It is a rare occasion in sports when the confluence of circumstance and desire produces a competition destined to mark that Game for years to come. Yet that was the situation prevailing in Chicago for the 2004 U.S. Open. To address first the desire, it was that of Davis Anderson to produce an event to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the celebrated Geoffrey W. T. Atkins' accession to the World Championship. It required two years of planning and effort by Davis and Keene Addington to produce this historic tournament. In order to create the appropriate atmosphere for such a commemoration, they pursued and secured the presence of the current World Champion, and all living former champions. When more than 100 hundred men gathered for the Thursday night Stag Dinner, in a hall decorated to reflect and promote the magic which was about to unfold, their hands grew red from the steady applause with which they greeted the Greats of the Game as one by one Geoffrey Atkins, Willie Surtees, Howard Angus, John Prenn, Willie Boone, Neil Smith and James Male made their separate, precisely choreographed entrances.

That this competition would mark the last major tournament in which James Male would participate as Champion constituted an unforeseen boon to the event, adding a particular poignancy to the evening which enhanced its commemorative nature. This development also provided the circumstance to the confluence, as above and beyond the historic nature of the conclave, the tournament assumed an enhanced temporal value; the most worthy of the pretenders to Male's vacated throne assembled on the shores of Lake Michigan to lay claim to the title.

The depth and range of quality entrants rendered the finals of the U.S. Pro Singles and Pro-Am Doubles, which were contested the preceding Wednesday, to the status of a footnote. Yet the matches were worthy of mention. Neil Smith (New York), defeated Howard Angus (Queens Club), in the first of many match ups of former champions to take place during this stellar extended weekend. For many North Americans this was the first opportunity to see the ageless Angus in action. The grace and fluidity of his game were impressive as he moved around the court with the ease of a man half his age. The doubles final saw Derek Barrett and Bart Sambrook of Montreal dispatch the hometown pair of John Cashman and Keene Addington. Other pros taking part in the event were RCC Professional, Mark McDonald and Tennis and Racquet Club of Boston head man, Jimmy Burke.

Several first round Open matches were played Wednesday. Virtually all those matches, and most of the Thursday contests were played merely to determine who would lose in the next round. Yet these early matches are part of the appeal of the game, and for many participants, the challenge was to play well enough to get on court with a former or current champion. Just to see their game from ground level was pleasure enough, and if they were sufficiently kind to allow their foe to register a point or two, so much the better.

The tournament really got underway with the quarterfinals, though the round of sixteen featured some compelling matches. The quality of this competition is perhaps best captured through the recitation of those who didn't get through: Angus, Boone, Sambrook, Cashman, Jimmy Burke (Boston), Karel Nemec (Montreal), and 2004 Western Open Champion Duncan Odds (Tonbridge). The first singles quarterfinal pitted Smith against the elegant, artful Prenn. As we have seen him do so many times, Prenn drew once more from the well of greatness. He matched Smith point for point for nearly three games before finally succumbing to the tyranny of time. In the first game there were never more than three points separating the two players. Prenn led 14-11 before Smith rallied to tie. Prenn called set three, promptly took Smith out, and served to 16-14 before Smith rallied again for the win, 17/16. In the second, Prenn turned back the clock, and dominated for most of the game, though Smith clawed his way back from an eight point deficit to knot the game at 13. This time Prenn held on for the win, 16/15. In the third, the pattern was reversed, with Smith storming to an early 8-2 advantage, and Prenn regrouping to even the score at 9. The men traded three serves at 9-9 before Prenn could claim a point. From there he moved to leads of 13-9 and 14-10. However, at that point the clock struck midnight and the coach was fast transforming itself. Smith served the next seven points to claim the game, 17/14. He continued in the service box, attaining an 8-0 advantage before Prenn could regain the serve, meaning the New York pro had served fifteen consecutive points. Smith coasted to a 15/1 victory.

In the second quarterfinal Male took to the court against the eighth-seeded Guy Devereux (New York). Devereux was willing, but didn't have the game to answer Male's relentless assault. Although he mounted a comeback from 6-12 in the first, he could not come up with the equalizer as Male proved victorious, 15/12. In the second Male took over early, serving five straight points from a 6-4 edge, and holding on for a 15/9 conclusion. Devereux started strong in the third game, running a string of serves to 11-4, and keeping the Champion off the board the rest of the way, 15/4. At one point it seemed as if Male were bored in that game, though afterwards he remarked that he was concerned with his fitness, and once Devereux took the early lead, he thought it best to conserve his energy for the fourth game. The breather paid off as he won going away, 15/5.

