Sleet is the new Grass…….Beirne Park, Creve Coeur

In order to Celebrate Kwanzaa and Boxing Day we decided that an outdoor match was in order. A quick scour of Google revealed Beirne Park tucked away at the rear of a residential neighborhood in Creve Coeur.

The park is difficult to locate but once you arrive it is worth the trip. It has two playgrounds, restrooms, walking path, soccer field and three tennis courts. The Courts were in great shape except for two of them need new nets.

At Gametime the temperature was hovering around 41 degrees with ominous clouds on the horizon. Scott was using a demo Prince Ex03 racket and wearing a fur hat. Stan was appropriately layered with underarmor to fight the cold. The first six games each held serve to get to 3-3. The next six games were all service breaks to knot the first set at 6-6.

A tiebreaker was played and Scott stormed out to the lead 4-0. At 4-1 Scott was dominating the rally and had Stan backed into a corner when Stan uncorked a down the line winner. Not only did Stan turn defense into offense but he sent a clear message.

At 4-3 Scott came to the net and hit a delicate drop volley to go up 5-3. Although Scott did not know it he had reached his pinnacle in this set as Stan closed out the next four points to win the set 7-6.

The second set began much the same way. At 3-2 on serve the temperature dropped and the skies opened up with a steady downpour of sleet. At this point many players would have retired. Stlforgottencourts saw this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to play on ice! Play continued and Stan got the first break to go up 4-2. It became very treacherous to move very much. Scott broke back for 4-3 and then Stan ran out the last two games. Probably our most fun match of the year!

Court location is a 10 and condition an 8 for a average of 9.