'ALBANY OPEN TENNIS 2015' (APPARENTLY)

Now this could be one of those chapters where I have a gloat regarding a tournament victory but instead I will direct this at two 'guru's' of the game.
Last year I received some flack regarding my age and how I shouldn't be playing in the final of my local Championships. Apparently 'old blokes shouldn't be playing in finals', or so the story went.
There was also talk of last year's winners 'dominating for the next 5 years'. C'mon, surely most educated 'guru's' are aware that it's too hard to dominate at tennis especially in this region where the standard of doubles play is high.
So after last year's disappointing loss I photocopied and cut out a Social Media page and put it in my tennis bag. I read the comments directed at me regularly which gave me all the motivation I needed for this year.
Putting things into perspective however I had never played the Albany Open before with a kid or former student so it was more an experiment last year. We went oh so close to a tournament win, one service break was all we lost by, I felt it was a good performance.
The article I wrote to the local paper last year was full of genuine praise for the winners, two young fellows I have known since they were 11 and 12 year olds. They are aware of where their initial tuition came from, I will not go into it.
The article however was photographed and uploaded onto a Social Media page and two comments followed the article but my name was blocked out, not sure why, I wrote it.
To cut a long story short, the whole rather silly affair was one that made me work harder physically for this year's competition and made me think more about my game. You always learn more from a loss and I did after last year. I told myself I would refuse to lose two in a row. I always get up for my local championship, The Albany Open, Albany's biggest Senior Tennis Tournament.
Now I am not sure why certain individuals keep calling it 'The Emu Point Summer Championships'. It has been THE ALBANY OPEN ever since I was a kid. The following is from the Albany Advertiser of 2013 after I was fortunate enough to partner a good mate of mine David Bignell;

Kojonup’s David Bignell dominated play at the annual Albany Open tennis tournament to win two A-grade titles at the weekend in what was considered one of the strongest fields in several years.

Bignell, who recently returned from a stint playing in Europe, partnered defending champion Glenn Thompson in the men’s A-grade doubles and they lived up to their number-one seeding, convincingly winning the title at Emu Point Tennis Club on Saturday.
I think some people simply have to accept that this tournament is in fact named after the town in which we live and it is in fact an OPEN TOURNAMENT, pretty simple really. Just like the Albany Open Senior Tournament we used to have the Albany Open Junior Tournament held at the C and S Tennis Club when I was a junior. It wasn't called the C and S Summer Championships !!
It's a funny sport tennis and in my home town of Albany, well I have seen and read some funny things. Different names for events and different ways of spelling out what has always simply just been TENNIS.
It's already getting complicated this wonderful game, let's just try to keep it in black and white down here in sleepy hollow, Albany ,Western Australia.......