MONROE — The 50th annual Monroe City Tennis Tournament was held June 19-20 at Recreation Park. Stephanie Dinderman won the women’s title, while Preston Engel won the men’s title. Emily Boyd and Kelsey Erickson won the women’s doubles title. The men’s doubles championship was postponed due to weather with final results not available by press time.

“After not having it last year we were really excited to get back to it and had a solid turnout,” said Matt Bordner, first-year tournament organizer and participant. “We had seven women’s singles players, 10 women’s doubles teams, 12 men’s singles, and nine men’s doubles teams. On Saturday, we counted 41 matches that were sent out which was totally amazing. It was impressive how many people played both singles and doubles on such a hot day. We loved the turnout and are hopeful it will grow into an even bigger tournament next summer.”

In the women’s singles flight, Dinderman defeated Terry Rizzo in the championship, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-1. Kylie Miller was third, beating Uli Dornhagen 7-5, 6-1.

“The championship was a grinder. Stephanie and Terry battled in a match that took over 2 hours and both played really well. Terry slowed down a bit as the match wore on and Stephanie finished strong to win the championship,” Bordner said. “The draw was a very competitive one with a lot of close matches. It’s always great to see competitive matches and I think everyone really had a lot of fun in the women’s singles division.”

In women’s doubles, Boyd and Erickson won  convincingly, with the entire Final Four re-working its scheduling due to the changing weather and time constraints. The semifinals went to a round-robin style tournament with all tandems playing at least one set against each other. 

Dornhagen and Dinderman finished second. Jensen Christensen and Grace Tostrud were third and sisters Sadie and Sydney Conway finished fourth.

In the men’s singles tournament, Engel rallied to defeat Silas Setterstrom 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Marius Schradermeier beat Ed Schradermeier in the third place match, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-8.

“The third place match took place on Sunday, and it was a treat to watch Marius play against his dad, Ed on Father’s Day,” Bordner said. “The championship was everything that you hope for in a championship. Preston and Silas battled out countless long points. They’ve battled plenty of times before and it’s always great tennis. They split the first two sets and we had a weather delay due to rain, so we decided to come back to play with a full third set since we had about a 30-40 minute delay. Preston took the third set in what ended up being a truly memorable men’s championship.”

Overall, Bordner said the men’s field was fun and memorable.

“The men’s singles bracket was a lot of fun. There were guys who hadn’t played tennis in a decade, young high school players, and plenty of experienced players as well. The matchups and camaraderie was great,” Bordner said.

In the men’s doubles division, Mark and Silas Setterstrom took third, defeating Guillermo Noriega and Matthew Setterstrom. 

“The men’s doubles draw was also a ton of fun. On Father’s Day weekend, it was truly special to see Marius Schradermeier pair up with his dad, Ed. Silas Setterstrom paired up with his dad, Mark, and Carsen Bartholf paired up with his dad, Dan,” Bordner said. “The 3rd place match was really fun to watch at the end of Saturday night and went until 8PM. Those guys had been out playing tennis all day, and to grit out one more match was truly incredible.”

The championship match between the Schrademeiers and a partnership between Engel and Frank Meier was postponed. The Schradermeiers won the first set 6-3 and held a 3-2 lead when inclement weather pushed stalled the match. Bordner said the two teams planned to finish the match at a later date.

“Most of the match saw a light drizzle, and deeper into the second set it started raining more significantly. The guys played as long as they could, but we had to call the match midway through that second set as the courts were becoming unsafe for play and the tennis balls were becoming heavy from the rain,” Bordner said. “It was again another draw with great camaraderie and I think everyone just enjoyed playing and seeing some fantastic tennis out on the courts through Saturday and Sunday.”

Bordner said that he’ll make a few adjustments for next year’s tournament, which could include bringing back a mixed-doubles tournament. 

“I was overall really pleased with the turnout and it was super nice getting the local tennis community back together and enjoying each others’ company,” Bordner said.