MARTY HENNESSY

Let's go back 25 years. It was just like any other day at The Desert Inn, when a small boy came in to use the courts with his father. Marty Hennessy was the pro and let little Andre play for free. Every now and then he would have Andre hit with the hotel guests or his teaching pro's. But most of all he would remember how Andre would sit in his tennis shop, quiet and to himself for hours after he played. This was before video games took up all the free time children had to ponder life. Andre apparently was content just sitting to himself and waiting. But when it came time to play, Hennessy said "No other kid could hit as hard as Agassi hit at his age." Hennessy credits Mike Agassi, Andre's father for the skill this young boy had acquired at such a young age. He saw him day in and day out hitting on the ball machine, drilling and working hard.

Hennessy, while being one of the best players in the country and the pro to the Hollywood stars, he was always patient and welcoming to local kids and their families. To this end he invited the community each summer to come to his tennis camps and tournaments, which became legendary. Almost anyone who has ever played in town went to Hennessy's camps, clinics or the most famous Amstel Light tennis tournament. Here it was common to run into stars like Tony Bennett, who Hennessy coaches, or even Andre Agassi himself. But what has made Hennessy loved in the world of tennis was his patience and kindness when dealing with these people, whether it is a small boy or a Hollywood star. His willingness to always help and offer financial assistance to those who could not afford the high cost of tennis was frequent. Now in his 30th year of teaching tennis in Las Vegas he runs The Stirling Club tennis at Turnberry Place and this past week completed his 25th Annual Amstel Light Adult tennis tournament, which was a fundraiser for The VegasTenis.com Marty Hennessy Jr. Tennis Foundation.

The Foundation helps the many kids with the desire and drive but not the finances. Perhaps another Andre Agassi, or maybe a kid that can use his skill to get a college scholarship. Most importantly to Hennessy though is for kids to discover what has endeared him to many; the principles of life that endure, like Honest, patience, respect and the willingness to always give it 100%. The VegasTennis.com Marty Hennessy Jr Tennis Foundation is having a junior tennis tournament in 2005 that will be called "The Mike Agassi NO QUIT Championships," to illustrate the importance of never giving up, something Mike Agassi is notorious for. If you have not read Mike Agassi's latest book, it describes how he taught all of his kids and spent all of his limited funds on tennis. And although he had much adversity and challenges along the way, quitting was never an option.

This "NO QUIT" attitude is something that Marty Hennessy is a prime example of. At 54 he still has the same interest and heart as the day he was given the Desert Inn to run some 30 years ago. Anyone will tell you when playing with Hennessy in his clinics, one on one or at his famous tennis tournaments, it is always first class. Last week at Turnberry Place was no exception. There to celebrate Hennessy's 25th year having this tennis tournament was one of the most dignified names in tennis today, Perry Rogers, Andre Agassi's manager and President of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation. Guests of honor included Council women Lynette Boggs McDonald, who received an award for her amazing contributions to tennis as a politician who has worked to have a 23 court world class tennis center completed by this summer. Clint Holmes was honored as the Entertainer who has contributed most to Las Vegas tennis. Clint is a great tennis player as well, who plays 6 days a week at Turnberry Place. Joe Slaten, for starting this tournament 25 years ago with Marty Hennessy as a top executive at Deluca Liquor and wine for years was presented with the Amstel Light award. Other guests included world famous artist LeRoy Neiman, Wells Fargo top executive and event sponsor Marc Kreisberger, Tennis legend David Pate who was once #1 in the world in doubles and 13 in singles, Hanna An of the An Family’s CRUSTACEAN, ATP touring pro Alex Bose, Lee and Jim Medick, Bernie Shiappa and Thomas Zumbo of Fletcher Jones Imports and hundred of others that were delighted to be a part of this fundraiser to help kids.

Thanks to The Stirling Club at Turnberry Place, The An Family CRUSTACEAN restaurant and Granello Bakery, along with Marc Kreisberger of Wells Fargo Private Client Services for sponsoring the event making it the most elegant and attended party in it's 25 year history.

