The veteran from Avila Gerardo San Román has achieved it again: prevailing with solvency in a historic tennis tournament, and coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the creation of this type of competition.
San Román had a brilliant competition in which they did not drop a single set until they proclaimed themselves champion of the VI Espacio Herrería Historic Tennis Tournament, in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which was the sixteenth wooden racket event since the Club de Press K and K.
Gerardo’s victory against the host Álex Alonso was the fourth in a row in this fiefdom, and this means that the champion is tied at 7 wins with his countryman Antonio Hernández at the head of the historical tennis ranking. Therefore, they share fourteen of the sixteen tournaments held since November 2012.
San Román was awarded the tasting prize for La Terraza Espacio Herrería, as well as a special edition commemorative coin from Ávila; while Alonso earned a thousand pesetas half a century ago.
Another veteran tennis player from Ávila, Luis Chía, was the winner of the final for third place, beating Carlos Montero from Madrid, who at 73 years old -the oldest player, who earned him a special prize- had a brilliant tournament until he stood in this ending. Chía stumbled in the semifinals with the unbeatable San Román.
The fight for fifth place went to Carlos Mansilla, who only lost one match -against a splendid Montero- and this prevented him from entering the semifinals. Mansilla defeated the debuting veteran Ángel Heras, with another outstanding performance from both.
Seventh place was won by José Luis Alonso from El Escorial, always very solid, from a reappeared Goyo Ybort; while the exciting final for ninth place was snatched by Alberto Yagüe from Pepe Verdeguer, in the decisive tie-break. The match for eleventh position was won by the also reappeared Paco Lavalle against another newcomer, Alberto Simón.
At the awards ceremony, almost five thousand pesetas in cash (in banknotes from the 50s to the 70s) were distributed among all the players, as well as gifts from international tournaments and food products from the 60s and 70s, whose brands they continue to sell. Together with these historical tennis traditions, the Dunlop Club ball game and the characteristic provisioning of La Terraza de Espacio Herrería, the exceptional homemade broth, were maintained.
As in previous editions, the sixth Espacio Herrería Historical Tennis Tournament was held in support of the programs of the España se Mueve movement and the Madrid Association for Aid to Children, Amaif.
Image Gallery VI Historic Tennis Tournament Espacio Herrería
Photos Goyo Ybort