The third quarterfinal featured some stunning Racquets as Guy Smith-Bingham won three straight from Alex Titchener-Barrett by identical 15-12 scores. Smith-Bingham displayed cunning court sense, shrewd serving and timely power to outlast the blistering drives of his fellow Englishman. Harry Foster rallied from a 0-2 game deficit to defeat the much-improved Tim Cockroft in the final quarterfinal. The game scores were 5/15, 10/15, 156, 15/1, 15/9. Your correspondent had to repeatedly remind himself that this was merely Friday Racquets. In terms of quality and competitiveness, each of these matches was on a par with the finals of any other North American tournament this year. An excellent display,which competed well with the stunning buffet provided by the Chicago club, in which the so-called lawn tennis court was transformed into an elegant moonlit terrace. Yet another example of the splendid performance mounted in the Windy City.

In the doubles quartefinals Saturday morning, Smith-Bingham/Cockroft breezed past the Boston pair of Burke and Dev Hamlen, 15/0, 15/6. Nemec/Sambrook did well to take a game off Alex and brother Dom Titchener-Barrett in an entertaining match, 15/4, 6/15, 15/3. Male/Boone vanquished Angus and his partner Charles Hue-Williams, 15/5, 15/3, and Foster/Prenn cruised past Steve Toseland and Chicagoan Steve Moss.

The morning's work done, all in attendance broke for lunch, a swim or a steam before regrouping in the afternoon for a stellar round of semifinals. In the first, the angular, unorthodox Foster clashed with the indomitable Male. Foster, though gangly, displays surprising agility, and when he stretches for a forehand, his racquet swoops from such a high and sharp angle that he delivers impressive cut and power to his stroke. The surprising number of outright winners he delivered with this shot was exceeded only by the number which Male managed to retrieve, straighten, and deliver as winners of his own. Male also used more drop shots than Racquets observers are accustomed to seeing, each to devastating effect as Foster, though quick, could not get his arms and legs moving with sufficient speed to track down the deadened strokes.

Male moved to a 13-3 lead in the first game, and though Foster managed to narrow the gap to 9-13, Male closed it out from there, 15/9. The Champion enjoyed a smaller advantage in the second game,at 9-6, when Foster countered with an advance of his own, fueled by a tremendous rally featuring and exchange of brutal cross courts at 7-9. The game was tied at 9-all, and again at 11, before Foster took charge. He sledgehammered a forehand to move to 13-11, and finished with an ace, 15/11.

The first two games lasted twenty minutes each. In light of Male's comments about conditioning the day before, it seemed the challenger might have a chance. Apparently Male thought the same thing as he stormed into the third game, abandoning his characteristic play from deep in the corners, to force the issue. Pressing every advantage, using every inch of the court, and the rule book, Male rocketed to an insurmountable lead at 10-1, seemingly bewildering his younger opponent with the range of shots at his disposal, and discouraging him with an onslaught of debilitating drop shots, and coasted to a 15/5 victory. More important than the 2-1 game score, the third game consumed a scant fourteen minutes. And fortunate it was, too, as the

fourth was a 24-minute thriller. After Foster stormed back with a charge of his own, staking a 10-3 lead, Male demonstrated yet again why he is the champion he is by whittling away Foster's advantage, as casually as grampa sitting on the front porch with a knife and a piece of wood. Almost before anyone realized it, Male was out front, 13-10. Foster regained the box with another blinding forehand, but Male answered with another drop shot. A winner off his frame took him to 14, but Foster answered with an uncustomary drop of his own. An ace took him to 12-14. Male took back the serve, and failed on his third go at match point. Foster then evened the score at 14. He claimed the next two points also, to earn a game ball of his own, but Male took it away from him, and served out the game, and match, 17/16.

