Every player participating in the 26th Annual AmSouth Bank Natchez Cancer Tennis Tournament knew that heat and humidity would be two big factors during the three-day event.

However, they did not count on something else being a factor – rain.

Unfortunately, that was exactly happened on Sunday, which caused one 45-minute delay and eventually some of the final-round matches to be decided by a coin toss.

Some of the finals, however, were determined before the rain ended play.

In the Women’s 5.5 Doubles championship match, Carlyn McKinney and Janice Williams defeated Rebecca Mason and Mena Ramon in three tough sets, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (6).

McKinney and Williams teamed up for the first time in the tournament.

&uot;It was a last-minute pairing,&uot; McKinney, of Natchez, said. &uot;It was a fun match.&uot;

&uot;It was long. It took about three hours, plus the rain delay&uot; Williams, of Jonesville, La., said. &uot;We were very evenly matched.

The tiebreakers in the first and third matches made it such a long match.&uot;

The Women’s 6.5 Doubles title match between the team of Emily Eidt and Brenda Johnson and the duo of Libby Ford and Frances Pugh was rained out and will be played later in the week.

Karen Blain and Augusta Smith, both of Natchez, won the Women’s 7.5 Doubles title with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 win over Phebe Martin and Peggy Van Norman of Port Gibson.

Tina Ferguson of Jackson and Jacklynn Williams of Madison were leading Noreen Pyron of Natchez and Darla Vincent 2-0 in the Women’s 8.5 Doubles final-round match when rain forced a coin flip to determine the winner.

Ferguson and Williams won.

Dennis Hogue and Ken Stubbs of Natchez defeated Obie Watts and Mike Doyle of Baton , La., Rouge 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a Round 3 match in the Men’s 6.5 Round-Robin Tournament to win the title even though both teams won two matches.

&uot;We clawed our way back,&uot; Stubbs said. &uot;We managed through adversity. They beat us the first set and we had to dig deep. Between &uot;Dangerous&uot; Hogue’s legs and the heat, they were worn down.&uot;

John Haik of Ellisville and Michael Tims of Cleveland, won four matches in the Men’s 7.5 Round-Robin Tournament to win the title.

Haik and Tims defeated Shawn Thompson and Larry Hughs 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (4) Sunday.

Tony Dodgen and Henry Harris of Port Gibson won their second straight Men’s 8.5 Doubles title with a coin-flip win over Charles Crump and Mickey Thornton of Brandon after their match, which was tied at 4-all in the first set, was rained out.

&uot;We won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (14-12 in the tiebraker,&uot; Dodgen jokingly said. &uot;I’m glad it’s over. It was an enjoyable weekend. We were fortunate to win the coin toss.&uot;

In the Men’s 9.5 Round-Robin Tournament, Sunday’s match between Joel Lessley and John Mattson of Ridgeland versus Mark Elliot and Hall Ratcliffe of Jackson was rained out before play even started.

A coin flip determined the winner of the match, which were Lessley and Mattson, who won the title by winning two matches.

Haik and Johnson won the Mixed 6.5 Doubles title over Kevin Cobb and Milly Liles of Winnsboro, La. 2-6, 6-3, 3-1 (default).

The Mixed 7.5 Doubles title match between Jennifer Bearry and Ralph Leman of Natchez against Andrew Deere of McComb and Kirby Watts of Natchez was rained out and will be played Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Duncan Park.

Mary Ruth Caldwell of Vidalia and Frankie Spence of Natchez defeated Darla Vincent of Vidalia and Harris on a coin toss to win the Mixed 8.5 Doubles title.

In the Mixed 9.5 Doubles Round-Robin Tournament, Lessley and Pyron defeated Hall Ratcliffe and Michelle Rumbley of Jackson 6-0, 6-4 Sunday.

Lessley and Pyron won three matches overall to win the title.

&uot;It was a good tournament and a good turnout,&uot; Pyron said. &uot;We’d like to thank our sponsors and all the volunteers who help put this tournament together.

&uot;We had a good weekend. It was hot Friday and Saturday. I hated that it rained on Sunday. It’s been about eight years since we’ve had a rainout on Sunday.&uot;

Pyron also said that everyone had fun, rain or shine.

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