The wet weather during the weekend and during the day prevented tonight’s matches being on the grass. The first match to get going was the first of the men’s quarter finals. Fourth seed Philip Reid took on sixth seed Gregory Lim. The first set went to Greg 6-3, with the reporter having missed all of the action. Cue instant summary: it must have been a close one, with either one or two breaks of serve.
The score in the second set ticked over with regularity, not even disturbed by Logan taking the door off the hinges on the hard courts. Singularly failing to return it to its swinging state, he just leant it against the fence. Elena squeezed through later, by pivoting the door on its bottom. Serving at 5-3 Philip missed a set point and double faulted at deuce. First serve missed and a dolly second serve lead to a duff point to concede the break. Greg served at 4-5 to stay in the set. An easy hold, 5-5. Philip steps over a ball, 15-15, but continues nonchalantly. He continues and wins the game to stop the rot and edges 6-5 ahead. Greg serves and falls to 15-40. He brings it back to deuce with tentative play from Philip. Greg hits the deuce ball out wide, has it returned by Reid and belts it back with a scowl. Philip hits a high ball on set point and comes in for a dolly volley, which Greg can only scrape into the net. Philip wins the second set 7-5 to take it to a decider.
The final set report was disrupted by a high level committee meeting (see photo), but Greg took an early break. This was pegged back in a bit of a slug fest as tempers frayed and nerves became taut (perhaps). Plenty of solid shots, long rallies and disapproving glances towards the spectators later, Greg took the final set, and the match, 6-4. It was a hard fought match, which provided excellent viewing for the appreciative spectators.
As the match finished, Tim choked hard during his mixed doubles with Ana, as they took on Logan and Elena. The first set went semi comfortably to Tim and Ana. The second set inched towards a tiebreak, probably a few breaks exchanged (Tim’s serve?) and the match found itself in a second set tiebreak. To and fro it went, but taken by the jubilant Scottish/Russian coalition.
A 10-point match tie break followed with some solid volleys, ground strokes and smashes from all. At three all, with Ana serving, it seemed like the nerves got the better of the West Heath debutante. To and fro yet again up until 7-8 on Logan’s serve. 8-8 and Logan did a bit of choking of his own. Tim had a chance for glory to serve for a place in the semi, and duly delivering he sealed the deal to win 6-2 6-7 [10-8]. In a post match analysis, Tim attributed Greg and Philip finishing their match for a slight wobble, but professed himself “very pleased to have overcome a near choking”.
The evening’s post-tennis entertainment was provided by Ros, with a guest performance as pudding chef by Jill. Ros served up spring rolls, peri peri chicken wings and pork ribs for starter. This was followed by delicious Teriyaki chicken, rice and bok choi, alongside, a tasty stew of butterbeans, chickpeas and butternut squashes. Jill’s pudding was a much-feted creme caramel with fruit salad. Many thanks to our first Gourmet Chefs of the year!
Tim Simpson is so looking forward to his doubles match with Marcio, against Logan and Cedric. He has been losing sleep about how to pull off a Shock Victory, or as he describes it, a match that is ‘highly winnable’.
He regaled all with his secret master plan (see image).
The weather forecast for today looked distinctly bleak, with various Android forecasting apps predicting two hours of heavy rain, but each app predicting it at different times in the afternoon. The best plan seemed to be for everyone to turn up and see what could be played. In the event it turned into a lovely sunny afternoon and all the scheduled matches got played. Porous macadam (for the faint hearted) and grass courts 1 and 3 were used. Though the muddy patches on the baselines of court 1 could have been a problem there were no reports of anyone slipping.
In the ladies’ singles Soo Teng Lee played Ros Norkett. Soo Teng has a good heavy serve when it went in, but Ros can produce strong groundstrokes and effective volleys when she gets a clean hit at the ball. In the end Ros was too strong for Soo Teng. One sequence in which Ros came out on top more than once was when Ros hit a high deep ball to Soo Teng, who returned it high and a little short, enabling Ros to hit a strong groundstroke return out of Soo Teng’s reach for a winner. Ros won the match 6-1 6-2.
In the first men’s doubles match Stan Vasilyev & Paul O’Flynn played James McKenzie & Greg Lim. James and Greg won 6-1 6-4. James has promised to give details of the way the match went. You are left to guess whose racket actually suffered at the end of the match, but it shouldn’t be difficult if you know the characters concerned.
