Maxx Lipman, Sydney Campbell claim tennis titles at TVOC

Friday, January 1, 1904

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Maxx Lipman and Sydney Campbell found a perfect way to earn some extra spending money before they leave for their respective colleges.

Win tennis tournaments.

Both recently-graduated high school seniors claimed a pair of championships at the Tennessee Valley Open Championships at Manker Patten Tennis Club. Lipman just completed his senior season at Brentwood, and claimed victories in the open singles' division and the open doubles.

Campbell, the defending champion in open singles, played her freshman and sophomore seasons at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville before training the past two seasons. Last season, she vowed to give the majority of her winnings to her parents, but mentioned Sunday that she would be keeping most of her winnings this time.

Her only loss was in the women's open doubles, which she lost to future teammate Marie Casares and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga player Kayla Jones.

"I'm disappointed we weren't able to win the doubles, but it was overall a good day," she said. "It doesn't soften the blow that we lost, but at least it was to someone deserving."

She hopes that playing in numerous tournaments over the summer will enhance her game before arriving at Vanderbilt in the fall. The same can be said for Lipman, who will be playing 10 tournaments over a five-week period in France. His brother won the TVOC last season, so they were able to keep it in the family.

The two will be traveling together to France, leaving this week. On Sunday, he claimed a victory over Francisco Rodriguez in men's singles, then teamed up with Jarryd Woog to win in mens' doubles.

"Everything was working well today," the Class AAA state champion said. "He [Francisco] hit a lot of good angles against but, but I had to work through it and get the wins."

So far, his summer job -- playing in tennis tournaments -- has earned him over $3,000. Not a bad deal for a rising freshman in college.

"I've got friends that work hard and don't make that in a summer, so I'm not complaining," Lipman said. "It's not a bad deal."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.