A world-class tennis tournament right here in Ohio

When we were offered two full-day passes with reserved seating for the Cincinnati Tennis Open during the wedding reception for our son, Tim, and his bride, Chelsea Murphy, Janet immediately accepted.

She loves watching tennis and the Wimbledon is always on our television the Fourth of July Weekend when the finals of that world premier tennis event are being played.

Our tickets were for the first two days of the week-long tournament.  There, just north of the city off I-71, we found ourselves in a wonderful, clean, and well-maintained tennis facility.

The Lindner Family Tennis Center is a complex of four permanent tennis stadiums and a dozen practice courts.  The Cincinnati event, we learned, is the only world tennis venue apart from the four Grand Slam tennis venues with more than two permanent stadiums.

Sponsored by the Western and Southern Financial Group, the Cincinnati tournament is the second oldest in the United States, its existence exceeded only by the U.S. Open which is held each September in Flushing Meadows on Long Island.

An accountant and systems expert at our hotel told us she attends the major tennis events throughout America and the Cincinnati event is her favorite.

“It is much friendlier than the atmosphere on Long Island,” she said.

Fans in Cincinnati have the opportunity to watch the best tennis players in the world up close, practicing on one of a dozen practice courts or playing in an elimination competition on one of the four permanent stadium courts.

Our host was in charge of promoting the Cincinnati tournament.  He met us at the entry gate and escorted us to our shaded reserved seats in the upper deck of Center Court where we had a clear view of the game and a beautiful vista of King’s Island.

We watched Venus Williams, the older sister by one year of Serena.  Both were ousted in their first rounds.  The Williams sisters are in their early 40s and Father Time has caught up with them.  We also watched Andy Murray, a British player and former Wimbledon champion.  Now 35 and recovering from an accident, he competed in pain, but was more accurate than his opponent and won the match.  During an interview, Murray choked up saying he continues to compete despite pain, “because I love it so.”

Spaniard Rafael Nadal, 36, is suffering from Mueller-Weiss Syndrome, a condition that causes severe arch pain, and did not advance in Cincinnati.  He and Serena Williams were the biggest draws.

Borna Coric of Croatia won the singles men’s championship.  Ranked No. 152, he upset fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.  Carolina Garcia of France, seeded fourth, defeated the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova to win the singles women’s championship.  That all occurred on Sunday and by then we were home trying in vain to find the match on an ESPN channel.

Portage County Attorney Norman Sandvoss, no longer living and who for a time chaired the Portage County Republican Party, was a good tennis player and would occasionally mention the Cincinnati tournament.  Attending was an eye opener for us to a world class event hosted here in Ohio.

Kent State journalism school

Emily Metzgar, starting her third year as the director of Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism, is not exactly new, but because of the pandemic, the first time Janet and I met her was last week.

Amy Reynolds, the dean of the of College of Communication, arranged a coffee meeting where we learned Metzgar is assembling a panel for a media ethics symposium scheduled for February.

Metzgar obtained her doctorate at Louisiana State’s Manship School of Mass Communication having transferred into academia from a career in diplomacy.  She worked for a time in the U.S. Information Agency, the National Defense University, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Among the assignments during her diplomatic career was being stationed at our embassy in Beijing.  Metzgar was admitted to the coveted political track of the State Department and has written policy papers for it.

Her expertise in so many fields impressed us.  She wants the School of Media and Journalism to be more involved in the community.

David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: A world-class tennis tournament right here in Ohio