The Key West citizen., 1954-12-13
Upsets Marks City Tennis Tournament
Charly Lott
Gusts Varela
In LIST Round

Sensational upsets Of the
second and third-seeded
players in the first round.
marked the opening of the
1864 City tennis champion
ships over the weekend,
making city net pro Les
jain look somewhat psychic
in his Friday prophecy of
several upsets.
The balls had barely begun bang
ing across the nets Of Bayview
Park when veteran Charlie Lott
started to fashion what will prob
ably be the upset Of the tourna-
ment, when he rudely ousted for
mer city champion and second :
seeded Pete Varela in Saturdays
feature match.
Playing each other to a stand
OF IN the first two sets, Lott came
back stronger than Varela in the
decisive set, the determinging fac
tor being several near miracu-
lous gets engineered by Lott at
crucial points.
Nearly as startling, and proba-
bly, even more important to the fu-
ture Of Key West tennis, was the
impressive victory scored by Key
West High Schools seventeen :
year old Henry Cleare over VIII
Pearce, third seeded veteran and
one Of Key Vests most improved
players. Cleare's win over the
steady playing insurance man
marked the first time he had ever
beaten Pearce. After the match,
City champion Bill Barnes stated
that Cleare and Pearce had played
theRbest tennis match he had ever
seen on Bayview Parks tennis
courts. The score was so, Is, 10
&
Cleare started the feature SUM-
day match like 4 wild man, play
ing seven straight stanzas of pure
" sensational tennis, and featuring
4 looping f0rehand drive that Dip
ed at the last minute to catch side
line or backline. and following up
to the net.
Tlring q bit from his own NOM
entlim, Henry faltered at a / :
lead In the second set, and canny
win Pearce finally succeeded in
taxing control Of the game. At this
point Pearce matched drive for
drive with CIeare, and succeeded ia
passing Henry at net, q position in
which Henry had been invulnerable
the first set.
Winning the second set, Pearce
elected to rest few minutes, a de.
cision which turned out to be fatal.
CIeare came back strong and the
tide Of battle kept the spectators Oh
the edge Of their benches while
Cleare successfully negotiated
three match points for Pearce "a
eventually reach matchpoint him.
self.
Three times Pearce fought off the
fatal point with bulldog courage
but Henry Cleare was not to be
denied this, the first upset he haG
ever been able to evolve in his
short career, finally winning the
third set 10 : 8 with, appropriately
enough, a flashing cross-court TOP.
spin forehand drive.
Joe Antink was impressive with
q b o; g. 0 win over under.
tennised Earl Yates.
Johnny Sellers, Key West High
Sch0oler, took Tom Barnes inif
camp with . flashy 8 2; e. O.
City champ Bin Barnes looked
good in q victory over Don Nc.
Lean, 8 = 2; g. !. Mclean had
previously beaten Joe Domenech
81; 6-1, In the Journeys only
round-of-32 match.
Ray Nesbitt had . bit of trouble
upending Fred Fishel, as did Len
Reinhart in his defeat of young Ro.
bert Piarrot.
Harvey and Jack Sellers have vel
TO play their scheduled first round
contest.
Future matches win be announ,
ced In The Citizen, with the semis
and finals to be staged this next
weekend.