Two Orlando men won the men’s B doubles draw at the Liberty Open LGBT Tennis Tournment earlier this month.
Jason Holstein and Randy Carpenter won in what became the largest pool of players in the tournament’s history. In all, 40 doubles teams participated in the B-division.
In the finals, Holstein and Carpenter faced fellow Orlando Blossom Tennis Association player Bobby Sharp and his doubles partner David Sance, from Dallas.
The Orlando pair won 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 on the Grandstand Court.
The Liberty Open was staged at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center July 3-6.
The tournament was selected by the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Association to be one of the four Master Series Tournaments for 2009 (along with Miami, San Francisco and Zurich). Players in each Masters Series Tournament earn bonus points towards the year-end GLTA Champions Race Tournament.
The Liberty Open is played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, home to the U.S. Open Players from across the U.S. and around the world come to experience the courts where tennis greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin and Andy Roddick have played.
“Getting to play the B doubles final at the Grandstand at the US Open site where other tennis greats played is something that I won’t forget,” said Holstein, OBTA’s president. “It was an experience of a lifetime.”
OBTA is Orlando’s gay and lesbian friendly tennis league. All tennis enthusiasts are invited to join for free every Sunday at 9:15 a.m. at Sanlando Tennis Park in Altamonte Springs. For more information, visit OrangeBlossomTennis.org or e-mail Holstein at President@OrangeBlossomTennis.org.
