The first Pro-Am tennis tournament to be played in St. Petersburg, Russia, named Kolyada, took place before a crowd of enthusiastic tennis fans who were treated to a high-spirited championship match, played in the well-known Pro-Am format.
The tournament was played on hard courts, preparing players for the Australian Open, which is also played on hard courts, whereas the French Open is played on clay and Wimbledon on grass.
In the Pro-Am format, all games are played in teams of doubles, consisting of one professional tennis player matched with a highly-skilled amateur. Anatoliy Pshegornitskiy played with partner Ekaterina Bychkova, ranked 159 in the world.
Organizers of the event were able to build strong teams of professional and amateur players who gave the tennis loving crowd more than the price they paid for attendance, with nail-biting finishes, all the way to the final point.
The event was organized by Sports Investors, Russia and sponsored by GoTennis.ru and UBER app, GoSport.ru. The inaugural event succeeded in capturing interest from some of the top tennis players in the world, such as Catherine Bychkova, Ksenia Pervak, Polina Vinogradova, and Alexander Artamonov. And it was a quite a treat for the enthusiastic tennis fans of St. Petersburg.
Hard-fought Matches Captured the Hearts of the Crowd
The tournament consisted of two groups—A and B. Within each group, eight doubles teams played matches to advance to the final. Anatoliy Pshegornitskiy and his partner Ekaterina Bychkova swept the B team with three wins, giving up only four games to their opponents.
To understand how impressive this was, one must keep in mind that these four games that were lost were to formidable players from Moscow, such as Stanislav Chernov and Uliana Izatulina. Nevertheless even these strong players did not make it past the threshold to advance to the semi-finals.
Ksenia Pervak, ranked 151 and partner Alexander Yefimov performed similarly in the A group, winning three matches. Second place in the A group was taken by Jeanne Panfilkina and Oleg Pryakhin who managed to win two matches which secured them a place in the semi-finals.
The dual for champion was electrifying, with two equally matched teams duking it out for the final coronation. Especially exciting for the fans was the culmination which consisted of a cliff-hanger tie-breaker, which Anatoliy Pshegornitskiy and Ekaterina Bychkova won 9 to 8.
Kolyada Pay-Out Broke the Record
Kolyada 2014 was about more than the championship trophy. 140,000 rubles was invested in the winners’ pot, the largest in the history of amateur tennis in Russia. 70,000 went to the champions, second place collected 40,000 rubles and third place went home with 30,000, definitely making the tournament a worthwhile event. Additionally, players earned amateur rankings which will stand them well in future tournaments on the Russian tennis circuit.
Dynasty Club director, Igor Shilin proved to be an outstanding host for players and fans, treating everyone to a luxurious lounge area, with refreshments and restful spots to recover from the hard-fought matches and breathless watching.
