Chesham Bois Lawn Tennis Club Championships 22^nd July 2006

Finals day 2006 had everything a typical British summer’s day could produce with dehydrating heat during the morning, torrential rain in the afternoon and gentle sunshine in the early evening.  Despite this a grand total of 21 main event, junior and plate finals were completed all well supported by a good crowd of intrepid spectators.

In the men’s open singles saw a first-time finalist Jonathan Maloney take on the considerably more experienced Simon Buckingham.  However, from the outset it was clear that Jonathon’s power was always going to be a problem for Simon.  Jonathan took the first set 6-2 and moved into a 5-2 lead in the second.  After conceding two quick games he recovered his composure and broke Simon’s serve to take the set and what is likely to be the first of a number of titles.  This added to his earlier success in the U18 final defeating Joe Revens 6-0 6-2.

The 45+ Men’s singles proved to be a marathon starting in brilliant sunshine, continuing through the rain with just a short break when the gusting winds made play impossible.  Clive Gillingwater took the first set 6-2 but Richard Benmore demonstrated his fitness and staying power to take the next two sets 6-4 6-3.

The ladies single was played between two of the first team with Louise Barnett proving too strong for Natalie Lawrence taking the championship 6-3 6-1.

The men’s doubles saw the return of one of last year’s winners Stuart Foster with a different partner, Geoff Reynolds, taking on last year’s runners-ups Peter Lavery and Steve Woolland.  This match was played through the worst of the weather but despite this provide great tennis for the hardy spectators.  One break of Steve Woolland’s service was enough to give Foster and Reynolds the first set 6-4.  A single break of the normally solid Reynolds service gave Lavery and Woolland the second set 6-3 but once the rain stopped Foster and Reynolds reasserted themselves taking the third set 6-2 and with it the title.

The 45+ men’s doubles saw two pairs whose knowledge of each other’s strengths and weaknesses inevitably produced a very tactical game.  On the day Alec Spooner and Peter Henry had the edge over Paul Gray and Neil Thomas winning 6-2, 6-4.

Louise Barnett teamed up with Natalie Lawrence in the ladies doubles versus Sarah Burrows and Adriana Wong for an all first-team final.  The first set was a hard fought affair and winning the tiebreak proved decisive and Barnett and Lawrence ran out winners 7-6 6-2. 

To round off a successful afternoon with her third win, Louise and Stuart Foster the defending champions beat Natalie Lawrence and Steve Woolland 6-3 6-2 to retain the Mixed Doubles title.

In the junior events, the strength in depth produced by the club’s focus on developing players for the future was amply demonstrated even though Toby Martin was missing on a training trip to the Czech Republic.  Laura Deigman took four titles, The U18 girls’ singles, defeating Vanessa Maloney 6-1 6-0 and the U14 title by the same score versus Claire Birmingham.  Teaming up with Claire against the much younger Isobel Maloney and Lucy Barr the U14 girls’ doubles was won without the loss of a game but her toughest final was the U18 mixed doubles where playing with Sam Evans the won a tightly fought match 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Isobel, the youngest of the three Maloneys matched her brother achievement of two titles playing Lucy Barr in the U10 and U12 girls’ singles events and winning both by the same 6-2 6-0 score.

For the boys, Christian Slater was another triple winner taking the U14 and U12 singles titles against William Chaplin 6-1, 6-1 and Sam Evans 6-2, 6-2 respectively and rounding of his success partnering Sam Evans to take the U14 Boys’ doubles event 6-1, 6-1 against James Yeomans and Sam Adams.

John Turner defeated Rory Harris to win the U16 boys’ singles, 6-3, 6-2 and his brother James beat James McCarthy 6-2, 6-4 to take the U10 title.

The recently retired club chairman Alan Cantrell presented prizes and Mike Standing, Tennis Chairman, commented on the success of having finals day with main plate and junior events providing a great day for all club members.  He thanked Jeremy Evans and Jeremy Sperling for all their efforts in organising and running the tournament and Jane Freeman for providing the excellent lunches and teas.

Main Draw Events
Mens Singles	Event	Results
	Club	Jonathan Maloney bt Simon Buckingham 6-2, 6-4
	45+	Ridchard Benmore bt Clive Gillingwater 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
	U18	Jonathan Maloney bt Joe Revens 6-0, 6-2
	U16	John Turner bt Rory Harris 6-3, 6-2
	U14	Christian Slater bt WilliamChaplin 6-1, 6-1
	U12	Chrsitian Slater bt Sam Evans 6-2, 6-2
	U10	Michael Turner bt James McCarthy 6-2, 6-4
Mens Doubles	Club	Stuart Foster/Geoff Reynolds bt Peter Lavery/Steve Woolland 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
	45+	Alec Spooner/Peter Henry bt Neil Thomas/Paul Gray 6-2, 6-4
	U14	Christian Slater/Sam Evans bt James Yeomans/Sam Adams 6-1, 6-1
Ladies Singles	Club	Louise Barnett bt Natalie Lawrence 6-3, 6-1
	U18	Laura Deigman bt Vanessa Maloney 6-1. 6-0
	U14	Laura Deigman bt Claire Birmingham  6-1, 6-0
	U12	Isobel Maloney bt Lucy Barr 6-2. 6-0
	U10	Isobel Maloney bt Lucy Barr 6-2. 6-0
Ladies Doubles	Club	Louise Barnett/Natalie Lawrence bt Sarah Burrows and Adriana Wong 7-6, 6-2
	40+	Hilary Linton/Anne Bixley bt Caroline Adams/Alison Williams
	U14	Laura Deigman/Claire Birmingham bt Isabel Maloney/Lucy Barr 6-0, 6-0
Mixed Doubles	Club	Stuart Foster /Louise Barnet bt Steve Woolland/ Natalie Lawrence 6-3, 6-2
	U18	Sam Evans/Laura Deigman bt Joe/Alice Revens 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Plate Events
Mens Singles	Club	Clive Gillingwater bt David Orton 6-0, 6-0
	45+	Jeremy Evans bt Terry Maloney 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
Mens Doubles	Club	Paul Clark/Andy Pearce w/o
	45+	Howard Revens/Peter Adams w/o Steve Ellis-Jones/Mark Webber
Ladies Doubles	Club	Wendy Copestick/Liz Slater w/o Lyn Webber/Rachel Oakley
	40+	Amanda Griggs/Christian Moore w/o
Mixed Doubles	Club	Peter/Hazel Henry bt Nigel Moore/Jill Merrell 6-3, 6-4