SCRANTON — The top seeds came through in the men’s events, as Eamon Gibbons and the team of Steve Lehan and Joe McNulty captured titles in the Scranton Tennis Club Championships.
Gibbons took the Men’s A Singles title with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over second-seeded Robbie Azzarelli. In a battle of outstanding backhands, Gibbons was able to move the ball around a little better and close out points when he had the opportunity. Gibbons breezed past John Weiss 6-0, 6-2 in semifinal action, while Azzarelli had a grueling two-hour match with Bill Ziegler, winning 7-6(1), 3-6, (10-4).
In the Men’s A Doubles final, Lehan and McNulty edged John Weiss and Paul Pugliese 6-4, 4-6, (11-9) in a match eerily similar to last year’s final, won by Lehan and McNulty 12-10 in the third set tiebreaker. In the semifinals, Weiss and Pugliese ousted Justin Muthler and Joe Reese 6-1, 6-3, while Lehan and McNulty took out Zac and Ron Lehman 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s events, Devinne Scott and the team of Denise Marcos and Connie Weiss took titles. Scott, assistant girls tennis coach at Abington Heights, outlasted Lauren Koczwara, one of her players at the high school, 6-4, 7-5 to take the Women’s A Singles title. Marcos and Weiss knocked off the top seeds, Marion Reese and Kathleen McKenna, 7-6(3), 6-3 to win the Women’s A Doubles event.
To reach the final, Scott and Koczwara upended their seeded rivals. Scott eliminated second-seeded Megan McDonald 6-3, 6-3, while Koczwara rebounded to take the match tiebreaker and surprised top-seeded Joan MacDerment 6-3, 1-6, (10-6).
In the doubles semifinals, Marcos and Weiss defeated Maggie Ferraro and Jen Vitali 6-1, 6-1, and McKenna and Reese survived a challenge from McDonald and Koczwara, winning 6-2, 7-5.
Kyle Wind took the Men’s B Singles title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Luke Klamp. The Women’s B Doubles crown went to Maggie Ferraro and Jen Vitali, who barely defeated Joan Davis and Sidney Horvath 6-2, 6-7, (10-4).
John Weiss and Burt Reese were the tournament directors.
Attached are photos of the finalists: