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Chatlak, McClelland Team Up at West Virginia Open

WHEELING — In 1993, five-year-old Jeremy McClelland began taking tennis lessons from John Chatlak at the Oglebay Tennis Club. Now, 23 years later, the student/teacher tandem teamed up for the first time to participate in the Bordas and Bordas West Virginia Open as doubles partners on Friday.

Not only did the two Wheeling natives join forces on the clay that they met on years before, but they impressed everyone in attendance as well with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over David Dwornick and Spencer Kilpatrick, of Washington, Pa.

“It was great playing with John,” McClelland said. “We have practiced together a few times but we have never actually played together in a tournament, so it was a lot of fun.

“It is also nice that so many people from the area came out to watch,” McClelland continued. “Most of them probably came to watch John but it is very special to us.”

Chatlak was impressed by the performance of his teammate and was happy to have him on his side of the net.

“It was the first time that we teamed up together,” Chatlak said. “He is a great doubles player and I am lucky to have good doubles partners all of the time.”

The hometown favorites have a highly anticipated matchup coming up on Saturday at 3 p.m., with the number one seeded doubles team of Casey Watt of Mooresville, N.C. and Scott Kahler of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Watt is currently the defending West Virginia Open Singles Champion and is also still contending in this year’s singles tournament.

Both McClelland and Chatlak both failed to advance in singles play but as McClelland said, now they can focus on the doubles tournament.

“A lot of the young guys that I used to whip up on are out here whipping up on me now,” McClelland joked. “It is hard to be out of the singles competition, I haven’t missed a year since I was 13 years old, so that was 16 years ago. I just keep telling myself that I can still play singles and I look at John and see how well he is still playing and it motivates me to get out there. John is my role model and a true professional.”

McClelland was a state champion in both the singles and doubles competition as a senior at Wheeling Park in 2006 and was First Team All-State for the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.

In college he was a three-year letterman at Duquesne University where he was 2nd Team All-Conference in 2008 and 2009, in the Atlantic 10. He finished with 111 career victories, ranking second in school history and finished with a 56-38 singles record and a 59-39 doubles record but he would be the first one to give Chatlak all of the credit for his accomplishments.

“He is my mentor and the reason why I wanted to play tennis,” McClelland said. “Watching him play here is very memorable to me.

“I was nervous playing with him because I didn’t want to let him down but we really clicked and once we got going, we really started rolling.”

The two looked as if they had played together for years, as they soared out of the quarterfinals of doubles play and into the semifinals.

Chatlak is a 7-time National Champion in several age groups and is currently an independent teaching professional/contractor at Oglebay, where he first taught the young McClelland.

“Jeremy was a very good student and a hard worker,” Chatlak noted. “It was fun playing with him out there today.”

McClelland is following in his mentor’s footsteps, as he has become a teaching pro at the Tennis Academy in Wexford, Pa., where he may one day meet a young athlete just like Chatlak did 23 years ago.

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