Having decided that the grass court was a little to soggy for play, Greg, James and Stan decamped onto a hard court. Paul arrived eventually, but realised that he couldn’t play on the hard court in his sandals, so hot-footed it back to his car for his hard court shoes. He and Stan won the toss and elected to serve, with Stan getting us under way. The first four games went to Greg and James as Stan and Paul found their respective un-be-sandalled feet. Words were certainly exchanged between them; no doubt at least some of them were tactical, whilst others may have been related to the use of some of the fruitier vocabulary exhaled during the set. Perhaps such words worked, as Stan and Paul won the 5th game. Alas, it was their last in the set, as the third seeds won the set 6-1. Further ‘discussions’ ensued between chalk-and-cheese temperaments of Paul and Stan, which enabled them to break James in the first game of the second set. Breaks were traded, with the scoreboard creaking towards 4-4. With James serving, he found himself in a mini-0-30-shaped hole. But thanks to a couple of rare first serves and crucial interceptions from Greg, the hole became a hold. Stan served to stay in the match, but a few too many errors saw the game, and the match, taken. The final result was 6-1 6-4. Following handshakes and smiles at the net, Stan decided to do what has come so naturally before. Having apparently played much of the set with a cracked frame in his racquet, he well and truly finished it off (as shown in the photo). Had the match been played on the grass courts, he might have be facing a Heather Watson-sized fine; no doubt the tournament referees will be in touch…
In a second men’s doubles match, Philippe Mouly & Eugene Belin took on the top seeds Graeme Pearson & Sultan Gangji. Apparently Philippe held his serve in the first set and hit some good passing shots, but it was not enough to stop the top seeds taking it 6-2. In the second set Graeme and Sultan turned up the pressure and won it in straight games 6-0.
In one mixed doubles Stan Vasilyev & Anna Ganev played the second seeds Greg Lim & Marjan Denis. It was not an easy match for the seeds who won 6-4 6-3.
Another mixed doubles match, providing the entertainment for the evening, involved the mother and son team Vandana & Dhananjay Talwar playing the champions James McKenzie & Lesley South. It was clear that Vandana’s serve has improved considerably over the last year though she though she could have served better and her net play looked sharp. Dhananjay looked a little out of practice though he has good movement, a long reach and a good serve. Lesley hit consistently everything within reach and found some of her trademark winning angles. There was a lot of good court coverage from James, though on one occasion he also ran to a ball that Lesley had covered and the opponents hit the ball into the space for a winner. On balance Lesley and James were just a little too consistent for the Talwars and the champions took the match 6-4 6-3.
In yet another mixed doubles match Barbara Thomas & Peter Davies faced the fourth seeds Ros Norkett & Sultan Gangji. The word on the street was that Sultan had turned his ankle a few days earlier in Thursday’s men’s match against the Cumberland and would only be hobbling around court. Not to mention the post-match early-morning drinking session in Greg Lim’s flat from which Sultan had to walk home. Although Barbara and Peter had been relying on Sultan doing less moving than normal, once the match started it became clear that he was as mobile as he ever has been, so they had to come up with a plan B in a hurry.
The first set was desperately tight. Given a clean hit Ros can hit you off the court and her serves are hard and well place. Sultan’s anticipation and placement are usually legendary and he made some great interceptions. Barbara hit some great shots, Peter served well and both challengers showed good court coverage. They adopted a strategy of giving Ros as few clean hits as possible and ensuring Sultan was given as little indication as possible of where serves were going. The first set was desperately tight with breaks and break backs, and led to a tie break at 6 all. A couple of poor points at the start of the tie break from Sultan and Ros gave momentum to their opponents who raced into a 5-1 lead, ultimately taking it 7-4. At the start of the second set Sultan and Ros switched sides to give Peter something to think about on his serve. Sultan and Ros broke but were in turn broken back as the score reached 4 all. Then Sultan lost his serve to leave Peter serving for the match, but he and Barbara then lost the next three points. A mistake from the opponents and a couple of good serves brought the first of a few deuces and the match was finally settled when Sultan put the ball a couple of inches out on match point for a surprise 7-57-4 6-4 victory to Barbara and Peter. It was a match of tight margins in which you could not afford to switch off for even a second.
In the ladies’ doubles Anna Ganev & Soo Teng Leeplayed the fourth seeds Moira Duncan & Lesley South. Although Anna and Soo Teng returned most balls and hit some good shots the better placement and consistency of the seeds eventually led them to a 6-0 6-1 victory.
