By Steve Bigham

Dickinson Park was the place to be this past weekend as the final rounds of the annual Bertram A. Stroock tennis tournament were played under sunny skies. The August tournament is put on each year by the Newtown Tennis Association (NTA) and is open to Newtown residents only.

This year’s tournament director was Martin West.

Once again it was Bob Elliott who stole the show, capturing his fourth men’s singles title with an entertaining 6-4, 6-2 win over Tom Conrod. The two talented athletes pounded the daylights out of the ball before Elliott’s overall skills finally won out. Conrod managed to keep it close behind a powerful serve that managed to keep Elliott off balance. But there are few in the area who play the game at the level of Elliott, who defeated Steve Bigham, 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-final round.

Bigham was the 1992 Stroock champion.

Elliott, 39, played college tennis at Duke University and says his game has suffered very little since then. This year’s title was his first in an even-numbered year. In 1995, he won his first title with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Preston Meyer. In 1996, he lost to Justin McCarthy, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. In 1997, he returned to upend Stephen Marton, 6-2, 6-2. The following year, he sat out as his wife Lauren, was expected to give birth right around this time. And last year, he defeated Conrod, 6-2, 6-0.

Elliott works for IBM.

Conrod, 34, is an optometrist when not playing tennis. He advanced to the finals after defeating Frank Barchi, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals. Conrod, who grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, played college tennis at High Point University in North Carolina.

On the women’s side, Julie Stern outlasted Dawn Nacewicz, 6-1, 6-3 for her second title. She won her first title in 1993. Stern is a professor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.

In men’s doubles, Steve Bigham and Brian Leavitt defended their title from 1999 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over David Lott and John Swain. Bigham and Leavitt, both 30, grew up in town and have been playing doubles together since they were kids.

The women’s doubles title went to Wendy Fong and Teresa Kennedy, who defeated Darlene Jackson and Julie Stern, 6-2, 6-1.

In mixed doubles, Bob Elliott and his wife, Lauren, teamed up to defeat the husband and wife team of Elizabeth and Michael Lynch, 6-4, 6-2. It was the Elliotts’ second-straight title.