T&RA Newsletter 2016 E

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016

Chief Executive Update

Inter-Universities Tournament

Another busy period for both sports. World Champion Jamie Stout graced the courts for the Brown Advisory British Open in January, sweeping all aside to consolidate his position as the one to beat. Ben Snell won his first ever Professional Singles, and then son Archie stole the day. Cambridge retained the Varsity with a superb performance from Jamie Giddins. Ladies Rackets continues to flourish, and Neptune’s timely announcement that they will support the Ladies for the next five years was music to the ears. Lea Van der Zwalmen retained her British Open title and then teamed up with Chey West to win the Amateur Doubles at Malvern. Finally, the National Schools Doubles saw the usual brilliant entry at Queen’s, with record number of girls playing in the Under 16 and Under 18 Singles. A great effort by the Rackets professionals to make this happen.

A large entry in the two draws (the InterUniversity Cup and the Handicap Singles) made this years’ Pol Roger Inter-University tournament another great success. Cambridge were joined by players from Middlesex, Newcastle, Exeter, Bristol and Durham over four days of an intensive but very good natured competition.

In Tennis, Conor Medlow retained his Amateur Singles title, while Jamie Douglas and Peter Wright regained the Amateur Doubles.

The Queen’s Club won the Pol Roger Cup, and well done to Petworth House for winning the Field Trophy. Meanwhile, Leamington won the Brodie Cup. These competitions hold the clubs’ interest throughout the season and are highly competitive. Cambridge also swept the honours at the Varsity, winning both men’s and ladies events; however the post-match dinner was probably the highlight in the Long Room at Lords. Ed Kay played exceptionally in both the Varsity and reached the semi-finals of the Amateur.

In the first semi-final of the Inter-University cup, Cambridge 2 played Exeter in what was probably the best contest of this tournament.

Home heroes Matt Shaw and Jimmy Campbell faced Ben Boddington and Tom Larminie. The two singles matches went with handicap and left the rubber to be decided by the doubles.

After trading games for the first half of the match, Matt Shaw found some good serves (after much urging by his partner) and clinical volleys to complement the increasingly solid back court play of Campbell. Cambridge completed the win to set up a repeat of last year’s all Cambridge final against CURTC 1 (Ed Kay, Jamie Giddins and Alex Evans) who had already cruised through their previous rounds to reach the final themselves.

The final got under way with a clash of the men’s and women’s captains Alex Evans and Sophie Morrill and was continued with Ed Kay vs Jimmy Campbell, both ties going as expected to CURTC 1. Playing for pride, Matt Shaw returned from playing Fives to partner Jimmy in the doubles. Despite Jimmy’s cunning plan to put the opposition off with looping lob dedans forces, the 1st team pair were triumphant.

In other news, the T&RA continues to work towards achieving its charitable status, which will prove good for both the Association and also the members. The more resources the T&RA secure, the more it can put back into the game. The court at Wellington, nearing completion, is testimony to this growth.

Survivors photograph University weekend

from

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Inter-

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 put up a valiant fight, but the Watsons made a very strong start and managed to maintain control throughout winning the Championship 8/2.

Only four pairs were selected to play in the championship. David Watson playing with a different son to last year (James Watson) beat Anthony and Christopher Wilson 8/0 and Richard and Tom Seymour-Mead beat Ed and Ben Boddington 8/2 to secure their place in the final.

Alex Evans(L) and Ed Kay(R) are presented with the Cup by George Pearson(Far Left)

National Fathers and Sons

David and James Watson are champions The final of the National Fathers and Sons Championship was contested at Leamington in January 2016 between David and James Watson and Richard and Tom Seymour-Mead.

The match produced some quality play which entertained the spectators, but the result was never in any real doubt. The Seymour-Meads

Chris Wilson (L) Anthony Wilson (R) runners up The National Fathers and Sons Handicap tournament produced exciting semi-finals.

The championship finalists had already been eliminated in the first knock out round. The first semi-final was between Ian & Christian Whittaker and Anthony and Christopher Wilson. This was set to be a great semi-final, but the Whittakers couldn’t find the form they had on the previous day and were beaten 6/1.

