Dave Marshall wins two national tennis tournaments
Dave Marshall and Jeff Layman won the Category II National Clay Court Men's 45 and Over Doubles Championships in Alexandria, Va., Sept. 21. Marshall is the head coach at Delaware State University and owner of the Dave Marshall Tennis and Fitness Club in Lewes. He and his partner Jeff Layman from Pittsburgh, Pa., won the title without the loss of a set.
In the quarterfinals, they defeated the team of Donelon-John, and in the semifinals, they defeated John Olson and George Wilson 6-1, 6-1. In the finals, the duo defeated Lang Johnson and Greg Datta 6-3, 6-4. Marshall and Layman are currently ranked No. 5 in the United States in 45 and over doubles, and Marshall is ranked No. 9 individually.
Marshall also led his Men's 40 and Over Open USTA Team to win the national championships in Las Vegas. The team won the title by winning five matches. Team starting members included former World No. 1 and multiple Grand Slam champions Rick Leach and Ellis Ferreira, former Top 20 professional Chris Haggard, two-time All-American Brint Morrow and Rickard Strom. The team had wins over Texas 1 and 2, Southern 1 and 2 and Northern California. This marks the team's fourth national championship win.
More than 500,000 people play league tennis in the United States annually. Ten-time Grand Slam champion Rick Leach was quoted as saying, "Dr. Dave made all the right adjustments to put us in a position to win. We will be back next year to defend out title." Doubles teams were No. 1 Leach-Ferreira, No. 2 Marshall-Strom and No. 3 Haggard-Morrow. Abrie Duplooy was injured and could not play.
