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NEWS BRIEFS
Tournament draws about 100 players from around region
John Yaun returns against Summer Cook during the tennis Pepsi Independence Day Tournament on Friday, July 3, 2009, at Ritter Park.
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HUNTINGTON -- Tennis court renovations at Ritter Park Tennis Center may be a few more weeks away, but that hasn't stopped the annual action of the Pepsi Independence Day Open that started at noon Friday.
The annual tournament, which has drawn in about 100 tennis players from around the region and as far away as Chicago, runs through Sunday.
Tim Keegan, director of the Tennis Center, said that while the $732,000 renovation project of the courts is not completely finished, they were able to get up the fencing on Courts 1 and 2, which enabled them to keep the tournament at Ritter Park, instead of splitting the tournament between Ritter and Marshall.
"I talked to Marshall and they were very gracious and offered us use of their facilities," Keegan said. "But it's really hard to run a tournament from two sites. We really made a push to get the fence up on one and two so we could play. The courts aren't done, they still have to color the courts, but for now they are available to play."
Keegan said the tournament has a wide range of players from 12 and under to the oldest category of men's singles, 55 and older.
Although not the largest of the Center's tournaments, the Independence Day Open does draw in a good number of folks who are in the area visiting family for the holidays, and others traveling in just to play.
"We have a guy from Chicago in who is playing a match now and is going to try and play a second match because his wife is expecting," Keegan said. "He's driving back and then is coming back for the finals on Sunday."
Keegan said the public is welcome to come out and check out the action at the Center, which is located in Ritter Park, just off of 12th Street on Huntington's Southside.
The Tennis Center is open year-round for tennis for court rentals, private instruction, tennis camps, cardio-tennis sessions, and Rallyball to introduce little kids to the life-long sport.
Other upcoming tournaments include the Huntington Area Junior Open on July 25-26 as well as the largest of the Center's tournaments, the Dick Griffith Open that runs Sept. 5-7.
"We love to have people come out and watch," Keegan said. "We'll have matches going on all day and we have food here and it's a great atmosphere."
For more info, go online at www.huntingtontenniscenter.com or e-mail at tennis@huntingtontennis.com. You can call the Center at 304-696-5977.
