CORTA 65-over team reloaded and headed back to nationals

When Columbus USTA captain and longtime player Mark Levy had an accident in May, the first thing he thought about was if he could play at the 65-over 4.0 Georgia state championship in June, and if they won, the Southern sectionals in Hilton Head to defend the local team’s National title won in Surprise, Arizona.

“I went to the doctor, and they said I tore my rotator cuff and pulled the tendon from the bone and had surgery the very next day,” said Levy of his accident.

In addition to Levy’s injury, Columbus lost two more players from last year’s national championship team who moved up in ranking, Howard Rugaber and Joe Simon. Ron Hale couldn’t compete, either, after a heart condition required installation of a pacemaker.

Wearing a sling and only acting as captain, Levy’s team won the state title to gain a berth in the Southern, but with a different lineup.

Added to the roster were longtime and recently retired Green Island pro Henry Banaszak and newcomer William King, who Levy knew from area-level tournaments. The team also included Kim Glass and Randy Scott from Columbus, and Dickie Anderson, Jimmy Parker and Bill Blodgett of St. Simons.

“We combined a team like we did last year to get enough players at the 4.0 level to participate and go to state,” pointed out Levy. “And the combination worked.”

Following surgery, Levy worked on getting his shoulder back in shape — an early diagnosis projected a yearlong recovery. Levy was back in six months and competed in the Southern, playing four matches.

Levy combined with King to go 4-0, including winning at No.1 doubles.

“King lives in the Atlanta area, but his travel schedule was such he could not qualify with an Atlanta 4.0 team, where our team did not have local competition,” said Levy.

King is an original member of the Grammy Award-winning group The Commodores, and the group still performs on a regular basis.

“William told me he roomed with Lionel Ritchie, and Ritchie always had a tennis racket and talked William into playing. He says music is his first love, but tennis is his second,” reported Levy.

The Columbus team beat Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas in the group round-robin and defeated South Carolina 2-1 in the final to advance to the Nationals.

The Kentucky match had some drama, when in the first set, an opposing player to fell out and reported numbness in his leg.

“We called 911 right then, and they carried him to the hospital, and we were told he was having stroke,” said Levy. “We understand he is recovering.”

Now the local team is focused on getting ready for the National tournament, the first local CORTA team eligible to defend its crown. Columbus has had four other area champions, but none have defended their titles.

“Getting out of the Southern sectional is hard, but we are excited about going for a second straight title.” Levy said.

This story was originally published December 10, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "CORTA 65-over team reloaded and headed back to nationals."