Long Island’s Biggest Adult Tennis Tournament Hits The Hamptons With The Long Island Tennis Magazine June Challenge
The 2025 Long Island Tennis Magazine (LITM) Summer Series presented by Orlin & Cohen Orthopedic Group kicked off the Summer season in style with the Long Island Tennis Magazine June Tennis Challenge. The event was completely sold-out and the packed house provided for a great atmosphere both on and off the courts.
This one-of-a-kind event features fierce on-court competition across 22 Har-Tru courts on the sprawling Quogue campus. Doubles pairings battled it out in round-robin competition that fed into the playoff rounds. The LITM Challenge tournaments, which have been operating for over a decade, are well known for its professionalism and organization as well for having great tennis at all levels! Additionally the amenities off the court are a LITM Challenge staple.
On this day, players were treated to an expansive catered lunch spread which included a variety of heroes, side salads, pizza and brownies/cookies, bananas, and drinks as well as a very popular Happy Hour featuring the Michele-A-Rita and the Don-Colada among other options.
“I would like to thank our title sponsor Orlin & Cohen Orthopedic Group for their amazing support in helping us put on a professionally-run and successful event. We made sure all participants played a lot, that the tournament ran on time and that we had food, drinks, etc. available to players during the tournament,” said Tournament Director David Sickmen. “Each tournament, we continue to see returning faces, but are also pleased to keep seeing new players join us from all across the Metropolitan area, which is a great indication of the event’s growth, and are excited to host more tournaments this summer and fall.”
The pairing of Sophia Yang & Youngmi Seo were the victors of the Women’s 6.0 – 6.5 division, using good on-court chemistry to come away with the title.
“Consistency and communication was the key to victory,” said Yang. “We worked great together as a team.”
Both players spoke highly of the tournament:
“It was great getting to play with some players we never played against before, and we met a lot of great people,” said Seo. “The people were so nice; there were a lot of strong players. We enjoyed this tournament a lot and will definitely join again next time.”
Bonnie Aves & Hazel Zaldivar are past champions at the LITM Challenge, and they used their experience to win yet another title, as the duo captured the Women’s 7.0 – 7.5 division championship with a victory over Melissa Scheinman & Jill Siemen-Mayer in the final.
“We did the same thing as last year when we won, which was me just listening to her and doing what she tells me,” Aves said jokingly.
The goal for them coming in was to hold onto their championship crown, and their goal now is to do it once again at the next event.
“I told her we had to defend our honor, which we did,” said Zaldivar. “We have to defend our title once again so we will be back for sure.”
Marija Varelkatie also has a LITM Challenge title on her resume, and added another one to her accomplishments but this time with a new partner: Meiko Boynton. The two won the Women’s 8.0 – 8.5 division.
“We’ve played together in USTA leagues but this is the first time we’ve played at a LITM event,” said Boynton. “Last year she won with someone else, and now she has won with me, so we’ll see who she chooses to play with for the next tournament.”
Boynton was half-kidding, because her and Varelkatie proved to be a great pairing, and worked well together.
“We had great communication and we stayed positive throughout,” she said. “We complement each other well. Miko set me up a lot today. We had a great time, the weather was great, and the food was amazing. We’ll absolutely be back.”
At the 2024 LITM Thanksgiving Challenge, Onalee Batcheller & Gabrielle Vailiant brought home their first Challenge title, and returned to defend their title out in Quogue, and were able to do so as they won the Women’s 9.0 – 9.5 division.
Being confident in their skills and relying on what they know was the key to their success.
“It was important that we trusted our shots, it worked out and we had a good day,” said Vailiant.
Batcheller added:
“We were always talking during the matches to make sure we stayed on the same page. We went undefeated in the round robin rounds which gave us a lot of confidence going into the semifinals and eventually the finals.”
When asked if they would be back to go for their third straight title, Vailiant confirmed: “For sure.”