In the men’s singles Leo Colle played the top seed and champion Graeme Pearson. Although Leo seemed to be hitting some good shots Graeme was just too strong and won 6-1 6-1.
Thanks to the lucky weather today, the draw is more or less at the stage it should be and we look forward to the remaining rounds in the second week and the Gourmet Dinners Monday through Thursday with great anticipation. Most days are now full, but check the menus here and phone Sultan if you fancy your chances as there is always the occasional drop out.
The weather forecast was clearly inauspicious, and a number of matches were hastily re-arranged to be played earlier. Some of the matches reported may have been played on Friday night.
Sally Tornow & Sue Latimer played the third seeds, Jane Boyle & Barbara Thomas, in the ladies’ doubles. It looks like Jane’s lefty slice and cunning combined with Barbara’s aggression paid dividends as the seeds won 6-1 6-2.
There were a number of men’s singles matches played.
Ben Torns kicked off his first service game against Cedric de la Chaise with an ace, but can’t yet live with Cedric’s pace and placement. Cedric thought Ben had good shots but should stop relying on his father for shot selection tips. The match was a 6-0 6-0 victory to Cedric.
Ed Fitzgerald played Philip Reid, the fourth seed, in the men’s singles. From the score it looks like a good ding-dong battle. Ed took the first set 6-3, Philip equalised with a 6-2, and with the momentum going his way Philip took the final set 6-2 for a 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory.
Dudley Leigh put in an infrequent appearance at the club to play against Greg Lim, the sixth seed. Greg thought Dudley might have been lacking in grass court practice, though Dudley did appear a few weekends ago to play a single set of men’s doubles during social tennis. Apparently the match was played in a good spirit and Greg won it 6-2 6-1.
Lajos Szucs had to play the eighth seed Tim Simpson. In his match against Peter Davies Lajos seemed to be able to put the ball on a sixpence and generally nothing on a grass court phased him. Apparently the same was true of the match against Tim and, as a result, it looks like Lajos will be joining the seeded players next year. Lajos won 6-3 6-1.
Probably the final match played on Saturday was Rachel Savin against Elena Valarche, the third seed in the ladies’ singles. Apparently Elena can’t help herself and just has to come in on every shot. Rachel kept hitting the ball ball down the centre of the court, possibly a recent of a weakness in her right leg which had been injured earlier on in the season. She feels she cannot push off against it properly to change the direction of hit. Clearly this played to Elena’s strength and Elena won the first set 6-3. The second set went a similar way except that it started raining shortly before the score reached 5-3 to Elena, and the pair retired at this score. Since a resumption looked unlikely Rachel graciously conceded the match. Hopefully they will schedule a tight return match some time soon when Rachel is fully fit.
Keep your fingers crossed for the weather tomorrow as there are quite a few matches scheduled.
The 3rd seed and last year’s finalist Marcio Sugui took on club perennial stalwart Paul O’Flynn. Marcio is known the world over for his consistency (and for being a great left hander) so Paul was always facing an up hill battle. What little of the match was observed, it appeared that Marcio’s ability to get the ball back was Paul’s undoing as some of his commanding court positions were scuppered by the other West Heath stalwart, the bounce. Frustration played over Paul’s face as good opportunities to ‘seal the deal’ fell by the wayside. The 6-3 6-1 score line is possibly a little unfair, but Marcio just has a knack of doing that to people. He progresses to face either Tim Simpson (8th seed) or Lajos Szucs in the quarter finals.
The seventh seed and recent West Heath re-joiner Tim Allan took on James McKenzie on the furthest grass court. Starting at approx 6.15pm, the match went the full distance and completed some time around 8.40pm. The first set saw James rush to a three game lead, which he just about managed to keep to take the first set 6-3. There were some exceptionally nice rallies as both players adjusted to the game and style of the other. But Tim’s undoing in the first set was his serve which faulted at key points in the set. In the second set many of Tim’s service problems disappeared and he took the crucial break to go 5-3 ahead. James somehow pulled it back to 5-5 but Tim rallied to hold serve and then break to avoid the tiebreak, winning the second set 7-5. The third set was neck-and-neck until 3-3, with both players returning better than they were serving. James pounced in the (vital) seventh game to break, and pushed through to take the set, recording a 6-3 5-7 6-3 win. The match was played in exceedingly good spirits, with credit given were credit was due.
