- April 26, 2024
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Alex Rybakov (left) and Andres Andrade won the Palm coast Open doubles championship. Photo by Brent Woronoff
USTA instructor Laura Dwojewski, Alex Rybakov, Andres Andrade and Palm Coast's Southern Recreation Center Supervisor Steve Zoutman pose during the doubles trophy presentations. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Andres Andrade gets set to hit a backhand shot in the doubles final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Finn Reynolds hits a forehand in the doubles final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Juan Sebastian Gomez (right) hits a return in the doubles final as his partner, Finn Reynolds, gets set. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dimitry Popko won the Palm Coast Open singles championships in three sets over Andres Andrade on Feb. 19. Courtesy photo
Alex Rybakov and Andres Andrade hold up their trophies after winning the doubles championship at the Palm Coast Open on Feb. 17. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alex Rybakov hits a forehand in the doubles final on Feb. 17. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alex Rybakov serves in the doubles final. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Alex Rybakov and Andres Andrade (right) shake hands with their opponents after winning the doubles finals. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Andres Andrade get set to hit a backhand in the doubles final on Feb. 17. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Finn Reynolds and Juan Sebastian Gomez hold their doubles runner-up trophies. Photo by Brent Woronoff
One of the major attractions for the competitors at the Palm Coast Open tennis tournament, especially among the Europeans, were the wild turkeys.
Turkeys were seen running around the grassy area behind the newly-built Southern Recreation Center building adjacent to the Palm Tennis Center’s clay courts.
The Europeans were not familiar with wild turkeys, Steve Zoutman, the Southern Recreation Center supervisor, said.
There were no signs of turkeys on the clay courts during the week-long $15,000 United States Tennis Association pro circuit event, however.
“We had great competition,” Zoutman said. “So much so, that the USTA player development chief came down to watch a lot of the people from Europe.”
Dimitry Popko of Kazakhstan, ranked 325 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, won the singles title in a match that was delayed a day to Monday, Feb. 19, because of rain.
Popko defeated former University of Florida player Andres Andrade of Ecuador in three sets, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. Andrade, 25 was ranked 650 by the ATP heading into the tournament.
Andrade and Alex Rybakov of Coral Springs won the doubles title on Saturday, Feb. 17, defeating Juan Sebastian Gomez of Colombia and Finn Reynolds of New Zealand, 6-1, 6-3.
Andrade and Rybakov played together for the first time the previous week in the USTA pro circuit tournament in Sunrise and won the the title. At Palm Coast, they made it two for two.
“I think we have good chemistry and that’s obviously showing off,” Andrade said.
Before the doubles match, Andrade defeated his doubles partner in the second singles semifinal, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Popko defeated Gabi Adrian Boitan of Romania — the 2023 Palm Coast Open champ — in the first semifinal on Feb. 16, 6-2, 6-0.
Rybakov, 27, who is ranked 301 by the ATP, also advanced to the singles final at Sunrise. Advancing so far in tournaments has been both rewarding and a challenge, Rybakov said.
“It's been a lot of matches,” Rybakov said. “It's been good to kind of challenge my body a bit, because I've had a lot of ups and downs with injuries, but I'm feeling good. So I just want to take a couple of days rest and just keep it going next week.
The third tournament on the Florida circuit, the $25,000 Naples tournament, started on Feb. 19.