When Smith faced Smith-Bingham your correspondent was glad he wasn't doing play-by-play as the surname similarity surely ensured a verbal slip somewhere along the way. Smith-Bingham began the match with tremendous confidence, moving smartly to a 5-1 lead despite two early unforced errors. At 2-5 an interesting development occurred, when Smith served what looked like a fault. He immediately walked to the back of the court to prepare to receive his opponent's serve. Despite this, the marker called the serve up, and so it was 3-5. He moved one point closer and the players traded points until Smith began to assert himself. An excellent, lengthy rally, pitting Smith's stunning retrieving abilities against his younger foe's athletic court generalship, resulted in another point for the former champion, expanding his lead to three, at 10-7. Two Smith-Bingham unforced errors extended it to five. A fault brought Smith-Bingham back in, to gain a point on a bad bounce off the treacherous left corner of the back wall. A winner from deep in the right corner narrowed the score to 9-12. Two straight backhand winners made it 11-12 before Smith countered with a backhand of his own. Smith-Bingham hit a beautifully precise backhand rail from far up the court to regain the box, but Smith won the ensuing rally. A misdirected cross court put Smith-Bingham back in, and a Smith unforced error tied the game at 12. They traded points to 13, at which point Smith-Bingham jumped all over Smith's serve. However, he gave the box back with a fault. Smith was called for a foot fault, and Smith-Bingham expressed his gratitude with two service winners and an ace, to take the first, 17/16.

In the Doubles, Smith-Bingham/Cockroft made short work of the Titchener-Barretts, winning three straight, 15/4, 15/9, 15/6. Though not competitive in terms of score, the match was entertaining with several long rallies, especially in the third game, featuring Smith-Bingham and Alex exchanging rocket rails, with Cockroft picking up everything that got past his partner. Although Dom was clearly outmatched in this battle, he made the best of it, hurling himself at countless shots along the wall. During one furious exchange, Alex snapped off the head of his racket on a volley.

The second Doubles Semifinal was among the more intriguing contests, featuring two former World Champions, Prenn and Boone; the current Champion, Male; and a possible future one in Foster. Prenn and Foster faced off against Male and Boone. Much as Prenn had done against Smith, Boone turned back the clock in this match, playing at the highest level observers had seen in years. He hit everything with the blinding pace of old, ran down everything his partner couldn't get, and made virtually no mistakes in the first two games, which they won by the lopsided scores of 15/2, 15/6. Foster responded to Male's barrage of drop shots in their singles match by unveiling a few of his own. They weren't as graceful as Male's, and were delivered with a touch of disdain, as if to say, This isn't the way the game is meant to be played, but if you want to play it that way, so be it, but they were equally as effective. With each successful drop shot, Boone recoiled as if in pain, and was heard to mutter with increasing volume, "No drop shots." As Foster was receiving serve in the forehand court, the gallery grew steadily more concerned that Boone would launch one of his legendary Booniac missiles, and as the match progressed, those on the right side of the gallery began twitching visibly each time Boone served from the left.

Halfway through the third game, Foster took over. He served seven straight points, cutting off the returns with devastating smashes, scintillating touch volleys and vindictive drop shots. His dominance served his side well and they won the third game, 15/10. From that point Boone/Male reasserted themselves however, walking away with the fourth, 15/4. The dynamics of the match were intriguing, with Boone displaying his usual gamesmanship, Prenn his usual statesmanship, Male his usual championship, and Foster banging away at the door demanding admission. The drop shots were the point of contention in the match, and of the weekend. They were the subject of countless conversations and debates. Some maintained they are a worthy part of the game while others argued that they are "not rackets." Some suggested that those who can't execute the shot are those who disdain it. All concerned agreed they had never seen so many as during this tournament, and all agreed that there will be steadily more of them as time goes by. It has the potential to dramatically alter the way the game is played. In the end, for this observer, having witnessed this match, it was a pity to see the top players in the world playing doubles squash on a racquets court.

The Dinner Dance Saturday night, as was to be expected from everything that had gone before, was a stunning success. With some 200 elegantly clad men and women in attendance, and a menu which achieved what had seemed impossible, which is to say surpassing that of the Stag Dinner, it was one of the great hits of the season. While it was tempting to say, as the band packed away their instruments, that the weekend had been a complete success, there were still two more matches to be played.

The pre-match consensus was that Smith-Bingham's time had come. Male had enjoyed a long run, but his reign was over. The King is Dead. Long Live the King. When Smith-Bingham opened the finals with an ace it seemed conventional wisdom would prevail and the Pell Cup would be his. However conventional wisdom never ever confronted a human force such as James Male. Using his serve to devastating effect, Smith-Bingham moved crisply to a 7-3 advantage, with six of his points coming off aces and service winners. However, Male worked his way into the game, taking away his opponent's most effective forehand served with a relentless series of lets. Once his best serve was gone, Smith-Bingham began sorting through his impressive array of options. While he had some success with a devastating hammer serve, which he delivers without the slightest hint that it is coming, after three consecutive aces, Male figured it out. At some point Smith-Bingham began to think too much about the service game, and with the contemplation, the faults returned, and with the faults, so too the unforced errors. Male won eight of the next eleven points, and the first game, 15/11.

