By Colleen Kane
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kara Molony-Hussey is taking it easy this summer with her tennis training. As of January, Cedric Kauffmann was through playing tennis tournaments.

If this is tennis downtime, then it wasn't a bad week for the two at Lunken Playfield.

Molony-Hussey defeated Tania Luzhanska 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, and Kauffmann beat Isaac Yarrell 6-1, 6-1 to become the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis singles champions Sunday.

The women's finals was a rematch of the 2001 finals, where Molony-Hussey lost 6-2, 6-1. This time, Molony-Hussey took the initiative.

"It's either I play aggressive or she plays aggressive, and that was the difference," Molony-Hussey said. "It was like whoever takes the initiative first, that's the way the points went, and that's why I really focused on that first ball I hit."

It was a change that caught Luzhanska off-guard in the first set.

"I made a lot of mistakes, unforced errors. I didn't move as well as I should have," Luzhanska said.

The win gave Molony-Hussey her fourth singles title.

Molony-Hussey, 23, put her professional career on hold in February to coach her sister Molly's high school tennis team, which cut down on her preparation time. "I really didn't prepare for this one like I did the other ones, so I didn't have such high expectations of myself," Molony-Hussey said. "I was pretty surprised with myself, how well I hung up there, because I just haven't practiced for stuff like this."

She may play in two money tournaments later this summer.

In one of the few tournaments he will play this summer, Kauffmann dominated. He won every match in straight sets and never gave up more than two games in a set in his first Met.

"I didn't know what to expect because I haven't played that much, but with each match I tried to play a little better because the players were better," Kauffmann said. "Last year, I was playing better tennis, but you don't lose it that quick."

Kauffmann, a 27-year-old Paris native who lives in Madeira, used to play professionally on the challenger circuit. At one time, he was ranked among the top 180 players in the world. He gave up his pro career to spend more time with his wife and one-year-old daughter, Isabelle. He starts as a teaching pro at Five Seasons in September.

"I love tennis, but traveling 40 weeks out of the year without my daughter . . . It was a choice I had to make," Kauffmann said. "I had the game maybe to get to the top 100, but I'm happier this way. I like my barbecue. I like my neighbors. I like to see my friends once in a while. I like that better than traveling."

MORE MET: The Met mixed doubles competition begins Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Championships will be held Saturday at 10 a.m.

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E-mail: ckane@enquirer.com