Crames Seeks 13th Straight Glen Oaks Club Title

Later this summer, Simone Crames will set out to continue her remarkable record, and maintain a streak that spans more than a decade. For the last 12 years, Crames has won the Glen Oaks Country Club Ladies Singles Championship, and will be seeking lucky number 13 in August.

“I believe my consistency and competitive spirit is the key to my success. With each win I was building up my confidence,” said Crames. “Now that I reached my personal goal of ten wins, the last two years have been getting tougher. My competition is getting younger and I am getting older, this one will be my hardest one yet.”

Despite the age gap between Crames and her opponents continuing to grow, she has the inane ability to keep improving her game, and possesses great tennis instincts.

“What I admire most about Simone’s tennis game is that her biggest strengths are such important but understated keys to success,” said Ricky Becker, the Director of Tennis at Glen Oaks, and a former all-American at Stanford University. “Simone only hits shots that she rightfully knows she can make. Her self-awareness of what she can and can’t make is off the charts. Secondly, I’m not sure she realizes but her anticipation is awesome. Other women comment on how fast Simone is but her secret really is anticipation. She is usually moving in the direction of the ball before it is hit.”

To have these sorts of tennis skills that has allowed her to succeed is even more amazing when you consider that Crames did not play tennis growing up or even in the early part of her adulthood.

After marrying her husband, a former player at the University of Southern California, and having kids, it was then that Crames started playing.

“I didn’t play competitively as a kid. In fact, I was not interested in taking lessons,” she said. “It wasn’t until I had children that I started to play and join leagues. It was a great outlet to meet people and to exercise. What I love most about tennis is all the health benefits to playing, the friendships that I have made, and the friendly competition. It’s good for my mind, stress and keeps me away from Netflix.”

And the more she has played, the better she has gotten and the competitiveness has come out. Becker added:

“Simone loves to compete and enjoys the ‘battle’,” he said. “Matches are genuinely fun for her, and she loves the challenge of competing. She doesn’t put pressure on herself to win but enjoys the exercise and the experience. And as she has proven, the winning just follows.”

Crames enjoys both the battle of competing but also the camaraderie and health benefits that she has gotten from playing tennis and being a member at Glen Oaks.

“I love being a member at Glen Oaks because of the people, playing on the tennis team and their beautiful golf course,” she said. “Not to mention the delicious buffet, hence the need to play a lot of tennis.”

It remains to be seen if Crames can continue her unbelievable streak of championships this summer, and no matter the result of the match, Crames’ story is the perfect representation of the positive effects tennis can have.