On December 9, eight professional and eight amateur tennis players competed in a charity tennis tournament at CuisinArt Resort and Spa. All the proceeds went to benefit the Anguilla Tennis Academy’s children’s programme. The tournament began with the inauguration of the new tennis courts at CuisinArt. This addition is coupled with the nearly finished Spa which is set to open early next year.

Down the line dutty celebrates his win

In an opening ceremony, Mr. Stephane Zaharia, General Manager of CuisinArt and recent winner of the Hotelier of the Year award, said that he was proud to have the new tennis courts as they will truly enhance the guest experience as well as give the children an opportunity to continue to train on different surfaces. CuisinArt is fully supportive of the ATA and also allows them to manage the facility at CuisinArt as a way to help supplement the children’s programme.
Rodney Ross, head pro of CuisinArt and an employee of the ATA, came up with the idea to hold a Pro-Am tournament to help raise money for the ATA, showcase the new courts and allow members of the community to participate in high quality doubles. Tanya Clark, a tennis enthusiast, also volunteered to be the tournament’s referee and did a fantastic job of organizing and running the tournament. Anguilla’s best tennis players were involved and included Mitch Lake, Jason Allen, Matt Cooper, Rodney Ross, Ryan Ross, Denny Derrick, Vallan Hodge and Sean Romney. The amateurs were Stephane Zaharia, Ira Bloom, Marty Bloom, Scott Hauser, John Benjamin, Christian McClean, Donald Curtis and Dr. Simmonds. Mitch Lake teamed up with Christian McClean also known as “back a da net dutty” (for his football skills) and ‘down the line dutty” (for his tennis skills), and were named the Primetimers. In college, Mitch Lake’s nickname was Primetime and as each team was asked to come up with a creative name, Mitch and Christian solidified their win as the Primetimers.

L-R: Rodney Ross, Christian McClean, Mitch Lake and Tanya Clark

At the beginning, each professional was assigned a number one through eight. To be fair, each amateur was drawn from a hat and assigned a pro in a sequential order. Once the teams were established and creative names were devised, play began. The round robin format ensured that every team played each other and after ten rounds, the team with the most games would be the champions. In the end, the Primetimers had 21 games, two more than the second place team of Ryan Ross and Donald Curtis. Christian McClean was very excited as it was his first ever tennis tournament win and invited some of the participants to Ferry Boat Inn to celebrate. After the awards ceremony, the players and public were invited to eat and drink a wonderful spread provided by the CuisinArt culinary team. The ATA plans to hold another Pro-Am Mixed Doubles event for the women after Christmas which will be held at the new ATA facility in Blowing Point.
- Jason Allen

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