Former Champions Come Face to Face

 

Despite a less than promising forecast the weather held and an excellent day’s tennis followed.  The men’s singles final proved to be a really close contest between two former club champions, last year’s winner Peter Lavery and the 2004 winner Alec Allen where the fortunes swung to and fro between the finalists. 

 

Alec found his groove immediately and took a 4-1 lead before Peter produced a series of outright winners to bring the scores level at 4 all.  However Alec broke Peter again after a very long game and then held service to take the first set 6-4.  The second set followed the same pattern up to 4 all, only this time the set went to a tiebreaker that Peter won convincingly.  The final set went with serve until 4 all when Alec, having broken Peter’s service held his own, closing the match with a stunning volley.

 

In the other men’s singles events Paul Gray came back from losing the first set to Mike Atkinson in a tiebreaker to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-2, to win the 45+ title and as a result of an injury Len Worley had to concede the new 60+ title to Mike Atkinson.

 

The ladies singles final was contested by two juniors Vanessa Maloney and Heather McNeill and was another fiercely fought match.  Vanessa took the first set 6-2 and Heather responded with some attacking play to take the second 6-3.  In the final set Vanessa’s determined play resulted in her taking it 6-4 and with it the match.

 

The men’s doubles event provided some excellent tennis for the spectators but in the end the experienced pairing of Stuart Foster and Alec Allen proved too strong for the defending champions Peter Lavery and Steve Woolland winning 6-4, 6-1.  In the ladies event experience again triumphed with 6-3, 6-2 win by Hilary Linton and Ann Bixley over Caroline Adams and Alison Williams.

 

The 45+ Men’s doubles had to be conceded due to Len Worley’s injury but in the Ladies 40+ event Jane McFall and Vivien Carter used their more aggressive game to overcome Hilary Linton and Ann Bixley 6-2,6-4.

 

The mixed doubles title looked to heading safely towards Stuart Foster and Louise Barnett as they took the first seven games to move to 1-0 in the second set.  However Mark and Adriana then fought back by taking a 5-2 lead and despite being pegged pack to 5 all won the tiebreaker to take the set 7-6.  However Stuart and Louise reasserted their control to win the deciding set 6-2, and with it the title.

 

The quality of the tennis produced by the winners in the junior events underlines the club’s increasing strength in this area.  Jonathan Maloney took the U18 singles title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Toby Martin who was equally successful in the U14 event defeating Joe Revens 6-1, 6-1.  Chris Slater won the U12 6-0, 6-1 beating William Rawlinson who had more success in the U10 title in a long three set match finally overcoming Michael Turner 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

 

Laura Deigman again demonstrated her class winning both the U14 and U12 singles finals with the loss of only two games, defeating Laura Birmingham 6-2, 6-0 and Lucy Barr 6-0, 6-0 respectively.  In the U10 girls singles Isabel Maloney added another title to the families haul defeating Lucy Barr in three tiebreakers 7-5, 3-7, 7-5.

 

In the junior doubles events Jonathan Maloney teamed up with Toby Martin to secure a 6-3,6-4 victory over Nick Sacks and Gianluca Marelli in the U18’s, in the U14 event Joe Revens and Toby Martin beat Christian Slater and Jamie McKinnon 6-2,7-6 and in the U14 mixed Joe and Alice Revens to the title beating Christian and Bridie Slater 6-2, 6-0.

 

To include more club members in the finals, a number of plate events were held for the first time this year and in particular the very obvious enjoyment by the players in the two ladies events mean that these will be held again going forward.

 

Thanks to Jeremy Evans and Stuart Foster for organising the event and to Geoff Williams of the Hughes Group, the club’s sponsor who presented the prizes and is pictured here with the finalists.

 

Main Draw Events
Men’s Singles	Event	Results	View Photo
	Club	Alec Allen bt Peter Lavery 6-4,6-7,6-4
	60+	Mike Atkinson w/o versus Len Worley
	45+	Paul Gray bt Mike Atkinson 6-7, 6-2,6-2
Junior Singles	U18	Jonathan Maloney bt Toby Martin 6-2,6-4
	U14	Toby Martin bt Joe Revens 6-1,6-1
	U12	Chris Slater bt William Rawlinson 6-1,6-0
	U10	William Rawlinson bt Michael Turner 6-3,3-6,6-3
Men’s Doubles	Club	Alec Allen/Stuart Foster bt Peter Lavery/Steve Wooland 6-4,6-1
	45+	Neil Thomas/Paul Gray w/o  Len Worley/ Tony Simmonds
Junior Doubles	U18	Jonathan Maloney/Toby Martin bt Nick Sacks/Gianluca Marelli 6-3,6-4
	U14	Joe Revens/Toby Martin bt Christian Slater/Jamie McKinnon 6-2,7-6
Ladies Singles	Club	Vanessa Maloney bt Heather McNeill 6-2,3-6,6-4
Junior Singles	U14	Laura Deigman bt Laura Birmingham 6-2,6-0
	U12	Laura Deigman bt Lucy Barr 6-0,6-0
	U10	Isabel Maloney bt Lucy Barr 7-5,3-7,7-5
Ladies Doubles	Club	Hilary Linton/Ann Bixley bt Caroline Adams/Alison Williams 6-3,6-2
	40+	Jane McFall/Vivien Carter bt Hilary Linton/Ann Bixley 6-2,6-4
Mixed Doubles	Club	Stuart Foster /Louise Barnett bt Mark Mandeville/Adriana Wong 6-0,6-7,6-2
Junior	U14	Joe/Alice Revens bt Christian/Bridie Slater 6-2,6-0
Plate Events
Men’s Singles	Club	Pete Mckenna w/o
	45+	Nick Warren w/o versus Chris Barr
Ladies Doubles	Club	Lynne Revens/Gill Merrell bt Amanda Griggs/Lyn Webber 6-2,4-6,6-3
	40+	Christian Moore/Sue Pogson bt Amanda Griggs/Lynne Webber 6-4,6-4
Mixed Doubles	Club	John/Lisa Woodbury bt Tony/Nicky White 6-4,7-5