CVITT begins today with the threat of rain in the forecast

Rain could cause postponements in play for today’s matches in the 49th annual Central Virginia Invitational Tennis Tournament, hosted by the Lynchburg Tennis Patrons Association at Oakwood Country Club.

But don’t expect it to dampen the spirit of competition the CVITT prides itself on, or cause extended delays.

“We haven’t had a lot of rain in the tournament in four or five years, since we moved it back from the first to the second week of June,” tournament director Maggie Schewel said.

Oakwood Country Club pro Mark Vines monitors the satellite imagery from weather Web sites with meteorologic precision, calling off Wednesday night’s men’s 3.5 challenge matches due to an approaching storm. He expects more today, but not more than Oakwood’s clay courts can handle.

“It could affect today’s matches, but as far as the rest of the weekend, we should be fine,” Vines said. “These are the best draining clay courts in town. You can have a heavy downpour and an hour later, we’ll be back on the court.”

If the rain continues to fall, “Maggie’s got contingency plans,” he added.

“You betcha,” Schewel added. “I scheduled everything for (this) morning the best I could so we could be in store for a good Friday. Saturday will be a very busy day because everybody’s playing.”

This weekend’s field appears on paper to be as competitive if not stronger than in recent years.

“Raising the prize money to $2,000 last year gave us a very strong draw,” Schewel said, noting Brad Pomeroy, who won the men’s open division in 2007, is back, though he’s not even seeded in the top 10.

Treat Huey, a Virginia graduate who made it to the semifinals of both the men’s open singles and doubles brackets last year before having to pull out with a pulled hamstring injury, also returns to challenge defending champion Martin Sayer, the No. 1 seed.

“They are seeded No. 1 and 2 so they wouldn’t meet until the championship match, if they both survive,” Schewel said.

Sayer, who graduated from Radford University last month, also teamed with his girlfriend, Cassaundra Price, to win an extremely competitive mixed doubles division last year, with 21 pairs in the draw.

This weekend’s mixed doubles turnout likely will be down due to the USTA District Mixed Doubles tournament beginning Friday in Richmond. But the overall talent pool is deep.

“In mixed doubles, it’s still going to be very competitive,” Schewell said.

“The whole tournament’s going to be awesome.”

Schewel said the CVITT lost its primary sponsor and the $5,000 it provided last year.

“We don’t have a title sponsor this year and the LPTA needs money for its community tennis programs,” Schewel said. “As long as we can keep the prize money at $2,000 and if the community continues to support the players and come out to watch the tournament, it will continue to grow.”

One of the longest-running events of its kind in the nation, it should draw particular interest next summer, when it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

“It’s a great event with solid players,” Vines said.

“(Edwin) ‘Blitz’ James has been instrumental in trying to get some of the top guys back.”

Singles entries closed Sunday but the doubles draws will stay open until everyone has played their first- round singles matches, Schewel said, noting players often meet and choose doubles partners on-site.

“Anything’s possible,” she said of the combinations of doubles teams and how they’ll be seeded.

“Seeding is our biggest challenge,” Schewel added. “We’re high-fiving each other when it works out.”

In the men’s 45 singles division, Vines, who finished runner-up to Carl Clark in last year’s men’s 35 singles draw, is seeded No. 1 followed closely by Boonsboro Country Club pro Drew Robinson, the No. 2 seed, and No. 3-seeded Mark Sarver of Bland.

Six of the 13 players in that draw are from the Lynchburg area while three of the eight in the men’s 35 singles bracket are local, though the top two seeds are Clark from Richmond and Tommy McDonald from Salem.

Clark, a 1989 UVa graduate, teamed with Trevor Spracklin, this year’s ninth-seeded singles player from Alexandria, to capture last year’s men’s open doubles championship, defeating a tandem from Virginia Tech.

Nearly all of the 25 entrants in the men’s open draw are from out of town, with Marvin Leftwich, who’s originally from Germany but living in Bedford, the only exception. He has played in the open division for the past three years, despite turning 65 last year.

In the men’s 55 singles division, there are only two local players in the 13-man field, but one of them, Bill Carico of Forest, is seeded third, behind Christopher Blair of Richmond and James Clayton of Ft. Washington, Md.

Spectators are reminded to check out CVITT online for updates and weather-related schedule changes at http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T75301.

“Results will be updated as often as we can,” Schewel said.