Ocean Beach women’s tennis standout Gretchen Magers has been tapped by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to join the 2010 Margaret Court Cup team (women’s 45s) that will compete next week in the Senior World Team Championships in Mexico City, Mexico. Magers, who returns to last year’s defending championship Margaret Court Cup team, holds the No. 1 spot going into the competition. She will have shared duties in both singles and doubles play and said she relishes the opportunity to compete. “I’m 46, and that’s kind of old,” Magers said. “But I get to keep playing tennis and that’s pretty special. I’m going to Mexico City and that is something that has been on my list of things to do. This is an honor to compete for the U.S. team and I feel fortunate to still be playing.” The championship competition will be played from Monday, March 31 through the first week in April on hard courts at an elevation of 7,300 feet and is an International Tennis Federation event associated with the Federation and Davis Cups. This is the fifth year Magers has been chosen to represent the United States at the prestigious international competition. She was a member of the Young Cup team (women’s 40s) that won in Australia in 2005 and again in 2006 in South Africa and played in Turkey in 2007. In 2009, she led the Margaret Court Cup team to a U.S. victory in Spain. Magers made her debut at the U.S. Open at age 17. She played Junior Wimbledon at 18 in 1984. In 2002, Magers held the trophy aloft with Mimi Jausovec of Slovenia as the Wimbledon 35 doubles winners. Magers graduated from Trinity University where she was a four-time All American and the National Collegiate Athletic Association champion in 1983. At the Pan American Games, she won a gold medal and was an Olympic Team member in 1984. Trinity honored her in 2001 by inducting her into its Athletic Hall of Fame. Her national tennis titles include the 2009 USTA 45 Indoor singles, the USTA Open Hard Court doubles title four years in a row (2005-08); the USTA 40 Hard Court singles titles in 2005, ’06 and ’08; the USTA 40 Hard Court doubles titles in 2005, ’06 and ’07. She is the tennis coach at San Diego Community College and is president of the San Diego Beach Tennis Association, volunteering time frequently at the Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma. Magers is a versatile tennis competitor. As one of the four players selected from the United States’ most talented women’s senior players, she adds valuable singles and doubles tournament experience to the team. The other members of the team are Frances Chandler (Jackson, Tenn.), Mariana Hollman (Winston-Salem, N.C.), and Renata Marcinkowska (Rock Hill, S.C.).
