AILTC hosts 2nd annual Alex J. Kuhn Grass Court Invitational

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Mark Kuhn continues to put a lot of work into making the grass tennis court at the All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club located on his homestead one of the finest in the nation if not world as it has been honored by numerous sport-related publications and even featured by major news broadcasts.

Kuhn also has first-hand knowledge of the hard work and expertise while maintaining the grass courts at Wimbledon, in particular Centre Court where Kuhn served as honorable court attendant during the 2016 tournament — an “honor” bestowed on few Americans (Kuhn is likely the only one).

Still, the baselines on Kuhn’s court as well as those lining Wimbledon’s Centre Court show signs of brown beaten paths these days. Nonetheless, play continues.

“They both kind of look the same,” Kuhn said. “You work so hard to make them perfect, but play is going to tear them up. The grass will grow back … next year.”

On Saturday, Kuhn and his wife Denise hosted the second-annual Alex J. Kuhn Invitational at the AILTC featuring some of the top 12-and-under players from Iowa and Minnesota, who played for their respective team states in Davis Cup-like format.

The invitational, which Charles City High School tennis coach Brian Parrott served as director, was formed in memory of Mark and Denise’s son, Alex, a Mason City councilman who committed suicide in 2016.

Like his father, Alex Kuhn was an avid tennis player who also volunteered his time to coach youth sports.

Before last year’s inaugural invite, the AILTC court was christened the “Alex J. Kuhn Court of Dreams”.

For some of the highly ranked young participants, playing on grass was a first-time experience.

“The ball skids a lot more,” said Rochester 10-year-old Tej Bhagra, who is ranked No. 3 in his male age group in the Northern Section of the United States Tennis Association. “I like that. I can get to the ball better when I’m coming up (to the net) to make a shot.”

A player with great hand-eye coordination who never gives up on chasing down would-be winners, Bhagra was one of the invite’s outstanding performers while helping Team Minnesota win, 5-2.

Anthony Schulte, 11, of Cedar Rapids, who is ranked in the Top 40 in his section by the USTA, also got his first taste of playing on grass.

“I liked it,” said Schulte, who teamed with wild-card entry Kuhn in a male doubles match which the pair won.

“There’s nowhere to play on grass courts, except here,” Schulte said. “It’s a big difference from hard courts.”

Other players participating in the invite for Iowa included Cedar Falls 12-year-olds Kimi Du and Bhoomika Rahim; Dylan Schulte, 7, of Cedar Rapids; and Katylynn Kock, who is the No. 4 USTA-ranked 12-and-under girls player in Iowa, and was the recipient of the invite’s Frank Deford/Sterling Lord Sportsmanship Trophy.

Other Minnesota participants included Ancele Dolensek, ranked No. 4 by the USTA in the Northern Section among 12-and-under girls; Claire Loftus, ranked No. 8 by the USTA in the Northern Section amond 12-and-under girls; Noah Wisniewski, 11, ranked No. 16 by the USTA in the Northern Section; David Teng, 11; and Rochester residents Elyse Palen and Aoife Loftus.

Parrott announced that next year’s invite will likely take place earlier in the summer.

“We want to give Mark a chance to return to Wimbledon,” Parrott said. “If you’ve seen the conditions of their courts, you know that they need him back.”

“At least they don’t allow players to play with cleats anymore,” Kuhn said.