Perhaps the most anticipated showdown was between Simpson/Sugui and Reid/Reid, which promised to be a cracker. Reid Junior was heard exhorting Reid Senior to the net on multiple occasions, with youthful petulance boiling over (at least) once resulting in a racket thrown into the net in apparent disgust (although the author is unsure if the two things are connected). Anyway, the score was a relatively comfortable one for the 4th seeds. However, the final word must go to Walter and his blaze of glory; a long rally with plenty of volleys, eventually pushed Walter back towards the rear corner of the court. Some not inconsiderable flexibility allowed him to scoop a seemingly unreturnable shot from somewhere near his feet, over Marcio’s head, into the opposite corner. Not even Marcio’s famous hotdog could cut the mustard. Easily the shot of the evening, if not the tournament. Despite Reid Senior’s heroics, he and his son could not overcome Tim and Marcio who progress into the semi finals with a 6-2 6-3 victory.
David Cohen played Paul O’Flynn. It looks like David struggled in the first set against Paul’s approach of hitting the ball as hard as he can, and Paul took the first set 6-0. In the second either David got his eye in, or Paul made more errors, and David got a couple of games. Paul won 6-0 6-2.
Eugene Belin & Soo Teng Lee played Barbara Thomas & Peter Davies. In the first set Barbara and Peter broke Eugene and leapt into a 3-0 lead, but Eugene and Soo Teng got their eye in and pegged them back to 4 all, with a combination of Eugene’s winning ground strokes and some good serving by Soo Teng, including acing Peter. Barbara and Peter modified the tactics to avoid playing to Eugene’s strengths. As a result Barbara held serve and Eugene was broken in a marathon service game to give Barbara and Peter the first set 6-4. In the second set the same tactics continued to give results for Barbara and Peter who won it 6-1 for a 6-4 6-1 victory.
Three men’s singles matches along with one men’s doubles were played today.
In the men’s doubles match Geoff Isaacs & Gideon Stone took on Walter & Philip Reid. Geoff is a generally accurate and strong player but Gideon’s play is unknown, at least to me. Walter is defensively solid with a wide wing span. His son, Philip can hit the ball rather harder. Apparently the tactic of Geoff and Gideon was to keep the ball away from Philip as much as possible, but, according to Philip, they were caught off guard by Walter’s consistent play, volleying and occasional strategic slice backhand lobs. The Reids won 6-2 6-1 and now face the fourth seeds Marcio Sugui & Tim Simpson.
There had been various rumours floating around that my co-webmaster James McKenzie was injured, was saving himself for doubles matches scheduled later, and would withdraw from the singles. This was despite the fact the match between him and Alberto Zanatta had been clearly marked on the draw sheet as scheduled for the evening of Monday 17th almost ever since the draw went up. Imagine everyone’s surprise then when James not only turned up to play the match, but also won it 6-1 6-0. James might like to contribute some words on how it went……
In homage to Huckleberry Finn’s creator, I can avow that reports of my injury were greatly exaggerated. Admittedly I was fearful of a torn leg muscle, but three days of solid rest was enough to ensure that my limb had limbered up sufficiently. Alberto and I had a lovely match, with plenty of long rallies, occasional ventures to the net and a few cheeky drop shots. As many of the games went to multiple deuces, the score makes it look more comfortable that it was.
Whilst James and Alberto were playing on the first grass court, Logan Mair and Stan Vasiliev were playing their singles match on the middle court. Whilst this was initially billed as a total slug fest between two of the hardest hitters on the West Heath circuit, such a tour de brute force only appeared for the first few games. Logan’s wisdom eventually realised that he was not capable of outhitting Stan the Man, so adopted a more consistent, and less pacy, style. Clearly the strategy worked, and it seems that Stan’s fast-paced game was undone by having to generate all of his own power. Logan came through to win 6-2 6-2.
In action before all these matches was the contest between Matt Wasser and Leo Colle. Taking place on the third grass court, Leo triumphed 6-1 6-1 in a surprisingly long fixture. Leo progresses to play the defending champion in the round of 16.
The men’s singles draw is the largest and is progressing well, with all but two first round matches played, with one of these scheduled for the today (Tuesday).
There was no rain today, so the scheduled matches went ahead smoothly.
Rather surprisingly, Ana beat Lesley South 6-0 6-1.
