Three years ago, tennis was a secondary consideration for Colleen Clery-Ferrell. She had to be most mindful of staying alive.
Clery-Ferrell had developed a heart abnormality and had to undergo surgery. The surgery being successful, she resumed playing tennis, but her time on the court was limited to her lunch hours by her responsibilities as director of the Balboa Tennis Club.
“But I was working hard physically, swimming twice a day and running stairs,” said Clery-Ferrell, 51. Being fit, it seems, has its advantages in tennis. In the round of 16 in the 50s division of the USTA National Women's 50-90 Hardcourt Championships yesterday, Clery-Ferrell delivered a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over No. 5 seed Sherri Bronson of Arizona.
In the following round at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, Carolyn Nichols of Lodi stopped Clery-Ferrell 6-1, 6-2, but there were satisfactions for the loser, the mother of two.
“I loved it,” she said. Clery-Ferrell, the No. 1-ranked women's player in San Diego in 1981-82, was competing. And she was alive.
The event continues today. Finals are Saturday.
– JERRY MAGEE