In the second semi-final Patrick and Joel Humphrey played Marty and Harry Burn. This was a very close match up until 3-3 when the Burns’ found another gear and closed out the match 6/3.

The final score in the final seemed very unfair on Marty and Harry Burn as everyone in the final played fantastically well and the match was very closely fought though unfortunately for them the 40 all points fell in favour of Anthony and Christopher Wilson who won the handicap tournament 6/1. The Wilsons have been supporting this tournament for many years and have come second a number of times, so it is great to see that their dedication has paid off. Congratulations on a well-deserved win.

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 Brown Advisory British Open Singles Championship The final was a wonderful spectacle of Rackets enjoyed by the packed Queen's Club gallery.

Although Jamie Stout was generally in control, Alex Titchener-Barrett elevated his game to try and match the champion; the end result was a series of magnificent rallies, with inspirational recovery play and breath-taking winners. The champion looked good for his four love win, but admitted that AT-B asked some serious questions.

The first game saw Stout start the stronger, immediately at his peak, easing away to 4-1 and then, with a run of seven points to lead 11-1. AT-B rallied and nudged himself back into the game, scoring a precious point or two whenever he gained service. Stout added another point and eventually reached 12-8.

At this point, his focus was acute and he reeled off the next three points to take the first game. Stout continued this run into the second game, taking the first four points and then seven more on his next hand to lead 110. AT-B was not cowed and broke his duck, but that turned out to be a consolation as Stout scored the remaining four points in a brace of hands, without losing another point.

Absolute dominance by the champion at this stage in the match, as he worked his way into a two game lead.

The third game started slowly, with the competitors playing extremely well to cancel each other's efforts. Stout's 3-1 lead was briefly overtaken as AT-B dug deep to pick off three consecutive points to lead 4-3. Stout responded by taking four more of his own to lead 7-4. Neither could really break away, even when Stout played an inch perfect reverse back-hand to rapturous applause from the gallery. This brought the best out of AT-B, and he played his own deft winner.

Points were slowly gathered, but predominantly by the champion, turning a 9-7 lead into a 13-7 advantage. But Stout was

unable to find the winners as AT-B fought robustly. However, it was inevitable when Stout inched home, finally picking up two points to take a three game to love lead. A similar pattern prevailed in the fourth game, with both players playing exciting Rackets but Stout slowly drawing away. However, it wasn't one-way traffic and a 3-2 Stout lead became 7-5 after good scoring from both competitors. But now Stout struck, taking a further four points in the next hand to lead 11-5 and close in on victory. AT-B once again held his nerve, inching back into the game and then scoring four successive points in a hand for the first time. The score was 11-all and the game was potentially in the balance.

However, this rear-guard action provoked Stout to new heights and he picked off the remaining four points to take the fourth and final game; and with it the Open Championship.

The T&RA President, David Norman, praised both players after the match and thanked new sponsors, Brown Advisory, for their welcome patronage of the finest ball and racquet sport in the world. David KayShuttleworth, who himself played in the Open Qualifying, presented the prestigious Sheppard Cup to the worthy champion.

Jamie Stout receiving the trophy from David Kay-Shuttleworth of Brown Advisory with David Norman, President of the T&RA

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 Chetwood Trophy The Cup Winners' Cup moved to Bridport this year as each club's handicap winners descended to Dorset to see who would be crowned the 'National Handicap Champion'.

Within two balls of knocking up both resident professionals at the Hyde had openly declared a certain Huw Thomas from Seacourt Tennis Club the winner. What remained was a battle for second place.

Even so, the tournament was a fun one and was enjoyed by all. There were handicaps ranging from 24 all the way through to 70, with some very close results and a fair amount of rock/paper/scissors as people tried to gauge each other through the group stages.

As is often the way there remained two younger players in the final: Jamie Day (Hyde), who had lost a match in the group stages, but was coming on strong on the final day and Huw Thomas himself who had dispatched most people until a slightly nervy semi-final against Nick Abelson who had been playing fantastically well all day.

contested. Huw managed to get his handicap down from 55 to 50 over the course of the weekend and should be congratulated for having an impressive maturity to his game in the face of so many different play styles. Yet again a great example of Seacourt churning out youngsters for the future of our game.