Martin Guichardo & Broc Brown are two primarily singles players who have begun playing doubles together, and the duo quickly found their chemistry on court to win the Men’s 7.0 – 7.5 doubles division.
“Coming from being more singles players doubles can be a challenge, it’s a whole different mental game, but I think we did a good job of moving on from the mistakes we made and getting to the next point,” said Guichardo. “This is my fourth time playing these tournaments and first time even making it to the playoffs, so I found the right partner. He was great today.”
Brown said:
“We stayed calm, especially in that final, and went one point at a time. This event was awesome, we had a really great time.”
Neil Hyman & Chris Kolesnik won the Men’s 8.0 – 8.5 division after winning a thrilling set tiebreak over Ed Mulhern & Cenzig Karakaya in the championship match to claim the title.
“That last match we really gritted it out,” said Hyman. “It was a little dicey, but in that tiebreaker Chris and I were able to do our thing.”
Both teams returned extremely well in the final with them trading breaks through the first eight games of the one-set final, but Hyman & Kolesnik held their nerve.
“We made sure to stay locked in,” said Kolesnik. “When you go down a break early, you have to tell yourself that it’s early and you can work your way out of it, which is what we did.”
“We try to make all of these tournaments, they are such a great time,” Hyman added.
Back in college as teammates at Marist, Dylan Friedman & Carlos Vasquez developed an on-court chemistry and rekindled it to come away victorious in the Men’s 9.0 – 9.5 doubles division by defeating Marijus Kuzavas & Francois Vernet in the championship.
“Getting the chance to play with him again all these years later, and bring it full circle was my favorite part of the tournament today,” said Friedman. “We had to overcome some adversity in the final, but we were able to get the job done.”
It was Vasquez’s first time playing in an LITM Challenge, and he was complimentary of how the event was run.
“It was really well-organized, super fun and the vibes were great. We had so much fun playing together again after all these years, and happy to keep this partnership going.”
Friedman’s younger sister, Deliala teamed up with Adam Hornsby to win the Mixed Doubles division. Hornsby was Friedman’s junior tennis coach, but the two hadn’t played much doubles together in the past.
“We’ve been playing tennis together for a long time but not a lot of doubles,” said Hornsby. “Teamwork makes the dream work. We are going to come back at the next tournament to try and defend the title.”
Friedman added:
“I just had so much fun playing as a team with Adam. This event was a great time. The Don Colada drink was amazing, I’d give it an 11 out of 10. I’m really glad we got to play this tournament and looking forward to coming back.”
“These tournaments have become almost like family reunions of sorts, as many of the players have become friends of mine and it’s a very welcoming atmosphere on and off the courts for everyone. As people arrive, all we see on the pool deck is hugs and smiles. Some players bring their own ‘fans’ to support them, and everyone involved with the event works together to provide a vibe that makes the Long Island Tennis Magazine Challenges stand out as the premier adult tennis tournament in the area,” Sickmen added. “This was even more evident as we were forced to use our rain-date for this particular event. With the amount of players involved, this created challenges, but my co-Director Michelle Stoerback did what she does best and was able to recreate the draws to ensure everyone had the best possible experience. We pay a lot of attention to the small details and we continue to learn from each event, but I want to thank Michelle, all of our sponsors and all of our supporting players for their part. Hearing that people drove four hours to play, seeing people stay for hours post-event, and getting the feedback we received has us ready for more.”
The LITM June Tennis Challenge was completely sold-out and sets the stage for a great summer ahead. The next Long Island Tennis Magazine on the schedule is Saturday September 6th (registration is available at LongIslandTennisMagazine.com/Events/SeptemberTennis) once again at Sportime Quogue. LITM will also be hosting a tennis event in late July, with an announcement of the location and event specifics coming soon. Check out LITennisMag.com/Events for the latest information on all of our events!
Scenes from the Long Island Tennis Magazine June Challenge
