The tennis union of T.J. Welford and Joel Kielbowicz wasn’t an ideal one, but it works.
They met while Welford was training at a Florida academy where Kielbowicz was working.
“We started to train together,” Kielbowicz, a Las Vegas native and UNLV graduate, said Saturday at Manker Patten, where he and Welford advanced to the mixed doubles open final in the Tennessee Valley Open Championships. “During that time, we became friends from seeing each other at tournaments.”
They advanced to today’s championship match with an 8-5 victory over women’s open finalist Catherine Newman and Ryan Smith.
“I needed a place to go for a week,” the Australian-born Welford said.
Said Kielbowicz: “I was planning to come here for the tournament, so it worked out well for us.”
Welford spoke very highly of both her hosts and Chattanooga in general. This week was her first time in the TVOC and her first money tournament in the United States.
“They have been absolute lovely this week,” Welford said. “I’ve loved this place — the tournament, the center and Chattanooga. They’ve made my stay here really nice.”
She and her doubles partner had their singles tournaments end in tough losses to open finalists. Welford fell in three sets to recent Vanderbilt graduate Newman, and Kielbowicz lost in the men’s quarterfinals to Marcus Sarstrand. Kielbowicz said the TVOC was a good event for working his way back into tournament play after taking several years off.
“There are other tournaments going on now, but it seems that all the good players want to come play at this one,” he said. “It’s well-run, with good players, and I couldn’t ask for a better tournament.”
Welford agreed.
“I just hope all the money tournaments I play in here are like this one,” she said.