Well done Huw!

Cattermull Cup Eton are the Cattermull Cup champions for 2016.

Eton (Hugo Johnsen & Jamie Bingham) beat Wimbledon High School (Alex Brodie & Nicola Doble) 10/5 Eton won the Cattermull Cup this year much to the delight of the engravers, triumphing 10/5 over Wimbledon High School in a hard fought final.

16 pairs from fourteen schools made up even groups, with two wins from three matches guaranteeing a spot in the Quarter Finals. Such was the quality of play (and accuracy of handicaps) that on all but one occasion this eventuality relied on the final group match to see which two teams would progress.

Charterhouse, Bryanston, St Paul's, Worth, Harrow and Millfield fell before the knock out stages. So it was that the Quarters saw eight different schools competing for a spot in the next round and spectators were treated to some exceptional Tennis.

Jamie Day (L) and Huw Thomas (Winner) (R) The final was over quite quickly (8/2 at the end of a very long day), but was well

In QF1 Tonbridge fell the wrong side of a 6/6, 40-40 'next point wins' scenario losing to the Wimbledon High pair. In QF2 there was a

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 Public School grudge match between Rugby and Marlborough, which was won by the only inter-generation pair the competition has yet to see, Steven and Ollie Bishop. The Bishops ran out of steam in their semi-final with Wimbledon High and the 10/0 performance was hard viewing for the most sympathetic of supporters. However, the combination of service-end control, Alex Brodie's thumping volleys to the grille and Nicola Doble's reliable backcourt presence (rests of thirty+ shots were not uncommon in their matches) simply proved too much for the father-son pair.

In the second half of the draw, the St Edward's duo of Charlie Harries-Jones and Charlie Harris were undone by the artful Eton, despite their hard-hitting and successful forcing for the dedans on a number of key occasions. St Edward's team manager, Simon Talbot-Williams, admitted afterwards that he was happy with his young pair solely because they had knocked out Harrow: simple pleasures for some.

Another close match saw Cheltenham downed 9/8 by the well-dressed The Leys, sporting school sports' socks and even sporting caps (apparently a combination of Rugby 1st XV and Cricketing colours...is there no end to the sporting ability of Joel Humphrey we wonder?). The Leys were not strong enough for Eton, though, despite some resistance, as the latter beat them 10/8 in the second semi- final.

The fact that Hugo Johnsen and Jamie Bingham met for the first time on court in their first match warm-up serves to remind us the value of clear 'on court' communication and the benefit derived from each part to a pair having a similar handicap to their peer. The Final score was not as close as prior play suggested it could have been, but Eton were deserved victors.

Thanks to our hosts at Middlesex University, Will Burns for his organisation and excellent marking all weekend, and all those who played and supported throughout the competition.

Notable absentees this year were the Oratory, Canford, Radley, Clifton and Wellington. We look forward to seeing you all and more pairs in 2017. Please stay in touch with your School Representative or let the T&RA know if you need help hunting out a school alumnus to partner.

Amateur Singles and Doubles Championships

Conor Medlow retains his singles title On the 20th – 28th February the Queen’s Club hosted the British Amateur Singles & Doubles.

This tournament was kindly sponsored by Neptune Investment Management. This event has had a long and prestigious history with past winners including the greats of Howard Angus and Julian Snow.

This years’ field included defending champion Conor Medlow (2) and the top seed Jamie Douglas who was out for revenge from last years’ final. It was also great to see some experience and youth coming through with the likes of Peter Wright and the fast improving Edward Kay from Cambridge.

One of the highlights of the first round was the clash between Harry Eddis & Adam Dolman. The first game must have lasted for

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 about twenty minutes with eight deuces! It was a very entertaining affair with Adam just outlasting Harry in three hours in a tight four set match 5/6 6/2 6/4 6/4. In a battle of the 12 handicappers Tom Seymour-Mead just had too much for Alex Evans with a close four set win 6/3 3/6 6/1 6/5.

& Jamie proved too strong and consistent winning in four sets 1/6 6/2 6/4 6/2.

Thanks to Neptune again for their continued sponsorship and for the help of the professional team at Queen’s Club.

