Kirkland tennis team finishes fourth nationally

The men's tennis team from Central Park Tennis Club in Kirkland just returned from the USTA 3.0 40 and over national championship in Tucson, Ariz., where they finished fourth nationally out of 15 regional championship teams from around the U.S. and the Caribbean.

October 30, 2015 6:18 pm
Pictured from left are Kirkland teammates Kirk Stanford
Pictured from left are Kirkland teammates Kirk Stanford

The men’s tennis team from Central Park Tennis Club in Kirkland just returned from the USTA 3.0 40 and over national championship in Tucson, Ariz., where they finished fourth nationally out of 15 regional championship teams from around the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Central Park, captained by Oliver Graves, won all four of its matches on Oct. 16-17 to advance to the national semifinals on Oct. 18. They beat teams from Northern California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas to finish the preliminary rounds undefeated.

Central Park lost an extremely close semifinal match to the Southern regional champion from Louisiana. Until that morning, the team had been undefeated through its entire regular season, local playoffs and Northwest regional playoffs, piling up an amazing 19 straight wins.