WOW! What a weekend!

That's about all I can say at this point! Thank you to everyone who played, volunteered, supported, or was otherwise involved with our tournament this year. It was a great weekend in Austin and we were glad to see each and every one of you come out for some great matches. The level of play this year was extraordinary with countless matches going the distance in three sets and others being decided in two very close sets.

This weekend wasn't only a success for our tournament winners, but also our charity sponsor, OutYouth.

Having been a youth member of OutYouth almost a decade ago, I know what great work they do with teens and young adults facing the challenges of not only growing up, but also the challenges of growing up facing obstacles and challenges many people take for granted. Having a safe place to vent, share, and find support facing the challenges of "growing up gay" in Texas was truly a blessing as I was beginning my own coming out process.

While we don't have final numbers just yet, we want to thank you for your generosity this year supporting OutYouth and its wonderful programs again this year. While there were times planning and organizing this event that tried my patience and seemed overwhelming, seeing the end result this weekend and seeing just how generous our community is has made everything worthwhile and rewarding. It's hard for me to express my gratitude and appreciation for all that you have done to make this a success. From the players putting on a great weekend of tennis at all levels, the volunteers that made things run flawlessly, our sponsors who gave so generously, and of course the fans who spent some of their precious free time this weekend to cheer on friends and encourage friendly rivalries, I sincerely thank you. This could not have been done without you.

The next few days, I'll be working on a photo gallery of the weekend and I encourage you to send any pictures you might have of this weekend to me to add to our gallery. Please send all pictures to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

I know I have said it before, but I am going to say it one more time: Thank you so much for making the Heart of Texas Classic 6 such a success and truly one of the best GLTA tournaments around!

John Sanchez
Co-Tournament Director

We made it through the first day with incredible weather! I'm really happy with how well things turned out today. The schedule got a little tight in the afternoon, and we ran a little behind, but that's only because of the outstanding quality of play today. There were SEVERAL matches that went to a third set. Congrats to Tomoya and Keith for playing the longest match of the tournament, lasting nearly three hours!

Consolation matches will begin first thing in the morning (yes, I know, another day of 8am matches!). I'm working on the schedule and will have that completed sometime tonight before I hit the sack. We'll get through the majority of first round consolation matches at 8am, with some starting a little later as courts become available.

DOUBLE match times were slightly affected by the back-up today, and those matches will be updated late tonight, but all singles matches are still on schedule!

Thanks for an amazing day today. Every one of you has made me very happy I chose to be your co-tournament director this year! I'll see you on the courts bright and early on Saturday!

John Sanchez
HOT6 Co-Tournament Director