The presence of LeRoy Neiman's famous tennis art work and The Mercedes-Benz new Ultra Luxury Sedan, The Maybach, took this year’s event to a whole new level. The $400,000.00 Maybach was brought in from Beverly Hills so guests could test drive the highest form of luxury.

During the event a live auction was held to raise money for VegasTennis.com's Marty Hennessy jr. Tennis Foundation. Bernie Shiappa and Jeff Taylor both bid on the live auctions biggest prize, which was an evening chauffeured in the new Maybach to Julian Serrano's Picasso restaurant at the Bellagio's, then to David Brenner's comedy show at the Hilton, after which they will meet him back stage. Also auctioned off was LeRoy Neiman's famous painting, Andre Agassi's DONNAY tennis racquet given to Marty years ago by Mike Agassi, and a very special one day training session with Mike Agassi, which was won by Dana Goyak and Anne Payne. Lilly Chu and John Goyak won the Andre Agassi DONNAY racket. Tony Bennett and Clint Holmes donated a day of doubles with the entertainment super stars at The Stirling Club, which was won by Cari Henderson and Shari Sanderson, Scott Karosa and Peggy Donahue. The event raised $20,000 for VegasTennis.com's Marty Hennessy jr. Tennis Foundation and was an excellent tribute to Hennessy's contributions. The funds will be used to offer scholarships for junior tennis players that have the talent and drive but not the finances.

The food, catered by the An Family's CRUSTACEAN was excellent. With restaurants in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, The An family is bringing their 5 star panache to the Las Vegas Stip with their Euro-Asian fine dining. CRUSTACEAN is located in the desert passage and each entrant in the tournament was given a free drink and appetizer card for use anytime in their restaurant. The ice sculpture of the tennis player and a staff of 15 helped make this pool side dinner a very nice affair. Laurie Steed of Granello Bakery used her baking skills that have landed her the Las Vegas STARBUCKS account and many of the new fine dining restaurants in town. A cake with a tennis court and the words "THE HENNESSY TRADITION CONTINUES" were blazoned on the cake. Laurie was excellent the whole event, always there to offer her support. And that is what is great about the sponsors of this event; all of them are involved for the right reason. They love seeing what Hennessy has done with tennis and how it is a part of their lives. It is fun being a part of something good. It has a chain effect in our whole lives.

The entertainment was provided by Andrew James, who in the past sang at the Caesars Palace. He looks and acts and most of all sounds exactly like Frank Sinatra. He took second in a star search like show and has been a sought after performer in Vegas for the last 5 years. His pool side melody's really made the night.

The exhibition match had a big crowd and was between ATP pro players Alex Bose and Dann Battistone verses TEAM TURNBERRY'S juniors Jonathan Ribaste and Friderick Prandecki. Bose and Battistone won, but Ribaste and Prandecki showed why they are among the top juniors in town. TEAM AGASSI players Asia Muhammad and Stan Breland also has an exhibition singles match that amazed the crowd.

What I liked most of all was that Hennessy's family, friends and supporters were given a venue in which to celebrate with him his 25th year putting on a tournament which has grown to symbolize the man who likes to do everything the right way, the best it can be. And I am confident that this year, The 25th Annual Amstel Light was as good as it gets. Know that because of your participation and support, VegasTennis is bringing tennis alive in the Valley, one event, one match, one kid at a time. Thank you for being a part of it.

Photos of the event can be viewed at VegasTennis.com. Press photos can be requested by calling Ryan at 822-1081 or by e-mail at VegasTeniscom@aol.com

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The Amstel Light tournament and party were made possible by the following sponsors:

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A day of Training on Agassi Lane, at Mike Agassi’s house, with he legendary coach/father who trained one of the worlds best players ever.

Tennis package Friday night mixed doubles, Sunday clinic & mixed doubles ($165.00 value)

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A day of Training on Agassi Lane, at Mike Agassi’s house, with he legendary coach/father who trained one of the worlds best players ever.

