NATCHEZ &045; Once the rain went away, everything cleared up at the 2005 AmSouth Cancer Tennis Tournament.

Afternoon and evening thunderstorms postponed play Saturday at the tournament, but things went smoothly Sunday. Matches started at 8 a.m. so that the tournament could get back on schedule and the final match finished at 3:35 p.m., earlier than in past years, tournament co-director Noreen Pyron said.

&uot;Everything went off really well, especially considering the rain yesterday,&uot; Pyron said. &uot;I think everybody was really ready to play this morning because the weather was so nice today. Our sponsors, especially AmSouth, and the volunteers here really helped make this tournament. It would be a lot harder without them.&uot;

Sunday’s play started with the conclusion of some semifinal matches that were delayed by rain Saturday and finished with the finals in each of the seven divisions for men’s, women’s and mixed doubles.

In men’s 3.5 doubles, Jim Meyer and Obie Watts took the title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tony Byrne and Lionel Rodriguez. In the consolation bracket, Marcus Hewitt and Charles Long beat Danny Huffines and Donald Jones in the final match.

In men’s 4.0 doubles, Sam Mims and Derek Pyron beat Peter Dale and Kendall Hobson 6-3, 6-4 for the championship. Wray Logan and Adam Cardneaux beat Curtis Beard and Michael Flowers 6-4, 6-3 in the consolation final.

On the women’s side, Lynn Andries and Ashleigh Welch-Curtis beat Michelle Griffing and Pam Riggs 6-2, 6-0 for the women’s 3.0 doubles and Natalie Fraychineaud and Caroline Rodriguez beat Lisa Dale and Karen Jones 7-5, 6-1 in the consolation finals.

In women’s 3.5 doubles, Jackie McGee and Stephanie Williams took the title with a 6-5, 7-5 win over Lindsay Devening and Lou Ellen Stout. Karen Blain and Emily Eidt beat Katie Freiberger and Sally Jones 6-1, 6-3 in the consolation final.

Phebe Martin and Claudette Talley won the women’s 4.0 doubles with a 6-0, 5-7 (10-7) victory in a tiebreaker over Jane Opperman and Noreen Pyron. Mary Ruth Caldwell and Jackie Handjis beat Suzan Hogue and Darla Vincent 6-4, 6-2 in the consolation final.

In the mixed 7.0 doubles, Lynn Andries and Scott Rhodes beat David Taylor and Sonia Vaughn 4-6, 6-3 (10-8) for the title. Andries and Rhodes advanced to the finals when their semifinal opponents, Jim Kelly and Jackie McGee were forced to withdraw.

&uot;We had a few people how had to forfeit because they had to get home for their children’s bacchalaureate services Sunday morning,&uot; Noreen Pyron said.

Keith Futrell and Lou Ellen Stout beat Marla and Curtis Beard 6-0, 5-7 (10-5) in a tiebreaker in the consolation final in mixed 7.0.

Courtney Buckles and David McGraw won the mixed 8.0 doubles 6-3, 1-6 (15-13) over Tina Gilbert and Frankie Spence in a match that went longer than any other in the tournament. Michael Flowers and Darla Vincent beat Nancy Laird and Charles Long 7-5, 6-3 in the consolation final.

Hogue said the tournament was a success, in part because of the large number of players who came from outside of Natchez.

&uot;We had a big turnout from out of town,&uot; Hogue said. &uot;We had eight men down from Memphis and got all of the in the men’s and mixed. We had five ladies from Lafayette. It made it fun because we had all these different people. Hopefully we’ll get all these people to return. For some of them it was their first trip to Natchez.&uot;