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Yesterday afternoon Thursday the 29th of August, the 36th annual Casa de Campo tennis tournament was officially inaugurated at La Terraza Tennis Club.
The Dominican Republic’s longest running tournament has taken place at the La Terraza Tennis Club every single year without fail for the last 36 years – and taking part in the gathering to celebrate this incredible achievement was Vincenzo Mastrollili, founder of the tournament, as well as Antonio Esteban, a Casa de Campo villa owner who has played in every single one.
This popular 4 day event is this year dedicated to the memory of Juan José Álvarez, a great Dominican tennis player, who represented Dominican tennis internationally. Like many popular events in Casa de Campo, the International Casa de Campo Tennis Tournament has become increasingly popular with this year more than 150 players taking part from across the Dominican Republic and the world.
The inauguration ceremony opened with a parade of the La Terraza Tennis Club’s ball boys, while the Dominican anthem played as the flags were hoisted over the gathered players, their friends and families, Casa de Campo villa owners and representatives of the Casa de Campo resort.
As is the tradition, the tournament’s enormous trophy was presented to Vincenzo Mastrolli from the hands of Peter Bonell, Casa de Campo’s chief marketing officer, following which he stepped onto central court to perform the inaugural serve, received by Daniel Hernandez, manager of the Casa de Campo hotel.
The tournament itself kicked off earlier in the day, with tournament games being battled out throughout the day.
Triumphing over Elvin Ramírez, Dominican Francisco Caraballo took the lead in the “C-2 over 21’s” category with a score of 8-1, while also taking the lead in his category was Carlos de Dios from Venezuela playing in the “C-2 over 40’s” division, who beat American Robert Allen 8-0.
In other games, José Flores of Puerto Rico beat Dominican Joel Pérez Treviño 8-2 and fellow countryman Juan Díaz, who succeeded over Venezuelan Frank D’Pablo 8-6.
In the ladies division, Joanna Odriozola opened well, beating Marisol Pérez 8-2, while Rosemary de la Cruz triumphed over Miriam Vivas 8-0.
Antonio Esteban and Peter Bonell with Casa de Campo’s ball boys
The schedule for the 36th annual tennis tournament is the following: Thursday August 29th9 am: Tournament begins
5 pm: Innaguration ceremony
Friday August 30th9 am: Matches Continue
2 pm: Start of Doubles Tournament
Saturday August 31st9 am: Matches Continue
9 pm: Closing Party
Sunday September 1st8 am: Final Matches
1 pm: Award Ceremony