Here you will train on the same court Andre trains on when he is in Las Vegas. You and a friend will experience the charm and fire of one of the world’s most colorful figures in tennis. An immigrant and Olympic Boxer from Iran, to casino employee, to tennis legend. This day with Mike Agassi is courtesy of Mike Agassi.

A driver will pick you up at 5:30pm and take you to dinner at Julian Serrano’s Picasso Restaurant at Bellagio. Then to the Las Vegas Hilton to see David Brenner in concert. Afterwards you will meet David Brenner back stage. The Maybach will then be waiting outside to take you where ever you are led to go. This car retails for around $400,000.00. Courtesy of Fletcher Jones Imports and Thomas Zumbo.

This prize gives the winners a chance to play doubles at Turnberry with the legendary signers Tony Bennett and Clint Holmes

This piece of art and sports history was donated by LeRoy Neiman himself, a long time tennis lover. LeRoy Neiman will be here this Sunday for a Tea and Tennis with Leroy Neiman. Those interested in participating in this part of the fund raiser can bid on this painting, or for one of four spots to have tea and watch tennis with LeRoy Neiman.

When he played DONNAY and his father was a representative of the company. Only a few custom special made rackets were designed exclusively for Andre Agassi. Mike Agassi gave this to Marty Hennessy years ago. He kept a hold of this priceless piece of history, until now to raise money for his junior tennis foundation. This racket is courtesy of Mike Agassi, Andre’s father.

One of a kind. This was done when Serena Williams held her tennis charity event in Las Vegas and was given to Shari Sanderson for her help. Shari chose to donate this piece to support Hennessy’s junior tennis foundation, which helps kids with the drive and talent but not the finances.

These were signed and shipped days ago from LeRoy’s private tennis poster collection from over the years, when he was commissioned to do tennis event posters and paintings. He donated these to help raise funds for kids that want to play tennis.

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ATP Touring pro, Alex Bose, who has two wins over Petr Corda when he was #1 in the world, and a dozen other top 30 players, just moved to Las Vegas after getting a feeling that "A lot is going on for tennis in Las Vegas." To start off in his new home he won the mixed open doubles with Asia Muhammad and made it to the quarters of the men's open draw, after losing to Eoin Collins. After not competing in a long whole Bose said "I love competition and I want to play to get back into shape." Asia Muhammad and Bose beat Scott Schneider 1-6, 6-2,10-3. Schneider was playing very well in the first but as the third came around so did Alex Bose, who delighted the crowd with his notorious drop shots. Estefania Serrano, who won this title last year, did well earning a finalist trophy. She is now playing for UNLV's ladies team. Her dad Julian Serrano was voted #1 International chef of the year, which is the highest honor in his field. It is like being #1 in the world in tennis, but there are many more chefs then touring pros. He donated a night’s dinner at his restaurant Picasso. This was the highest prize auctioned off to raise funds for VegasTennis.com's Marty Hennessy Jr Tennis Foundation.

In the men’s Open singles Adam Carey, once top 20 in the NCAA's and team captain for his college team, won in three sets taking the title from last years champion Kobi Ziv. This is the first match Kobi Ziv has lost in town. Kobi also won Jaldeep Daulat's Indian Open months ago in what was the best open men’s singles final I have ever seen against Dann Battistone. The men's open draw was amazing. Filled with talent, Harry Fritz came on from California and commented "I have never seen this kind of quality in Open tennis in Las Vegas since years ago when Dan Knight use to put a lot of prize money in the draw."

The semi finals were (2) Kobi Ziv d. (5) Eoin Collins 6-3,0-6,10-8 and (3) Adam Carey d. (1) Jason Cook 7-5,6-3 . Jason Cook played #3 for UCLA, and was in town for the tournament. The draw was so deep that a player like Alex Bose lost in the quarterfinals to Eoin Collins in 3 sets.

