The graph below shows who has won the most titles at West Heath over the years. Jane is way out front…
The graph below shows multiple title winners from the year 2010 onwards. Who will add to their total this year?
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Month: May 2016
The second team’s second match was another away fixture at Brampton, against their 3rd team. The match took place directly opposite the sun, which had just about disappeared behind a building in time for the fourth and final set. Even Philip, in spite of his protestations about being too chic for sunnies, was seen sporting a fetching pair.
And a good job it did him and his partner, Dan. The third pair got off to a terrific start, against their 1st pair, by winning the first set without dropping a single game. The rubber came to an end, and was heralded by Dan’s cry of ‘yes!’ as he framed a deft volley away for a winner. Their second rubber was a little less one-sided than the first, but it was taken for West Heath by a score of 6-3. In the final rubber, Philip took a nasty tumble, and grazed his knee on the carpet/sand courts. Nevertheless he soldiered on, and with Dan’s elbow a little ropey since the off, the invalided pairing comfortably closed out the final two sets 6-1 6-1. A loss of just 5 games is an excellent statistic for a previously untested partnership.
In a very much tested partnership, Greg and James were mostly ruthlessly efficient throughout the four sets. Against the third pair they recorded a bagel and were disappointed to lose a game against the first pair. However, James is certainly blaming a little bit of that on the wicked sun. Not sure who Greg is blaming… But in spite of such gut-wrenching disappointment they warmed themselves up after rather a pause and claimed 6 unanswered games against the second pair. Second set languidness prevailed again at the beginning of the final set, but they contrived to close the rubber out 6-0 6-2. It gave them plenty of time to admire, with beer in hand, the other two matches in action. As requested by Marjan (congratulations on the golf!), we stayed on court until the allotted time of 8.30pm to give her time to hotfoot it from Muswell Hill and get the excellent supper on the go.
Marcio was put with the recently recruited Sam, who was making his début. A steady hand to calm the nerves expected from a debutant entering a body as august as the West Heath Men’s II team (NE Division 5 don’t you know!). They got off to an excellent start (like the other two pairs, in fact) and recorded a 6-0 victory against the second pair. They continued well against the third pair and conceded just the one game to win 6-1. They then faced the skilled, if erratic, first pair but prevailed with consistency and flair. Recording a scoreline of 6-2 6-3 they performed as requested from the captain, and continued the winning ways of the first pair.
The top slot in the second team had been occupied almost exclusively by the Greg/James partnership throughout the 2015 season, and the captain’s relinquishing of it was meditated by having lost to Sam and Marcio in a 5-set thriller on Saturday. It was so thrilling in fact, that the participants had a break for a hasty cup of tea after the first set. This was followed by three more sets, which were then followed by pizzas and more tea. The deciding set, with the 1st pairing up for grabs, was the opening match of the West Heath grass court season. Sam and Marcio prevailed in that deciding final set, and earnt their right for the top spot against Brampton. And well deserved too!
Congratulations to all the team for recording a 24-0 victory. It puts us in an excellent position ahead of what will be a testing encounter against Brondesbury III. We played against their fourth team last season, and now have the pleasure of inviting their third team to play on the grass on June 1st.
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Grass Courts Open!
The grass courts were officially opened on Saturday 14th May, with social tennis kicking off a little bit before 2.30pm. They have been extensively remodelled this year, with new grass, more soil, less soil and even more new grass. They are a great to play on, and will only improve as they get a little firmer with usage.
However, the courts must not be played on outside of allocated hours. Starting too soon and playing too late will damage them, which will result in poorer courts for the rest of the season. The current playing times are between 2.30 – 8.30pm (assuming that they are dry).
The courts were enjoyed by many, and a sumptuous tea was served by Lesley to kick off the tennis and tea season.
The men’s second team’s first match of the season was an away fixture against the Old Boys of University College School. The match look place at the UCS playing fields in moderately clement weather with only occasional breezes.
The match was played entirely in good humour, in spite of the unusually sandy courts which both teams took a while to get used to. On the plus side it was easy to see where the balls landed due to the slight eruption from the court.
After a slight tiff the night before, Tim and Philip combined wonderfully on court. They put their differences to one side for the sake of the second team, and recorded an almost faultless performance. They came up against one of this season’s new rules: no tiebreaks at 6-6.
Having been out of action due to shoulder injuries, Marcio made his comeback with Dan. They both performed excellently well – in a previously untried partnership – with Marcio’s serve surprisingly being his most consistent shot in spite of a month of shoulder massages and not raising his arm above the horizontal… They dropped just one set 5-7 against the tricky second pair, but picked themselves up to romp to a 6-3 6-0 victory at the end.
James and Greg started strongly, which was a relief. The first two sets were won with the loss of a single game. The third set was delicately in the balance at 4-4 with opportunities for UCS to steal a march and go 5-4 ahead. Having overcome this little wobble, Greg and James closed it out in typically ruthless style. Beers were waiting.
The second team’s next fixture on May 16th, is another away match, this time against Brampton III.
The league results for all four teams can be seen here.
