Stephen Welch of Southlake has been selected by the USTA and National Wheelchair Tennis team coach Dan James to compete in his fifth Paralympic Games in London in September.
Welch, 39, is one of nine players selected for the team. He joins Jon Rydberg of Oakdale, Minn., Steve Baldwin of San Diego and Noah Yablong of Tucson, Ariz., on the men's team.Welch, a former world No. 1, won a gold medal in doubles in the 1996 Atlanta Games with Chip Parmelly. Welch also reached the finals in singles in Atlanta and again in 2000 in Sydney. He made the singles semifinals in Athens in 2004, and lost in the round of 16 in Beijing in 2008.The women's team includes Emmy Kaiser of Fort Mitchell, Ky., and Mackenzie Soldan of Louisville, Ky.The quad team will be led by two-time doubles gold medalists David Wagner of San Diego and Nick Taylor of Wichita, Kan. They will be joined by first-time Paralympian Bryan Barten of Tucson.The competition will take place Sept. 1-8 at Eton Manor, a new 10,500-seat venue built specifically for wheelchair tennis in London's Olympic Park.U.S. Open SectionalFormer Texas Longhorns player Jon Wiegand defeated defending champion Artem Baradach 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2) to win the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying Tournament at the Arlington Tennis Center on June 23.Peggy Porter, a 16-year-old from Dallas, defeated Elena Kordolaimi 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 at the women's singles title.And for the second year in a row, Samantha and Harrison Adams of New Braunfels won the mixed doubles title by defeating Porter and Josh Hagar of Austin, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (5).Wiegand and Porter advance to the U.S. Open National Playoffs on Aug. 17-20 in New Haven, Conn. The U.S. Open National Playoffs Mixed Doubles Championships is scheduled for Aug. 22-25.Briefly Sectional champs: The Fort Worth 7.0 mixed doubles team, captained by Elaine McCallon, defeated Abilene to win the Texas Sectional Championship on June 10 in Corpus Christi. The team will represent the state at the national tournament. Team members include Pam Eppinette, Melinda Kay Woodward, Patty Avery, Les Thomas, Steve Byam, Steven Samuel, Gayle Hale, Marsha Diane Scott, Jeff Corman, Irma Brown, Robert Kobs, Nelda Sledd, Maurice Sledd, Christi Gordon, Marilyn Tomko, William Wolff and Roy Guinnup. Texas Tennis Open: Tickets for the Texas Tennis Open, scheduled for Aug. 17-24 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel in Grapevine, are on sale through Ticketmaster or by calling 817-313-3424. Ticket packages are available. Among the players who have committed to play are Wimbledon semifinalist and No. 8-ranked Angelique Kerber, defending Texas Open champion and No. 15-ranked Sabine Lisicki, and former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. Pro Tennis Classic: TCU's Bayard Friedman Tennis Center will host a USTA women's $10,000 Pro Circuit tournament July 30-Aug. 5. Qualifying will start July 28.Rusty Hall, 817-390-7816Twitter: @RustyHall10sHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
