By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Ilia Shatashvili is no stranger to the James E. Cryan Memorial Tennis Tournament.
Alen Salibasic is a newcomer to the tournament.
But for both players the end result of this year’s tournament was the same — success on the court and a fun week of tennis.
“It’s fun to come back to the Princeton area and see familiar faces and catch up with friends, regardless of how I do on the court,” said Shatashvili, a 2004 Princeton High School graduate. “Our age bracket at PHS was all strong and competitive players. We’re still close fiends after high school. We all had a good experience in high school and then became lifelong friends.”
Shatashvili partnered with Salibasic to win the Men’s Open Doubles at this year’s Cryan. The duo topped Matthew Chen and Kamala Kannan, 7-6, 6-1 to win the doubles. Salibasic won the Men’s Open Singles as well, topped Shatashvili, 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals before defeating Gary Kushnirovich in the finals, 7-5, 6-3.
Salibasic and Briana Shvets of Pennington won the Mixed Open Doubles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Yhonny Murray and Courtney Provan. Other local winners included former Montgomery High player Rachel Pierson, the No. 2 seed, who defeated top-seeded Shvets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win in the championship match. Pierson and Shvets played together in the Women’s Open Doubles, winning the title with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Alexis Dorr and Paloma Escobedo.
Montgomery resident Benton Camper and his partner, Blake Illes of Moorestown, reached the finals of the Men’s A Doubles. In the Mixed A Doubles, Princeton resident Indah Budiman and Matthew Hartman of Matawan were unseeded but captured the title.
While Shatashvili grew up in Princeton, Salibasic came to the area last year as a volunteer assistant tennis coach at Princeton University. He played his college tennis at Drake and was a top 10 player in the NCAA.
“I knew of Ilia as a volunteer assistant at Princeton,” Salibasic said. “He plays the tournaments in the New York City area. I met him playing one this spring and we connected. A few days before this tournament started I saw his name on the sheet and asked him if he wanted to be my partner.”
The two meshed on the court and came away with a title. The tournament is always an enjoyable experience for Shatashvili, who works full-time in New York and tries to get out on the court as often as possible. Salibasic will be heading to Connecticut for a full-time job in finance later this month, which will cut into his court time. Still, both players hope to remain active on the courts.
“I am still passionate and very interested in tennis,” Shatashvili said. “It has been a big part of my life. It is hard to completely let go. I am working in the office 8-5 and health permitting I try to practice after work as much as I can.
“This year has been a bit of a struggle. I have been injured most of the year. Even in the Cryan I was playing with a nagging elbow injury. It has bothered me most of year and prevented me from having a good match with Alen in singles.”
Salibasic has been coaching at Princeton since concluding a successful college career at Drake. He gets on the court for himself as often as he can and has played a number of tournaments around the area.
“When the team is around I practice with them almost every day,” the Plainsboro resident said. “I only play for myself during the winter or summer breaks. I practice on my own been and have been playing some prize money tournaments. I switching careers and will be leaving Princeton in a couple months to start my new job. It will be sad not spending as much time on the court but I will be concentrating on my other career.”
Both players will stay active on the tennis court and hopefully find themselves back at the Cryan again next year. It’s a week of tennis they enjoy whether they win or lose.
“I try to play some tournaments in the summer,” Shatashvili said. “I am playing a tournament in Pennsylvania similar to the Cryan with a bunch of similar players and high quality tennis. For me it is just fun to compete against guys on that level, either teaching pros or just out of college.
“The only thing I can do is try to stay healthy and eat healthy and make the most of it when I can play. One of my hitting partners who I have been hitting with quite often is Peter Pine, who also went to Princeton. We both recently moved to Brooklyn and there is a court near us.”
Salibasic knows his time on the court will soon be limited but he hopes to keep his level of play high.
“That will be challenging the first few months of work,” he said. “It could be overwhelming. We’ll see how I adapt to being in the office most of the day as compared to being out on the courts. I will try to play two or three times a week.
“Playing in the Cryan was fun. I knew a few of the guys from prize money tournaments and at Princeton we hosted the ITA tournament so I knew some of the college players. It was a big draw. I went in with the mentality to do as well as I can. I signed up for all singles and both doubles so I knew it would be a long week with matches.”
Added Shatashvili: “I always feel like they get a lot of good local crowd support. The Cryan is a tournament where there is a good showing of the local community coming out and supporting each other. It is fun to play in front of fans. The Cryan has such a rich tradition.”
