Baird Iowa Open is a Cedar Rapids summer tradition

Mark Fiala and Michael Corleone have something in common.

Just like the fictional mob boss from the 'The Godfather' movies, they keep pulling Fiala back in — into the Baird Iowa Open tennis tournament, that is.

The 'longest consecutively running tennis tournament in Iowa' returns to Cedar Rapids this week when the juniors begin play Tuesday at the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center.

Randy Krejci, another Iowa Open veteran who also can't seem to stay away from the event, thinks the tournament started in the 1920s, but neither he nor Fiala know for sure.

Krejci said he's been around the tournament since 1970 — 'It's the first large tournament I played in,' he said — and Fiala has spent 'at least' 30 years involved in the event. Both have served as tournament director.

Fiala thought he was done with it three years ago when Rusty Graff took over as director. But Graff didn't want to run the tournament this year and others passed on the assignment, as well.

'Nobody wanted to sign their name to the bottom line,' Fiala said.

So Fiala was called back into duty and will be running the adult portion, which runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

'There have been several tournaments in Iowa that have dropped,' Fiala said. 'I didn't want to see that happen ... The Iowa Open has had a great history.'

It's not easy running a six-day tournament that includes juniors and adults. Fiala agreed to return to run the adult half while Calvin Song, an assistant tennis pro at the University of Iowa, stepped in to take over the junior portion.

'It's time-consuming,' Fiala said. 'It's not something you just throw together on a Friday afternoon.'

But to Fiala and Krejci, the Iowa Open is worth the effort. Both not only have run the tournament, but also played in it.

'I wasn't good enough to win any titles,' Fiala said.

Krejci, however, was. He owns 'close to a dozen,' Iowa Open titles, including two singles crowns, Most came in doubles, either adult men's or mixed.

'Randy used to pick good partners,' Fiala said with a laugh.

Although the exact year is in question, both men agree late Gazette political writer and editor Frank Nye played a key role in making the tournament an Iowa icon.

'He was the person most instrumental in turning that into a statewide tournament,' Krejci said. 'He's responsible for getting that rolling year after year.'

And neither wanted to see that end.

'The Iowa Open has been a summer tradition,' Fiala said.

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