In the second, Smith-Bingham again moved out to an early lead, this time at 8-3. Again Male vanquished his foe with his will, and his unrelenting game. No one has ever been able to dominate a game from the corners the way Male has. He scored the next twelve points, to win handily, 15/8. The third and final game saw a resumption of the battle of wills. It lasted 28 minutes, and was incredibly close. There were 6 tie scores, at 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10. At 5-all, Male served three times, and Smith-Bingham four. It grew ever more apparent that if Male won this point he would win the match. Clearly that was Smith-Bingham's sense also as he threw himself progressively more fiercely into each of the knotted rallies. Finally reclaiming the serve, he served an ace to take the lead, 6-5. At this point Male noticed a broken string on his racket, and left the court for a replacement. During his lengthy departure, Smith-Bingham paced back and forth from service box to service box. By the time Male returned to the court, whatever momentum his younger opponent gained from the small inner-game victory had dissipated, and he lost the ensuing serve with an unforced error. Though Smith-Bingham was game, tying the score three more times, Male had proved himself dominant, and when they exchanged five serves at 10-all, it was no surprise when Male claimed the point, the final game, 15/10, and the 2004 US Open Singles Championship.

After breaking for the by now expected superlative feast, this time in the form of an elegantly displayed brunch which offered everything imaginable, from oysters to chocolate cake, those remaining gluttons for glory trooped back to the gallery to watch Boone/Male and Smith-Bingham/Cockroft vie for the Bertolotti Cup. Smith-Bingham, with the weight of the Singles final off his back, and a splendid partner at his back, came out calm and relaxed, and served to a 4-0 advantage on the strength of two aces. With Male serving at 3-8 came the first of mind-numbing series of rallies. It lasted more than 30 strokes, with Cockroft hitting everything. Smith-Bingham never touched the ball. Boone/Male won the rally, but it didn't matter. The younger pair won the game, 15/8, with Cockroft serving out from 12-8.

The second game was closer, and longer, but the victors were the same, 15/13. At 14-10 during another long rally, came a piece of Willie Boone artistry. Cockroft went deep into the right corner to dig out a ball, sending a soft lob to the front wall. It hit high, and landed short, a sitter which Boone stalked. Cockroft moved gradually in front of the service line on the right, covering the cross court, while Smith-Bingham moved up to take away the rail on the left. The ball bounced into Boone towards the center of the court, which removed the middle as an option. With nothing else left, Boone drove the ball into the left wall. It rocketed out, grazed the front wall, and bounced back off the right wall across the court. Probably either opposing player could have reached the ball, if they hadn't been standing flat-footed in utter amazement at Boone's virtuoso play.

Boone and Male rallied to win the third game, 15/8. Once again, there were so many breathtaking rallies, it is hard to even begin to describe it. Perhaps the best way to capture the experience is to say that they became almost boring in their regularity. With the marker crying play, play, PLAY, PLAY, play, in a steady cadence, almost as quickly as he could form the words, and the ball flying around the walls, or being volleyed back and forth from the service line at blistering speeds, it was a demonstration of Racquets as it was meant to be played. Or was, until, incredibly, the game of Racquets died, at 3:02 pm on April 4, 2004, when Willie Boone hit a drop shot from the service line . . .

The fourth game of the match, and final game of an incredible weekend, ended with Smith-Bingham winning, 15/8. Smith-Bingham served seven straight points from 6-6 to take control of the game. Remarkably, though he did the serving, his partner did all the work, covering every angle on the court in a blur of activity. A most impressive performance during a most impressive weekend.

The Racquet Club of Chicago did themselves proud. President Peter Dunne should be especially gratified to have presided over such an achievement, and professionals Mark McDonald and John Cashman turned in a top-notch performance in keeping everything on track, all the way through. Again, though, the lion's share of the credit must go to Davis Anderson and Keene Addington, who conceived of the entire weekend, and who, over two years of unstinting labor, brought it to fruition. Manager Sarah Potter and the great RCC staff, especially Raoul and William (who took care of everyone in the dressing room), deserve much praise for their work during the weekend.