In the Men's Open Doubles Blenkiron and Stephane Mathue-Cambas srike again. They have never lost. Today was no exception, as they beat Alex Bose and Lew Deleon 6-3,6-1. Deleon, a top junior from Las Vegas, just transferred back from Northern Arizona to play tennis for UNLV. He is a big addition to what is starting to look like a promising UNLV tennis future.

A match that needs to be commented on was between the eventual winners in the semifinals against Adam Carey and Frideric Prandecki. Blenkiron said of Prandecki, "He really played well." At 6-3,6-4 , Prandecki and the open singles winner Adam Carey came the closest in this draw to the new Amstel Light Doubles Champions Tim Blenkiron and Stephane Mathue-Cambas.

The women's Open draw show that the ladies game is back. Just a year ago I vowed to bring women’s open tennis back to life. We went from no ladies draws to 16 plus ladies draws. This time we had very high quality with UNLV freshman sensation (1) Elana Gantcheva from Bulgaria defeating TEAM AGASSI'S (3) Asia Muhammad 7-6,6-1.
The semi final with Asia was amazing as she beat a former UCLA player (2) Marina Baydak 5-7,6-1,10-4.

In the women's Open Doubles VegasTennis.com reporter and player Julia Baltas and her partner Cheryl Bon defeated Candynce Boney and Asia Muhammad   4-6,6-1,11-9. Up 7-3 in the third Asia and Candynce celebrated too early and Julia and Cheryl gave them the nub.

Men's 3.0 Singles was won by (1) Kirk Moll defeating (2) Frederick Irwin   3-6,6-2,10-8 . In the semifinal (2) Frederick Irwin defeat Marc Kreisberger   6-2,;6-3. (1) Kirk Moll defeat William Burgos   6-2,;6-3.

Coming back to tennis after a long rest Mike Janssen proved he is back defeating Anthony Paturzo   6-3,7-6 in the final. In the semi's Paturzo defeat Stirling Club member Bob Griffin   6-0,6-1.
Mens 3.5 Doubles had Connelly/O'Hara defeating (2) Friedmutter/Tipmonkgol   6-1,6-1. In the semifinals (2) Friedmutter/Tipmonkgol d. Hurt/Kelly   6-1,6-4, and Connelly/O'Hara d. (1) Lee/Mitchell   7-5,6-4.

In Men's 4.0 Singles (2) Robert Bosley d. Ricky Cosby 6-1,1-1 rety
Semifinals (2) Robert Bosley d. Tim Trombley 6-2,6-3 , Ricky Cosby d. (1) Brian Lashley 6-1,;6-4.

Men's 4.0 Doubles Balelo/Smith defeat Wells Fargo's Mike Derhake and Dan Jackson 4-6,6-4,10-7. Semifinals saw (3) Ellis/Lawrence d. (1) Isley/Van Diepen 6-3,7-6(7-4) .

Men's 4.5 Singles was won by junior sensation Trenton Alenik defeating (2) Glenn Gabriel 7-6,6-4 . In the semifinal (2) Glenn Gabriel d. Steven Kolker 6-4,;6-2 , and Trenton Alenik d. Isaiah Wilson 6-2,6-4.

Women's 2.5 Singles was won by (1) Debbie Burgos who has been working hard and playing all the events this past year. She went from losing as a beginner to winning tournaments. She loves tennis and today it paid off. Lisa Vogel, a Stirling Club member took second place and did very well in the mixed doubles as well. In the semifinals Lisa Vogel d. Rita Colantropo and (1) Debbie Burgos d. Ira Kaganovsky 6-1,;6-0

Women's 2.5 Doubles Julie Coates and Wallace too second and Shila Wisniewski and Debbie Bergos took first. They earned it with all the play and enthusiasm they have always carried with them at all the tournaments, events and league play. Their World team tennis team did excellent this year as well.

Womens 3.0 singles had a three way tie with Ginger Jarmine, Dora To and Laurie Steed. This was a 5 player round robin, which was great for each player to get many matches.

