Nick Ourusoff (l-r), Bill Poist, John Powless and Don Mathais at the finals in San Isidro, Agentina.
Photo provided
By Steve Pike
Ocean Ridge resident Bill Poist is finishing 2014 on a high note. Poist and his doubles partner, Donald Mathias of St. Petersburg, recently won the Alfredo Trullenque ITF Seniors tournament in Santiago, Chile, that propelled him to the International Tennis Federation world No.1 ranking in the age 75-plus division.
The victory in Santiago continued a strong summer/fall run for Poist and Mathias. The duo won the 31st Nautico San Isidro (Argentina) International tournament, as well as tournaments in Cognac and Bordeaux, France. He also finished second with Tom Brunkow of Washington, D.C., this past October at the ITF World Championships in Antalya, Turkey.
As a team, Poist and Mathias are ranked No. 2 by the USTA, having won three Category II events this year in Florida, along with the Atlanta Invitational, as well as runner-up finish at the Clay Court Nationals in Virginia Beach.
In singles events this past summer, Poist was runner-up in ITF events in the Czech Republic and England, but doubles is the 75-year-old’s forte.
“I don’t work out,’’ said Poist, who with his wife, Ann Alexander, moved to Ocean Ridge four years ago. “Doubles is less strenuous because it’s played on a smaller court, so I’m able to manage that.
“This year I played around 15 tournaments — many more than in previous years.’’
One reason for the increase, Poist said, was that this is his “rookie’’ season in the 75-up division.
“One of the beauties of the ITF and USTA (U.S. Tennis Association) is the five-year categories,’’ Poist said. “It’s allowed people to play in their age brackets and skill levels. The first year — in any age bracket — you’re the youngest person in that five-year slot. So everybody, theoretically, is slower than you. Once you get to the third and fourth years, the younger players are quicker and better.’’
Poist, a member of the Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame, plays locally with tennis professionals Dennis Grainger (at Seagate Country Club) and Paul Cranis, as well as top players Howard Klinnert and Garrett Bornstein.
“They deserve a lot of credit for helping me,’’ said Poist, who also is a regular in the 10 o’clock Club at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
Competition has always been a staple in Poist’s life. Now a retired business consultant who spent the bulk of his professional life in Washington, D.C., Poist was a standout basketball and tennis player at Hanover (Pa.) High School and led Ohio Wesleyan tennis teams to successive conference and NCAA regional titles from 1960-62.
Poist was tennis professional at Corinthian YC in Marblehead, Mass., from 1960-61 and at Eastern YC in Marblehead from 1962-66. When Poist began his business life, he cut down on tennis, but started playing seriously again about 30 years ago.
Since then he’s combined his competitive spirit for tennis and his adventurous spirit for travel to succeed on the court and see the world with Ann, who volunteers at various tournaments at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
“Tennis and travel,’’ Poist said with a smile. “When I played golf in the ’70s, we traveled to places like Canada and Scotland and played all the great courses. Tennis is the same way. I enjoy seeing all the different places.
“I especially enjoy going to Frinton on the North Sea about 100 miles from London. It’s a lovely old club. It’s more than 100 years old and is an ‘old shoe’ kind of place because you feel comfortable there.’’
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