Judy Dixon

The opportunity of pressure: U.S. World Championships

A recent USTA New England News story includes this quote from me: “We were over the moon we won and a bit surprised we played so well. We had a rag-tag team. I was battling a chronic Illness, Brenda tore her ACL last year, and Liane played in a tournament a couple weeks prior and…

Competing at Doubles and Singles at the National Women’s 50-90 Championships in La Jolla

A few days before I was to compete in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS in La Jolla, California, severe back pain kicked in. I had recently recovered from a pulled hamstring preceding the tournament, but, unlike the types of pains and injuries many of us who love to play tennis face regularly, the back pain was related…

A new chapter? Moving On Up: Youth tennis program needs you!

Retirement may not be the correct word for this stage of my life. Perhaps “a new chapter” or “self-scheduled time” is a better way to describe my days. Aside from continuing to prepare for tennis competition, I have been quite busy as a board member of two non-profits, Moving On Up with Tennis and Education, and…

2018 National Championships: Opponent, teammate, friend

I recently returned from the 2018 National Women’s Intersectional Team Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. I played #1 singles and #1 doubles on Team New England’s 65 and over team. There were 15 teams from different USTA sections in our division and 6 different divisions: 35 and over, 45, 55, 65, 75, and even an 80-and-over…

Facing health challenges, racket in hand

Last week I met a woman at indoor tennis courts who told me that she recognized me at a Whole Foods and wanted to say “hi,” but thought that was too pushy. She had seen an article in the Springfield Republican about the success I had had in UMag, Croatia, winning the gold medal at…

ITF World Team Champions

I arrived in UMag, Croatia not knowing what to expect except that for the first time in my life I was no longer playing for myself, my university, or my Intersectional Team. Now I was playing for my country and we were clothed accordingly in Adidas red, white and blue. UMag is a coastal resort…

Team USA vs. Australia in ITF Finals in Croatia

Tina Karwasky played 1S, Wendy McColskey played 2S, and my partner Vicky McEvoy and I played doubles yesterday for the USA team against the British team at the ITF World Championships in the Kitty Godfree division. We won all positions in two well-fought sets, which sends us to the finals against Australia on Friday. Today,…

World Championships in Umag, Croatia

My Women’s 65 Division team (myself, Vicky McEvoy, Tina Karwasky, and Wendy McColskey) beat Canada 3-0 on our first day of the Super-Senior World Championships in Croatia. On Tuesday, we play Sweden (click here to open a new window to see match result stats on the ITF website). I embarked on this competition journey over a…

Retirement?!

Ryan Bamford, the UMASS Athletic Director, gave me a rocking chair upon retiring as the tennis coach for 25 years and then quipped that he doubted I would use it. Seems he was right! Since the unexpectedly dramatic finish to the 2016-2017 Women’s Tennis season (I’ll share more about that another time), my retirement has…