The Gourmet Dinner for Tuesday was tasty Mediterranean Chicken, prepared by chefs Brian and Lilian Coffey, with desserts of first biscuits and then stewed plums with crème fraîche.
The order of play for the rest of the week can be found here.
The weather for this evening (Wednesday evening) looks to be dry, so the grass should be in use. But tomorrow looks wet. The Metweather map shows no rain after 1 pm, but that may not be enough time for the grass to dry out enough to be playable.
There were 5 matches played in total.
- 18:00 LS QF Elena Valarche vs Becca Vaughan (2)
- 18:00 LD SF Alex Reyner & Posy Frederick (1) vs Moira Duncan & Marjan Denis
- 18:00 MD QF Stephen Cooke & Logan Mair (1) vs David Hirst & Gabriele Abbati
- 19:15 MXD SF Jasper Tresidder & Margaux Valarche (6) vs Stephen Cooke & Alex Reyner (2)
- 19:15 MXD SF Logan Mair & Posy Frederick (1) vs Joseph Rigal & Becca Vaughan (7)
In the Ladies Singles quarter final on court 1, Elena Valarche played Becca Vaughan, the second seed. Elena’s main strategy is always to come to the net as soon as possible and hope to put volleys away. Becca was happy to hit passing shots out of Elena’s reach, most of the time, though it was not always on the first attempt. And Becca is very mobile so could scramble back a number of Elena’s volleys.
In the first set Elena hit enough winning volleys in one game for her to win the game, with Becca taking the set 6-1. In the second set Elena’s strategy worked even better, as she doubled her score. But Becca took the position in the final with a 6-1 6-2 victory.
The first match on court 2 was a Ladies’ Doubles semifinal in which Alex Reyner & Posy Frederick, the top seeds, played Moira Duncan & Marjan Denis. Marjan has a good all round game, and Moira has a penetrating forehand and can hit decent volleys – useful in doubles. Alex can hit the ball very hard on serve and groundstrokes, but sometimes makes errors. Posy hits the ball nearly as hard, and is generally tactically astute on the court.
The top seeds seemed surprised by the game and strength of Moira and Marjan. One or two breaks were traded as the score reached 4 games all, to the astonishment of the spectators. But, at this point, while the seeds held serve, Marjan was broken to give the first set to the seeds 6-4.
In the second set Alex and Becca had more of an idea how to win point, so it was more difficult for the challengers to hold serve, allowing Alex and Becca to take the match 6-4 6-2.
The Men’s Doubles on court 3 was between Stephen Cooke & Logan Mair, the top seeds, and David Hirst & Gabriele Abbati. Gabriele has a very heavy serve, but it quite often doesn’t go in. Similarly with the groundstrokes, and it is easier in doubles to defend against raw pace. David has a good all round game. Stephen looms large at the net at something like 6 foot 4 inches, and is highly mobile to boot, so is very difficult to pass. Such height comes with a big advantage on the serve too. Logan wellies a lot of shots, but is somewhat more careful on second serves.
In the first set David and Gabriele could not make any useful impression on the top seeds, who always seemed to have an answer when it mattered. In the second set they won one game (was it on Gabriele’s serve?) So Stephen and Logan won 6-0 6-1.
The remaining two matches were the two Mixed Doubles semifinals, played early to ensure the final can be on Thursday, weather permitting. Neither could start until all the other matches had finished because many of the same players, or courts, were involved.
On court 1, the Mixed Doubles semifinal was between Jasper Tressider & Margaux Valarche, the sixth seeds, and the top seeds Stephen Cooke & Alex Reyner. Both Stephen and Jasper performed well at the net, but Jasper was presented with a great deal more pace than in the previous match against Alex Vallmajor and Katie Baston, so had less scope for showing creativity. Margaux played well, but the seeds were too strong and too consistent, and broke serve more than once in each set. Stephen and Alex won the match 6-2 6-2.
On centre court there was the other Mixed Doubles semifinal which was a real humdinger between Logan Mair & Posy Frederick and Joseph Rigal & Becca Vaughan. The standard of play has been very high in the mixed doubles this year, as the more recent ladies first team women have raised the overall standard of play. This match was no exception.
The men tended to dominate the net while the women covered both sides of the court at the back and hit high, but strong, looping topspin strokes to avoid interception by the men at the net.
The first set was very tight, and Logan and Posy were more settled at the beginning than Joseph and Becca. So Logan and Posy just edged the first set 6-4.
In the second set, the initial difference was Joseph, who was determined to prove he had improved dramatically from a few years ago. His higher standard of play gave him confidence and also enabled Becca to raise her game. Logan seemed to be holding back on the smashes instead of just pummelling them down into the ground, giving the opposing pair some chance of retrieving them, though it is difficult to assess what one should do in mixed doubles when smashing near the woman. Joseph’s first service game went to something like double digits of deuces, and when Joseph and Becca won it, it was clear it was not going to be easy for Logan and Posy to break them. Joseph and Becca won the second set 6-3.
In the match tie break (first to 10 etc.) , the momentum clearly remained with Joseph and Becca, and they took it for a 10-7 for a 4-6 6-3 [10-7] victory and a place in Thursday’s final.
Becca apologised for not wearing all whites, though there is no particular reason why she should, given the other three are all Cumberland members, though Posy is in the squash section, not tennis section.
