The 22nd annual Betty Blakeman Memorial tennis tournament gets underway today at six sites in and around Yarmouth.

As the most popular event on the Maine Tennis Association calendar, the Blakeman is a three-day extravaganza coinciding with the Yarmouth Clam Festival and featuring a Saturday night barbecue for players and their families.

“I didn’t know what to expect going into it,” said Ben Cox, the second-year pro at the Portland Country Club who won his Blakeman debut last summer. “Everyone said it was the biggest tournament in Maine. And where else are you going to find the whole community coming around, no matter what the level?”

This year’s singles draws includes 92 men and 28 women. The men’s doubles draw boasts 36 teams. Women’s doubles have 19 teams and there are 16 teams in mixed doubles.

A dozen men signed up for 55-plus singles and five teams entered 55-plus doubles.

“After last year I kind of get it now,” Cox said. “It’s a lot of fun but there’s a lot of good competition, too.”

Cox, who played No. 1 at the University of Michigan, is seeded No. 1 in men’s singles. Brian Powell of Kennebunkport, a seven-time champion who played at Wake Forest, is No. 2.

Other top seeds are No. 3 Chris Angell of Brooklin, who played at Clemson and last weekend won the MTA championship, No. 4 Greg Janssen, the assistant tennis coach at Bates College, No. 5 Mike Burke, a former Lewiston High and University of Southern Maine player, and No. 6 Brian Mavor, a former Cape Elizabeth High and North Carolina State player, and another seven-time Blakeman champion.

“I think it’s going to be a terrific men’s tournament,” said Don Atkinson, the tireless tournament director.

Atkinson said both the men’s and women’s doubles fields are larger than ever.

Proceeds of the event go to the Cancer Community Center of South Portland, which has received more than $13,000 in the past two years as the Blakeman beneficiary.

Betty Blakeman died of breast cancer in 1989. Eric Blakeman and Carrie Davenport, Betty’s children, help organize the annual tournament.

“My mom was such an avid tennis player,” said Eric Blakeman, a four-time schoolboy state champion who went on to play at Northwestern.

“And the timing really works well with the Yarmouth Clam Festival. People look forward to it as an annual event. They remember my mom, and they come out to play and to watch great tennis.”

“With as big a draw as it is, it’s a logistical nightmare, but it tends to go very smooth because (Atkinson) is so good.”

Meghan Kelley of Falmouth made tournament history last year as the youngest women’s winner.

Now 13, Kelley will be in Florida at a national clay court tournament, so Chantalle Lavertu of Lewiston has been named the top seed.

A 2009 graduate of Lewiston, Lavertu played as high as No. 3 singles for Bowdoin this spring. She has been teaching tennis this summer at a club on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and opted for the Blakeman over a tournament involving mostly college players in Hanover, N.H.

“I missed (the Blakeman) last year,” she said Thursday. “I love the community aspect of it and that it’s a cancer fund raiser. Everyone has fun, but it’s competitive, too. It’s an all-around great tournament.”

The other seeds in women’s singles are No. 2 Curran Burfeind of Falmouth, No. 3 Maisie Silverman of Brunswick and No. 4 Analise Kump of Falmouth.

Burfeind is the 2002 and 2006 Blakeman singles champion. Silverman, a sophomore at Brunswick High, won last weekend’s MTA singles title and will partner with Lavertu in doubles. Kump, a senior at Falmouth High, was a schoolgirl semifinalist in the high school singles state tournament this spring.

“There are a lot of good players,” said Powell, 41, who played only doubles last year because of a shoulder injury. “It will be very challenging but I look forward to playing some tennis in a nice event, maybe not with the expectations I had a few years ago.”

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

 

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