Freeport city tennis tournament's family atmosphere welcomes walk-up entry from Paris
Freeport’s city tennis tournament brings families together.
Brother-sister teams. Father-son, father-daughter and mother-daughter teams. A mom playing against her daughter and her boyfriend in the mixed doubles finals. A Matthew and Maggie brother-sister team vs. a Matt and Margaret father-daughter tandem in mixed doubles.
But one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the nation, now in its 108th consecutive year, seems to make everyone feel like part of the Freeport tennis family. Freeport High boys tennis coach Ed Schradermeier, who has been running the tournament for decades, says it feels like “old-home week.”
The tournament, which first began in the 1890s before being revived in 1916, welcomed a new member to its family last weekend. Rudy Biolay, a 22-year-old from Paris, France, who is an intern in nearby Lena, was walking through Read Park on Saturday when he saw the singles portion of the tournament. He returned Sunday and kept asking strangers to play until he found a mixed doubles partner.
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“I don’t have much things to do here, so I walk around,” Biolay said, pointing to the running path at Read Park that winds behind the tennis courts and past the soccer field, basketball courts and swimming pool. “I saw the tennis courts, so I always go through. I saw there was a tournament. I talked to everyone before I found someone who could play with me.
“That would never happen in France. I am very happy to be here. The tournament was very — I don’t know how to say it — kind. People are open-minded and welcome. They just want to enjoy tennis.”
Except for coming from France, Biolay’s story is not unusual at the Freeport tourney. Hazem Isawi, a 2001 Freeport grad, hadn’t played much tennis in 20 years before Schradermeier called him last year because he knew players looking for a men’s doubles and mixed doubles partner. Isawi returned this year, won the men’s singles title Saturday with a 10-9 victory over Schradermeier’s son, Marius, finished second in men’s doubles and also played mixed doubles.
“It’s such a jovial, friendly atmosphere,” said Isawi, who now works in Chicago but comes back for the weekend and combines tennis with a visit to his parents in Freeport. “You’ve got long-time Freeporters and people from the area coming together. It’s a community event.
“That’s probably the best part about it. Nobody is tossing racquets and breaking things. It’s just great tennis and it’s fun."
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The Freeport tourney has a cooperative agreement with the tourney in Monroe, Wisconsin, 23 miles away. The two towns have long been friendly in sports — Freeport’s Pretzels play Monroe’s Cheesemakers every year in a boys and girls basketball six-game event at the freshman, JV and varsity levels they call the Snack Bowl.
Dan Bartholf of Monroe played with his teen-aged son, Carson, at Freeport for the first time.
“It’s really fun to have these community tournaments,” Bartholf said. “It’s a lot of fun to play with my son. I learned in this match that I don’t have to do everything. If I just keep the ball in play, I can let him do things. One, it’s going to make him better. And, two, he can do it.”
Bruce Knuteson, Monroe’s singles champion this year, also played at Freeport for the first time Sunday. He lost in the men’s doubles semifinals but made new friends. Before he left, he exchanged phone numbers with Marius Dornhagen-Schradermeier, who now works in Madison.
“It’s really impressive,” Knuteson said. “Great competition. Great park. Well run.”
Dornhagen-Schradermeier has been playing in his dad’s tournament since he was 5. This year, he won in men’s doubles and mixed doubles and took second in men’s singles, rallying from 7-1 down before losing 10-9 to Isawi (all matches are 10-game pro-sets).
He didn’t finish Sunday until 6:20 p.m., more than 10 hours after his tennis day began at 8 a.m. Competitors played as many as 11 or 12 matches over the two days for no more than $25 (the tourney charges $15 for one event, and $5 for each additional event in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
“It’s something I always look forward to,” Dornhagen-Schradermeier said. “I have done it almost every year for my entire life. Even when I am out of town now, it’s nice to see the people I used to hit with when I was younger and play against them and have fun.
“All the people I grew up with playing, they played in the tournament. They helped groom me to where I am today.”
And now former Freeport stars help do that for future plays. Isawi says he particularly likes seeing high school players in the tourney and noting how much they improved from the previous year.
“The tournament has an incredible history,” Isawi said. “It shows Freeport punches above its weight. It’s got a long history of great tennis players. I am fortunate to be a part of it.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Freeport city tennis welcome: 'That would never happen in France'
