From Cayman islands Tennis Club

Wow!  The 2013 PwC Cayman Men’s Invitational Championships, hosted by The Cayman Islands Tennis Club, finally had a worthy crowd to watch the best singles match between two people that the Island has ever seen.  Thank you, to all of you, that came out this afternoon to watch and pay your respects to two great players of the game of tennis!  The PwC Men’s Invite had two marquee players playing in the finals of today’s Championship Match.  Dennis Zivkovic, number 296 in the world, competing against another top 230 in the world at one time, a Canadian, Philip Bester.   Dennis, the number one seed of the PwC, due to his current ATP ranking, was facing a tough foe in the final, playing against  Philip Bester who was once ranked 220 in the world.  Two players that actually respect the game and the person that they see across the net each match they play, because both of them have one goal,  and that is to make it to the top 128 in the world so that they can compete in the next Grand Slam.

The final match went quickly, but it was very exciting to all 186 spectators that showed up this afternoon to witness such a great match.  Philip Bester ended up defeating Dennis Zivkovic 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).  The second set was within a point here and there, and it was within a point,  that all of you could of seen a another fantastic set between two great players of the game, but it did not,  so I hope you all appreciate what you saw today.  Both these guys had a great experience in Cayman and both have said they would like to come back.  Let’s all hope that it will happen because it is great for the sport that you all like and love and that is tennis, for the Island and for the Region.

Following the singles we had two doubles matches to top off the final evening of the 2013 PwC Cayman Men’s Invitational Championships.  In the finals we had the two brother sfrom Montego Bay, Jamaica, Marcus and McCoy Malcolm, facing a very touch doubles tandem in Dennis Zivkovic and Stefanno Ianni.  Dennis and Stefanno both have a doubles ranking in the top 150 in the world.  Stefanno, last year’s doubles Champ partnered with a stronger partner this year with Dennis.  The two brothers from Jamaica,  two nights ago might have had their best result in doubles beating Philip Bester and Thomas Neuert.  Tonight, they were playing against another “league” no offense to the young Jamaicans.  But tonight, Cayman, you witnessed the best doubles team to ever play in Cayman.  Dennis and Stefanno won 6-1,6-0.  Stefanno, the second year vet to the PwC Championships is 2-0 as far as doubles goes.  Playing off for third and fourth place was Philip Bester and Thomas Neuert versus Eduardo Torres and Mica Koll.  Philip and Thomas ended up catching the third place finish winning 6-4, 6-2.

I would like to give a special thank you to PwC; the primary sponsor of this great tournament that the Cayman Islands Tennis Club has hosted.  PwC has sponsored this tournament for the last seven years, and each year the tournament has seen more and more talented players come year after year.  It is a great partnership that PwC has with the Cayman Islands Tennis Club because they are supporting the game we all love, supporting tennis on the Island and making this great event  a regional attraction!

I would also like to thank Cayman National Bank for their second year of sponsorship and helping with the improvement to the PwC Cayman Men’s Invitational Championships.

Thank you to all of the members of the Cayman Islands Tennis Club for letting us to be able to support such a fantastic event!  We have a great venue to be proud of, so it is great of you to let other people cherish that venue.

I also thank the Board of Directors of CITC for allowing me to do this fantastic tennis tournament for Cayman.  It is a lot of long hours and hard work but it is all worth it at the end.

I would like to thank Dale Avery for assisting me in the tournament and for designing this year’s tournament shirt. And thanks to  Peter O’Leary for assisting in the umpiring.

A special thanks to the families and the people that have housed the players during their stay.  To be honest, if it was not for you, we would not be able to have such a tournament.  Although the guys are great and all, it would be very difficult for them to spend the money in a hotel.    Thank you very much to The Cummer’s, The Bjuro’s and Doctor Christian.

Thanks to Boss Hoggs BBQ for providing great food from Tuesday to Friday and thanks to Caribo’s for providing great food for the final night!

Now, the biggest thank you has to go to the participants of this great PwC tournament!  The players!  Thank you to all of you that have come far and near.  All of you members and guests  have seen a great show, and I hope you all appreciate it.  These guys have given all of you an education, respect and a great deal of talent at their sport.  If it was not for the players of the 2013 PwC Cayman Men’s Invite, the event simply would not happen.  Thanks guys, we hope to see you all next year.

Quarter finals: $200 USD

Richard Bullbring

Marcus Malcolm

Ilian Nachev

Mica Koll

Semi-finals: $500 USD

McCoy Malcolm

Stefanno Ianni

Finalist:  $1250 USD

Dennis Zivkovic

Champion: $2500 USD

Philip Bester

Doubles Finalist: $1000 USD per Team

Marcus and McCoy Malcolm

Doubles Champion: $200 USD per team

Dennis Zivkovic and Stefanno Ianni

Well, that is it.  A final good night from the Cayman Islands Tennis Club and the 2013 PwC Cayman Men’s Invitational Championships!

Cayman Islands Tennis Club

Rob Seward – Director of Tennis/Club Manager

Adam Bayley – Assistant Tennis Pro

Dale Avery – Assistant Tennis Pro

P.O. Box 1813

Grand Cayman, KY1-1109