Event Summary

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The BNP Paribas tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California provided a spectacular venue to host the much anticipated Charles Evans PCF Pro/Am Tour.  To kick off the weekend, the competitors arrived at the stadium via official player transport to collect their all-access player credentials.  The PCF Tour players gathered in a luxurious and private center court suite in the stadium for a cocktail reception to view the Friday evening’s featured matches.  Saturday morning, top doubles players in the world teamed up with the PCF Tour amateurs for the first two rounds of the round robin.  After visiting the private locker rooms for a refresh, the players re-grouped in the suite for a lunch and opportunity to watch 4 of the top singles players in the world compete in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas event. 

The action-packed day would not have been complete without an invitation only party at the magnificent, Big Horn residence of famed Hollywood Producer Jerry Weintraub.  The guests were greeted with a stunning sunset view, fabulous food, entertainment, and surprise guests, not to mention Jerry’s hospitality.  It was a memorable Saturday to say the least.

Sunday morning brought the Pro/Am teams back to the stadium for the final two rounds of the round robin, followed by the division playoffs and finals.

After two days of competition, four teams emerged from the matches and found themselves in the two featured event finals. In one final, PCF Tour am Dick Merkin, and his pro partner, Marcin Matkowski, played PCF Tour am Bob Bales and pro Don Johnson.  Merkin and Matkowski, currently world ranked #11 in doubles, lost to first time finalist Bales and his partner Johnson, a #1 ranked doubles player in the world in 2002 and winner of multiple grand slam doubles titles. Bales, a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and former competitor in 3 previous events, finally found the winning combination in Johnson.

The other final featured veteran PCF Tour am Joel Pashcow, a former two time champion in Palm Beach and the Hampton’s, and his pro partner, Lukas Dlouhy, ranked #10 in doubles, competed against PCF Tour am Russell Geyser, in his second pro/am appearance, and #1 ranked doubles player in the world pro partner Daniel Nestor.  Geyser and Nestor defeated their opponents in an intense match winning 7-6 after being down 5-2 in the tie break. Geyser displayed great form and determination in only his second PCF pro/am appearance.

Tour points determined from the results of this event can be viewed on the leader board.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors, Movado, Herschel Bonchek and Scarselli Diamonds, Cliff Morgan and Gamma-O, Chuck Mathewson, Babolat, Thorlo, and a special thank you to our Title Sponsor, The Charles Evans Foundation as well as, the following teams that participated in The Charles Evans PCF Pro Am Tour event. We hope to see everyone for the second tour stop held at the Greenwich Country Club, Greenwich, CT.

Anthony Boulle
PCF Pro/Am Tour Director