Men's Tennis Team Report
By Steve Tiddy
Sunday 7th May marked a wonderful Sunday for our different teams representing our Club. Amongst all of our teams I’m going to give pride of place to our Mens Division 2 side who visited Oxshott & won on the doubles tie break shooter. This was a marginal call from our Mens Division 1 side who also enjoyed a great victory & our girls u/14 side who stepped up to the plate.
Summary:
Oxshott LTC 1st team v ST&SC 3rd team.
Captained by Kieron Tiddy our guys came through on the doubles tie break shooter. Credit to Josh Freeman & Zac Pacey who won their respective singles rubbers but also to Kieron & Sai Gowthami who although beaten at 1 & 2 kept fighting. Sai in particular played singles against Jeremy Bates so Stuart Duthie our septuagenarian member can remember his 60 & 70’s Wimbledon exploits & understand what a great learning curve for Sai. The doubles featured Andrew Castle alongside Bates & Josh F & Alastair Tiddy were competitive but were inched out. Ivor Mandic also came in for doubles & along with Zac P won their rubber convincingly. Sai was edged out by Bates but Zac Pacey anchored the ship before Ivor & Josh steered the ship home. It should be noted that after the match the Oxshott bar was shut & no food or drinks were available !!!
STSC 2nd Team v Magdalen Park 1st Team
Captained from his sun-lounger in Spain John Richards sent into battle one of the youngest teams in the history of our Club. Caleb Simms took up the mantle at No 1 & defeated Will Bannister in straight sets. Tadiwa Chinamo, a new member & formerly at US college recommended to our Club by Wayne Black joined Caleb in winning his 1st singles at No 4 in straight sets. Liam Channon & Joey Black were both edged out in tie break shooters which left the match evenly poised. What followed was a massive credit to our pairings of Caleb/Liam & Joey/Tad. Both our pairs won solid doubles matches against much more experienced pairs. A great start to the season.
STSC 1st team v Roehampton 2nd Team
This match featured the debut of Stuart Parker (currently 389 on ATP) and was part of a very strong squad that won by 6-0. Ivan Denisov continues his great form & it was great to see Alexis Canter double-bagel his counterpart. Alex Jhun who is celebrating his birthday weekend made his seasonal debut & recently married Dan Smethurst anchored the side at 4. The only hiccup came after Dan S had finished his match & in conversation with him immediately following the game he said his biggest problem was he had lost his wedding ring. I admit the 1st few games were a bit shaky. Happily found (at the bar) & restored we not only won but saved a marriage is there no end to what our Club can achieve in its 100th year
Ladies' Tennis Team Report
By Terry Oakes
Ladies 1 also won their National Team Tennis match away to Queens. Our 5-1 victory gives us a 2 point lead at the top of the table mid way through the divisional season. The top match featured Eliz Maloney and former top 500 Croatian player Karla Popovic. Karla sped in to a 5-1 lead but Eliz’s indomitable spirit saw her take the match by 7-6, 6-0 after 2 hours and 20 minutes. At No 2 Dani Daley beat the Queens captain in straight sets. At 3 and 4 we fielded two 15 year olds-Frankie Tye and Natalia Krauz. Both scored excellent wins against higher ranked and much more experienced players. Abby Amos came in for the doubles and partnered Dani to another straight sets win. Our next match is at home to Woodford Wells on Sunday 14th at 12 noon.. It would be great to see members come to support our team.