Paul Settles, Director of Player Services at the ATP Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra, was lauded yesterday for successfully running the first Husband-Wife Clay Court National Championships held at the ATP facility this weekend.

Kudos accepted, Settles and his wife, Kathy, then capped the weekend by winning the national title, beating Jose and Allegra Campos 6-1, 6-1 in the finals.

The event, the first of a series of tennis happenings as part of the Celebration of Tennis, attracted 20 teams from various parts of the country, including a handful of couples locally. The Settles had reached yesterday's final by beating another local couple, Steve Parkes (Queen's Harbor Director of Tennis) and wife Narelle (assistant head pro at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club) in a semifinals match.

"I really didn't think it would be possible to both run the tournament and win it," said Paul Settles. "As strong as the field was and as distracted as I thought I would be in running the tournament, I thought no way was there any way that Kathy and I could win this thing. I think I'm the most surprised guy in the whole tournament that we played as well as we did."

The Settles seemed to get stronger the further they went in the tournament. In their last three matches, they won five of their six sets by 6-1 scores, winning the sixth set by a 6-4 score. Their win over the Parkes in the semifinals helped atone for a loss in the finals of the National 30s Mixed Doubles Clay Court Championships to Steve Parkes and his partner, Julie Breuer, earlier this year.

"It's a little awkward when you're running your own event and then you win it," said Kathy Settles. "You don't want to seem like you set it all up just to do well in it."

The Parkes took third-place honors by defeating the team of Tobias Svantesson and wife, Valerie, in the consolation match, 6-3, 6-2.