Wesley CashOn his way to a second doubles golden slam in a row, Chattanooga tennis professional Wesley Cash had a doubly golden week in Savannah, Ga.
It culminated Friday at The Landing Club with a 6-1, 6-2 victory with Mark Vines of Lynchburg, Va., in the USTA National Men’s 55 Clay Court Championships doubles final. That was Cash’s seventh consecutive national 55s doubles title in two years, with the 2013 hard courts still to go early next month in Indian Wells, Calif.
The big news for Cash this time was that earlier Friday he won the singles final. A 9 seed, he rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mats Ljungman of Ann Arbor, Mich.
Cash has been part of national championship teams before, not only with Vines last year and with Mike Tammen of Portland, Ore., in the first two parts of the slam this year but in a 45s golden slam 11 years ago — two of the four legs with local legend Zan Guerry, still a regular practice partner for the Manker Patten pro. And Cash played No. 1 on Southeastern Conference championship teams at Georgia in the late 1970s, but this was his first singles national title.
“I’ve just had a wonderful day,” he said by cell phone Friday evening on the drive from Savannah to Macon. “Going for my first national championship, there was some stress, but as my coach at Georgia (Dan Magill) would say, ‘It’s fun when you win,’ and it was a lot of fun today. This really was a dream come true.”