FLEMING ISLAND - The strategy was at first to keep the ball going to the “other” guy until the other guy started hitting the ball back, so doubles partners Chris Snoap and Joe Derring kept pressing until the heat took its toll to win the Tennis for Cancer Open championship doubles match on a steamy, Sunday afternoon at the Eagle Harbor Tennis Club.

Snoap and Derring were finalists against a stacked duo of Rodrigo Carvalho, a 22 year old tennis player out of Flagler College and Valdosta State University where he has been ranked as part of the number one doubles team in NCAA Division II with partner Luca Mack since April 1 and Rich Turnbull, 62, a Flagler College tennis supporter.

Snoap, 42, and Derring, 55, both Florida Yacht Club members chose to involve more of Turnbull in the early going of the match to avoid the velocity of Carvalho and the strategy was affective only in the end as the heat took its toll on both sides as Snoap and Derring won via scores of 6-3, 6-2 for the annual cancer fundraiser event.

“We had a bye in the first round and that may have helped us in the end as they had to play and win an extra match in the heat,” said Snoap.

“We kept trying to hit Rodrigo’s big shots back toward Rich, but he kept sending them back to us to make the games close.”

In the final match, Snoap had a little more zip in his serve and sealed the win with a series of unreturnable serves.

For Eagle Harbor Tennis Club director Bill Chapman, this was the fifth Tennis for Cancer event under his direction and the players and support for the past two years has been overwhelming.

“The money earned for the charity we won’t determine for a few weeks,” said Chapman. “We blew out the numbers of previous years with auction baskets, player fee and the family banners. The event and the community has been great in making this a big event for the area.”

Chapman noted that the registration has closed at maximum in March for the event in the past two years.