Nail-biting Finals Day at 60, 65, 70+ ITF Masters World Championships
In the heat and humidity of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the ITF Masters World Individual Championships (60, 65, 70) saw a host of serial winners sweep the medals.
At the City of Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Centre, the Women's 70 singles final set the tone for the day, as two former world champions - Carolyn Nichols and Tina Karwasky - went head-to-head. Nichols raced away with the opening set 6-0, before Karwasky battled in the second set. Nichols ultimately prevailed in a tense tie-break, capturing her second straight world title and first in the 70+ division.
In the Men's 70 singles final, another former world champion, Daniel Waldman, proved too strong for the field as he romped to the title. Waldman dropped just one set en route to defeating Great Britain's Paul French, 7-6 6-2, in the gold medal match.
The Men's 65 singles final pitted two Masters stalwarts, Glenn Busby and Bill Moss, against each other for the second time in a week. Busby had defeated Moss in the Teams competition final, and the result was the same in the Individuals - Busby prevailing. However, that doesn't tell the full story of what was a gritty match played at an extremely high level. Moss took the first set 7-5, before Busby fought his way back into the match with a 6-3 second set. The American was 3-0 up in the decider, but Busby found a way to win, taking the final set 6-4 to claim yet another world title.
The Women's 65 singles produced an impressive display by American Susan Wright. Wright, who lost to Nichols in last year's final, went one better in 2025 by beating Christine French 6-3 6-1. For French, it was a second disappointment of the week, with husband Paul also missing out on the singles gold.
Over at the BallenIsles Country Club, the 60+ category also had some familiar faces on finals day. Champion in 2022 at the same venue, Liselot Prechtel once again reached the gold medal match in 2025, this time taking on Brazilian Simone Vasconcellos. Once again, Prechtel outlasted her opponent in a three set epic, ultimately coming through a topsy-turvy match 6-2 1-6 6-2.
In perhaps the match of the day, lasting over four hours in hot conditions, Argentinian Marcelo Ingaramo and Spaniard Carlos Costa Bou attempted to outlast each other in a battle of wills. Both players had chances to seal the gold, but it was the Spaniard who won his first World Championships with a dramatic 9-7 final set tie-break victory in front of a healthy crowd at BallenIsles.
The doubles and mixed doubles finals had a fair share of drama, too. Highlights included a nail-biting 10-8 match tie-break win for Mark Vines and Chuck Kuhle in the MD65, a treble crown for Carolyn Nichols winning the WD70 with Bunnie Jackson (adding to the golds already won in the singles and teams events), a second gold for Waldman in the men's doubles alongside Richard Meyer, and a three hour final victory for Aussies Ros Balodis and Leanne Swaysland in the women's 65 doubles.
After a breathless week of entertaining tennis in Palm Beach Gardens, attention now turns to the ITF Masters 50-55 World Team and Individual Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, which runs from 3 - 16 August.
You can find the full results here: 60-65-70 World Individual Championships Draws and Results