The quarter-finals went according to the seedings with easy victories to Jamie Douglas, Conor Medlow & Peter Wright. The upset of the round was the performance of Ed Kay defeating Luke Dandy 6/4 6/5 4/6 6/5. There were many set points flying around, but Ed kept his nerve and advanced through to the semi-finals.

Jamie Douglas had an epic encounter with Ed Kay which could have gone either way. Ed had a couple of set points for a two set to love lead but didn’t convert his chances. Jamie proved his experience and took the match 6/5 in the fourth set. In the other semi-final Conor Medlow proved too strong for Peter Wright winning 6/3 6/3 6/1.

Then there were two, the final between Conor Medlow & Jamie Douglas. On paper there was nothing much to separate them. Conor started nervously serving a double fault in the opening point. He then started to stamp his authority on the match which tight serving and aggressively hitting his targets. Frist two sets to Conor 6/4 6/1, Jamie then started to change the momentum and had Conor severely under pressure. 4-4 in the third set Jamie made some uncharacteristic errors and allowed Conor to take the ascendancy. Match and the title to Conor 6/4 6/1 6/4!

In the Doubles there was only one match which was the final, as the Amateur fell on the same day as the Oxford/Cambridge Varsity match. This was contested by defending champions Luke Danby & Conor Medlow against Peter Wright & Jamie Douglas. The combination of Medlow & Danby started the better returning serve well and dominating the targets. With Peter more focused and becoming stronger at the net, it changed the dynamics of the match. From there on Peter

Jamie Douglas (L), Peter Wright (R) Doubles Winners

Ladies British Open Lea Van der Zwalmen retained her Open title.

The day's play was dominated by the brilliance of the holder from this event in 2015, Lea Van der Zwalmen, who is also the Ladies World Champion. In five matches, Lea won 11 straight games for the loss of just 21 points and delighted the gallery with a mature display of technical and tactical Rackets the

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016 likes of which have not been seen up to this point in the Ladies game. If the quality of the final against Georgie Willis, was not up to the lofty heights of the Ladies World Championship final between Lea and Claire Fahey in May 2015, Georgie should not be in the slightest downcast, because the best-offive final produced some rallies of true distinction and Georgie never gave up the battle to win even more rallies.

Nine players entered this year, and were divided into two groups playing best-of-three game matches, the top two players in each group progressing to the semi-finals.

In Group A, Lea won all her matches comfortably, with Eve Shenkman, from the Manchester Club, a clear second with wins over Anna Willis (from Highgate School) and over Fay Dalby (from Queen's). In Group B, Georgie Willis and Ella Gaskell both won three matches, but the keenly-anticipated showdown between these two was denied to the spectators as Ella had to withdraw, thereby enabling Shinan Zhang from Malvern College to step into the semi-final against Lea in Ella's place, whilst Georgie Willis, as Group winner, lined up in the other semi-final against Eve Shenkman. The other players in Group B were Chey West, who is on the teaching staff at Malvern, and a young Wellingtonian schoolgirl, Lauren Gooding, who shows the same promise at Rackets as she has already shown at her golf.

Rackets Pro Singles at Marlborough Sponsored by the T&RA; Ben Snell beat Neil Smith to win the Scott Chad Cup for the first time

Ben Snell with son Archie. Winner of the Scott Chad Cup 2016.

Billy Ross Skinner

L-R Georgie Willis, Lea Van der Zwalmen, Sam Beale

Hatfield House Tennis Club once again hosted the Billy Ross-Skinner British Mixed Doubles tournament, sponsored by Neptune Investment Management, over the weekend of the 12th/13th/14th of February and as is always the case it was another very entertaining tournament for competitors and spectators.

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016

Isabel Candy & Fred Satow (L); Winners HelenFrances Pilkington & Bernard Weatherill (R) The event is an invitational event for the best 16 ladies available, paired up with 16 men of a suitable standard to give each pair an even chance of winning the title and as with previous years the pairings were very well matched as nearly half of the 32 matches went to a deciding set.

