By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
City Tennis Tournament has repeat champs
City Tennis Tournament has repeat champs
Left: Brothers Travis and Wesley Saunders won the Men’s “A” Doubles title at the annual Monroe City Tennis Tournament on June 28 at Recreation Park. Wesley Saunders won the Men’s “A” Singles championship the day before, it was his second straight city championship. Center: Emily Boyd and Kelsey Barrett repeated as champions in the Women’s “A” Doubles tournament. Right: Adeline Eckerman and Lindsay Leuzinger finished second in the Women’s “A” Doubles tournament. Leuzinger was the champion in the Women’s “A” Singles bracket, while Eckerman was the champion of the Women’s “B” Singles tournament.
City Tennis Tournament has repeat champs
City Tennis Tournament has repeat champs

The annual Monroe City Tennis Tournament was held on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28 at the newly resurfaced Recreation Park courts. In men’s singles “A” Division, Wesley Saunders won a back-to-back championship on Saturday, June 27.

According to Monroe tennis coach Matt Bordner, “Wes ended up winning the bracket again and continues to improve his game each year while playing at Hamline University on their men’s team. Matthew Setterstrom had another strong showing and placed top 3 for the fourth straight year. Travis Saunders also cracked the top 3 for his first time as he defeated Bruce Knuteson 11-10 in a thrilling match to close out the night.”

In Women’s Singles “A” Division, Lindsay Leuzinger brought home the trophy again, as she also won it in 2024. She played a great tournament and continues to develop while playing at UW-Stout. Ryann Dahlman took second place while reigning champion Layla Pallesen took third. Liza Hunter of Roscoe, Ill., also joined the tournament and took fourth place.

The Women’s “B” Division also featured competitive matches and a lot of excitement. Adeline Eckerman won the division with wins over Stella Doyle and Elise McKenzie, who ended up taking second.

Bordner was also impressed with an influx of youth competing in the tournament.

“We saw Stella Doyle (going into 8th grade) and Pearl Hillary (going into 9th grade) enter the tournament. For Pearl and Stella, it was great for them to get legit match experience at such a young age. It will be fun to see their tennis careers continue to grow,” Bordner said.

Day 2 of the Monroe City Tennis Tournament on Sunday, June 28 was all doubles, although mixed doubles had to be canceled. Play was stopped for about two hours as a storm passed through the area. Officials squeegeed the courts and were able to finish out all of the Men’s and Women’s brackets.

Bordner, who runs the tournament, said the event was fun with the formation of sibling teams, a father/son team, and some of the youngest players to compete in the tournament (Emersyn Bartholf, Stella Doyle, 8th grade, and Pearl Hillary, 9th grade).

“We are super fortunate to have a small town tennis tournament in Monroe that has something for everyone,” said Bordner. “I’d highly encourage folks next year to consider signing up, as we will again have brackets for beginners as well as more experienced players. It was awesome to see so many families