Hall-of-Famer Dodo Cheney Still Playing Singles at 95

Written by: Staff on 15th May 2012

Hall-of-Famer Dodo Cheney Still Playing Singles at 95 |

La Jolla, Calif. – (May 15, 2012) – Playing with confidence and using an aggressive all-court game, top-seeded Ros Nideffer cruised past unseeded Margaret Smith of Torrance, 6-0, 6-1, to reach the quarterfinals of the Women’s 50 division at the USTA National Senior Women’s Hard Court Tennis Championships.

Nideffer, a former touring tennis professional who lives in the San Diego community of Rancho Bernardo, will face fifth-seeded Vicki Buholz of Dallas, Texas in a  quarterfinal match scheduled for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. (PDT).

Playing on Court No. 8 on a bright, sunny day at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, Nideffer used two service breaks to jump out to a commanding 4-0 lead over Smith in the first set.

With Nideffer serving the fifth game, Smith had three break points after taking a 40-0 lead. However, Nideffer, once ranked as high at 15^th in the world, fought off each break point as she hit two overhead winners followed by a forehand winner.  She eventually held serve to extend her lead to 5-0.

After breaking Smith’s serve to win the first set, Nideffer opened the second set by holding serve to take a 1-0 lead. In the next game, Smith came back and held her serve when Nideffer netted a forehand service return on game point to tie the second-set at 1-1.

That would be the only game Smith would win as Nideffer went on win the next five games to close out the match which took a little over an hour to complete.

“I just forced myself to keep going for my shots and trying to get into the net and be aggressive,” said Nideffer as she spoke about the key to her second-round victory. “I was happier with my serve today. I had fewer bad tosses, so that’s progress.”

The 51-year-old Nideffer played on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour from the late 1970s through late 1990s. She is a two-time Wimbledon singles quarterfinalist and a two-time French Open doubles champion.

Following her time on the tennis tour, she concentrated on raising her family and didn’t play much tennis, but she has re-discovered that competitive spirit on the court that made her one of the top players in the world.

“There was a long period where I didn’t play at all. I started to play a little bit and I got the bug to want to try and play better and to try and play as well as I can,” Nideffer said. “I want to get myself to play some points like I used to. It feels so good to hit a good serve and get in and hit a good volley.”

In other action, tennis legend Dodo Cheney of Escondido, Calif., played her first singles match in the Women’s 90 Round-Robin. Cheney was scheduled to play only doubles this week, but was a last minute entry into the singles event.

The 95-year-old Cheney, who is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision to 90-year-old Lovie Beard of Houston, Texas. Cheney will play her second round-robin match against Anita Claeboe of Ponte Vedra, Fla. on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (PDT).

The La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club’s 40^th Annual Spring Senior Championships for men are also taking place the same week in conjunction with the women’s events. Although the men’s events are not national championships, they will feature many senior players who regularly compete in national tournaments. The men’s events will include singles and doubles for 60 and over, 65 and over, 70 and over, 75 and over and 80 and over age groups. A combined total of over 300 players are participating in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Matches are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. through Friday, May 18 and at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20. Championship finals will take place on Friday and Saturday.  Consolation finals will be played on Sunday.

Admission to the week-long tournament is free and open to the public. A snack bar and dining facility will be available to spectators. On-site parking will also be available for a nominal fee. Draws will be posted at the Beach Club and will be available at following link: http://tennislink.usta.com/TOURNAMENTS/TournamentHome_New/Tournament.aspx?T=113672