In the 2.5 doubles, Mial Ortiz and Rodela defeat. Ginger Jarman and Thierry 6-2,6-0. In thesemifinals Jarman/Thierry defeat Brittany Adcox and Rose 7-5,6-0. Ortiz and Rodela had a big win in the semi's against Stirlig Club member Anne Kellogg and Lisa Zimmer 6-2,6-0.

Women's 3.5 Singles was won by (1) Dana Cortez who defeated Chrisie MCGarvey 6-0,6-3. In the semifinals Chrisie MCGarvey d. (2) Becky Klausmeier 6-3,;7-5, and (1) Dana Cortez d. Lisa Mueller 6-1,;7-5.

Women's 3.5 Doubles was won by Sandy Morgan and Janet Spelman who defeated (1) Janssen/Zanella 4-6,6-3,12-10. These two ladies have dominated 3.5 for two years and before that 3.0. Looks like 4.0 is next.

In the semifinals Morgan/Spelman d. (2) Clifford/Wellman 3-6,6-4,10-6
and (1) Janssen/Zanella d. Leysath/Nguyen 4-6,6-3,10-6 .

Women's 4.0 Doubles was won by (2) Sara Hallberg and super captain Jennifer Petrie over friends (1) Eileen Marasco and Beverly Talaat   6-1,7-5. In the semifinals (2) Hallberg/Petrie d. Mirkil/Roulias   4-6,6-3,10-8 and (1) Marasco/Talaat d. Cortez/Tubin   6-1,7-5.

Mixed Comb 6.0 Doubles was a great source of competition with three WELLS FARGO private Client services executives in the finals. Marc Kreisberger, who hosted this event and his partner Laurie Steed played Sunny Bailey and Mike Derhake and after being down 7-3 in the third set tie breaker, they came back and won the match 10-8. An amazing ending to an awsome tournament. The finals score was 6-4,2-6,10-8. In the semifinals Bailey/Derhake d. Harris/Wisniewski   6-1,6-4
and Kreisberger/Steed d. (1) Mirasco/Zimmer   7-5,5-7,12-10.

Mixed Comb 7.0 Doubles had (4) Breytenbach/O'Hara d. Rosenberg/Shaffer 6-3,6-0. In the semifinals Rosenberg/Shaffer d. Ault/Paschal 7-6(5),6-3 and (4) Breytenbach/O'Hara d. Penrose/Watson 7-5,6-2.

I was told the Mixed Comb 8.0 Doubles had the best final of tthe event. Perrenial rivals and friends (2) Kriss Penny and Jenn Petrie defeated (3) Sara Hallberg and Troy Wolf 6-7,6-2,7-6 . In the semifinals (2) Penny/Petrie d. Radosevich/Trainer 6-2,6-2 and (3) Hallberg/Wolf d. (1) Marasco/Zimmer 6-1;3-6;11-9.

Thank you for being involved in Hennessy's 25th Annual Amstel Light tennis tournament and party.

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I invite all tennis professionals, parents, players, tennis directors, and philanthropists to give me a call with any ideas, criticisms and would appreciate any involvement you could offer. This web site and foundation thrives on your participation. There is so much that can and is being done and I want your involvement.

Junior tennis programs, clubs and individuals can apply for the VegasTennis.com Marty Hennessy jr. scholarship. Just contact Ryan at 702-822-1081 or e-mail me at VegasTenniscom@aol.com

Your contributions of time, resources and finances is rewarding for everyone involved. Thank you.

At the party there will be a raffle with many great items and a silent auction. Want to donate an item for the auction? Call 822-1081

All proceeds go to the VegasTennis.com Marty Hennessy jr. Tennis Scholarship

You may become a founding member of the Foundation by donating one of the following amounts:

Grand slam winner $25,000	NCAA Champion $2,500
Masters Series winner $15,000	Amstel Light Champion $1,500
Circuit Champion $10,000	Nevada Champion $500
Futures winner $5,000	Las Vegas Champion $200