother enjoyed playing. The experience made him realize that Father & Son competition is also fun, and it brought him back to tennis.” (The Smiths defeated the Settles’ 6-3, 6-2 in the Father & Son quarterfinals.)

Not to be overlooked, Chase Helpingstine of San Francisco and Ronald Keiger of Wilmington, North Carolina scored a persuasive 6-0, 6-0 victory over Bob Hoffman of West Hempstead, New York and Christopher Schwab of Massapequa, New York in the Grandfather & Grandson final. (The inaugural tournament was held at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in 2003.)

Eleanor Hammargren and Jennifer Lyons collected the Women’s 40 doubles crown with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Amy Alcini and Carolina Blouin of Augusta, Georgia. The 40 Mixed doubles was an all-section affair in which Tracie Currie and William (Willie) Quest defeated Brett Buffington and Ros Nideffer by the same score, but reversed 6-3, 6-1.

William (Bill) J. Kellogg, the Tournament Director who is President of the Southern California Tennis Association said of the over-all event, “It’s one of the most impressive fields that we have had in a long while.”

The ever-candid Gilbert, after taking part in his first Father & Son Championship admitted, “It’s a great event played at a beautiful club near the ocean. It’s really unique. But, then, it’s the Father & Son…”

Mark Winters