Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

Tennis Twosome

Team Heller captures Summer Mixed Doubles crown, looking for three-peat

Jul 15, 2019 | 7:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The surname Heller has become synonymous with success at the Medicine Hat Tennis Club and over the weekend it was no different.

The husband and wife duo of Calvin and Tracy Heller rolled through the field at the club’s Summer Mixed Doubles Tournament, taking the open division title with a straight sets (6-1, 6-2) victory over Jordan and Reina Schibler.

It was a return to the mid-summer tournament for the pair, who took last year’s event off.

“Sometimes Calvin and I in this particular tournament will play with other players,” said Tracy. “We thought, ‘Well, we weren’t here last year.’ So, we played again this year together. It’s always fun, obviously I’ve got a good partner so that helps.”

Saturday’s victory was Calvin’s second title of the 2019 season, coming off a first place finish in the City Singles Open event to kick off the year.

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As for Tracy, she earned her first championship of the year alongside her husband after falling in the semi-finals at City Singles.

Calvin said both are aware when the other is having an off game, however he said there’s no one he’d rather hit the court with.

“It’s a little bit of a double-edged sword because we know each others body language, shoulder slouch, the head shake and all that,” said Calvin. “But, in the end it’s fun to play with her and I mean that. We play hard, we do the best we can, and when it’s all said and done we still want to be getting along when we get off the court.”

This past weekend’s tournament victory served as a tune-up of sorts for the Hellers, as they get ready to join forces again in early September for the Medicine Hat Open Mixed Doubles event.

Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

It’s a tournament that Calvin and Tracy have won in back-to-back years, with this past weekend serving as a scouting report of the competition they’ll be facing.

“We’ll see a lot of the same people,” said Tracy. “In the other tournaments there are a few that come from out of town and some other teams that were unable to be here. But, it’s always good to get as many games in under your belt as you can.”

The Medicine Hat Open Mixed Doubles event will be held at the Medicine Hat Tennis Club from September 6-7, while the singles and doubles matches will be played two weeks earlier in August.

In other results from the Summer Mixed Doubles competition:

Xiaojiang Dai and Jin Shin defeated Brittany Christal and Mitch Heller 8-7 for the open consolation title.

Joanne Anhelher and Lyle Garrecht were tops in the intermediate division besting Amie Uitvlugt and Ryusuke Harada 8-5.

While the intermediate consolation final was won by Susan Jacques and Messele Fentabil after winning 8-6 over Gabi and Brock Hale.