One of the form pairs from the group stage was Elli Harris of Oxford and Nick Brodie of Hatfield, so it was very sad when Nick had to withdraw. It allowed Caroline Janes of Holyport and Owen Saunders RTC to go through to the Semi-Final where they met Fred Satow and Isabel Candy both also RTC. It turned out to be another incredibly tight affair which swung one way and then the other but finally Satow and Candy won through to the Final 2/6 6/4 6/4. In the Final they would meet yet another RTC pair in Bernard Weatherill and Helen-Francis Pilkington, who themselves won through a very tight SemiFinal 3/6 6/4 6/4 against Anthony Jenks of Queens Club and Candida Nicholls of The Oratory School.

The tone seemed to have been set from those matches that whoever lost the first set went on to win the match and amazingly the Final followed the same pattern. In the all RTC Final Fred Satow and Isabel Candy took the first set with almost faultless tennis and

thanks to one or two thanks uncharacteristic mistakes from Bernard Weatherill 6/4. The second set was a very different story though as Bernard cut out the mistakes and started to control things and his partner Helen-Francis played superbly at the front of the court, cutting out anything in range taking the set 6/1 and then managed to maintain the momentum through the deciding set 6/4 to clinch a very well deserved title.

Candida Nicholls and Antony Jenks(L) lost to Bernard and Helen (R) in the semi-finals Huge thanks as always to Viv Dawes for her excellent organisation and pairing up of the teams and to Sheila Macintosh, who herself ran the event faultlessly for many years. Thanks also to Hatfield for hosting the event, Liz Fisher and her excellent team who took care of the catering and the Hatfield Pros for all their efforts with the marking.

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016

National Schools Doubles Championship A Grade final at Queen’s - Eton beat Radley 6/4 6/2.

professionals as Ben Taylor-Matthews and his assistant Liam joined in the 48 hours of revelry. John Lillie (their captain) did put his foot down on the Saturday night at 11pm as he declared a curfew, just as some of his more roaming sheep toyed with the idea of hitting the tiles.

The RTC took a rather more reserved approach with no showing on the Saturday save for Owen Saunders who took on one of our Hyde members for a pre-match warm up.

The London team made the long trek in the morning and arrived for a quick practice at 10:15.

The Tournament began at 11:00 on the Sunday with Leamington snatching an early lead as Simon Gill and Craig Swallow managed to see off Isabel Candy and Saverio Campione 6/3 6/3. The rubbers tied at 1-1 as Alex Rozier-Pamplin (the undeniable bandit of the tournament) trounced Rob Allsop 6/0 6/1.

Matt Fattorini (Leamington) then managed to see off Martin Daly in straight sets, but John Mather levelled the tournament once again after a close three setter against Hans Bilson.

Winners Oscar Wright (L) and Rory Giddins(R)

Brodie Cup Leamington beat RTC 3/2 Once again the Brodie Cup was held in sleepy Dorset at the Hyde Real Tennis Club, but this time two teams were contesting a tournament they had not previously won: The Royal Tennis Court (Hampton Court Palace) and Leamington.

Leamington were keen and organised not only for many practice sessions the day before at the Hyde, but also for crates of beer to arrive in a constant flow as it seemed a necessary part of their training. To throw an even larger spanner in the works, they deemed it wise to bring down not one, but two of their

It was all down to the last match and the dedans was as wild as it has ever been. The first set was really quite tight as Leamington's captain John Lillie and super-sub Chris Kroeger managed to sneak in 6/3 against Owen Saunders and Matthew Webb. The second set was a different affair as Leamington went from strength to strength whilst the wheels seemed to come off a little at the other side of the net.

Huge thanks as always goes to Pol Roger for sponsoring this wonderful event.

T&RA EASTER NEWSLETTER 2016

Field Trophy

Pol Roger Trophy Congratulations to Queens Club for winning the Pol Roger, defeating MCC at Hampton Court 3-2.

Harvey Rawlings team Captain from Petworth House, with the Field Trophy beat Prested Hall 4-1

William Maltby Leaving Dinner at Boodles

James Simpson, Managing Director of Pol Roger with the winning team L-R Tom Seymour-Mead, Conor Medlow, John Prenn, James Simpson, Dom Wright, Ben Boddington, Chris Herbert

David Norman, President of the T&RA presenting leaving gift to William Maltby.