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Tennessee: Poole gets revenge at TVOC

By: John Frierson
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Cory Avants

Last Monday, Travis Helgeson steamrolled Robbye Poole in the finals of the Southern Adult Hardcourt Open Championships in Marietta, Ga. On Sunday, Poole returned the favor.

Playing clean, consistent tennis, something the top-seeded Helgeson wasn’t able to manage, Poole, the No. 2 seed, cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win in the finals of the men’s singles in the Tennessee Valley Open Championships at the Manker Patten Tennis Club.

“He beat me last time, so I knew this was going to be tough,” said Poole, a former Ole Miss All-American who lost to Helgeson 6-1, 6-3 on Monday. “I had a good week of practice, and I felt a lot better prepared this time around.”

Helgeson, a four-time All-American in college, the last two years at Georgia, lost his serve to open the match and struggled to hold throughout. Like a pitcher that routinely gets behind in the count, Helgeson frequently lost the first two points of each service game, which allowed Poole to be more aggressive with his returns.

“I just tried to keep the pressure on,” said Poole, who took home $2,000 in prize money.

At 3-all in the first set, Poole broke Helgeson’s serve again and went on to close out the set. Leading 4-3 on serve in the second set, Poole broke serve again after Helgeson missed a drop shot at deuce and then double faulted on break point.

Poole closed out the match in the next game, acing Helgeson on match point.

In the women’s final, top-seed Cory Avants prevailed in a second straight up-and-down match. In Saturday’s semifinal against former GPS standout Claire Barlett, Avanta won 2-6, 6-0, 6-2. Against Amanda Taylor in the finals, Avanta went hot, cold, hot in a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win.

“I think in the first set she made a lot of errors and in the second set vice-versa,” said Avanta, a teaching pro in Charlotte, N.C., who earned $1,000. “I played a little better in the third and was fortunate to come out on top.”

The win brought a positive end to a week that began last Monday with a fire in the clubhouse at Windyrush Country Club, where she is the tennis director.

“Since I couldn’t work this week, it was nice to be able to come here and win,” she said.

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