The eighth seed, Tim Simpson, beat Walter Reid 6-2 6-2.
Ed Fitzgerald beat Eugen Belin 6-1 6-1, and faces the fourth seed, Philip Reid next.
The late evening’s entertainment consisted of a mixed doubles between Elena Valarche & Logan Mair, and Moira Duncan & Lajos Szucs. Lajos apparently had not played mixed before. The game was played in a spirit of fun rather then being deadly serious, and there were some entertaining rallies. Lajos and Logan intercepted as much as they could, Elena hit some great volleys, and Moira played some exceptional cross-court service returns. Elena and Logan just had the slight edge and took the match 6-4 6-3.
Apologies to our avid readers in the USA, Japan and elsewhere for the late appearance of the first tournament match reports. Unfortunately it has been a year since I have written anything on the web site, and I have completely forgotten my ID and password. (James has now fixed this for me)!
The 2017 West Heath tournament started on Thursday and one or two matches were played before the weekend. It rained a little Saturday morning and the grass wasn’t playable until after the Wimbledon Ladies’ Final had finished.
It’s not quite clear when Richard Nightingale played Logan Mair in the singles, but Richard did much better in the first set than the second. Logon won the match 6-3 6-0.
The porous macadam courts supposedly dried a little faster and the day’s matches kicked off with a mixed doubles. Richard Nightingale and Sally Tornow took on the third seeds, Tim Simpson and Ana on a hard court, with the seeds coming out on top 6-0 6-1. Richard commented that he was now out of all the events, and it was only the first Saturday.
Ben Torns is only 11 but is already playing at a respectable club adult standard. He is very keen to play, and it almost seems even more keen to play and win if his father Roger is on the other side of the net. Ben kicked off his tournament with a match against Steve Gordon. This had to be on a hard court as the grass had not dried out. It sounds like a good match. Ben won the first set 6-4, but said his energy dipped in the second set in spite of the pancakes and whipped cream among other items on his breakfast menu. Steve took that one 6-2, setting the scene for an exciting finale. Maybe the pancakes finally came through with the energy because Ben took the final set 6-4 for a 6-4 2-6 6-4 victory. Bring on Cedric de la Chaise, who had better watch out in 3 or 4 year’s time.
Later Ben and Roger Torns played together against Stan Vasilyev and Paul O’Flynn. There were some comments by the Torns that it was difficult to get to the net. Probably Stan and Paul were hitting the ball too hard to enable net approaches, but normally you would bank on some inconsistency from this pair to pick up a few points. On this occasion Stan and Paul won 6-0 6-0. Ben may be looking for a new partner next year…….
Peter Davies and Lazos Szucs played the first singles match on grass. Lazos is a new member and very keen to play singles, especially during the day. He’s played a match for both the first and second team so far. Peter struggled as Lazos seemed to be able to put the ball on a sixpence at will, and his chopped forehand is very effective on grass. Lazos took the match 6-1 6-1.
Anna Ganev took on Marjan Denis, the defending champion and first seed. Apparently Anna has improved a lot since last year and in the first game Marjan felt the pressure was on her to win convincingly and she was a little nervous generating pace from Anna’s consistent but slower balls. However, it looks like Marjan soon found the winning formula and won 6-0 6-0.
Jason Maratos played Greg Lim in the singles. Greg typically has very accurate ground strokes which serve him well on grass. His ground-stroke technique starts with a short, late take-back followed by a very fast forward stroke. Not quite a slap, but perhaps a little reminiscent of Sultan Gangji’s style. This usually enables Greg to cope with the “West Heath bounce” well. On this occasion he was too much for Jason. Greg took the match 6-0 6-0.
The draws for the 2017 tournament have been published. You can view them here.
Please schedule your matches with your opponent, and complete them in accordance with the date shown at the top of the appropriate round. This is to ensure smooth progress of competitors through the draw, and to ensure that the right matches are played during Finals Week.
Talking of Finals Week, the Gourmet Dinners have been announced. Please sign up using the sheets in the clubhouse, on a first come, first served basis.
Monday – Ros’s Stir Fried Chicken
Tuesday – Lesley’s Oriental Special
Wednesday – Moira’s Moroccan Tagine, feat. Barbara’s as-yet-undecided dessert
Thursday – Rachael’s Famous Fish Pie, feat. Lara’s desserts
This was The Heathens’ second trip “oop North” London to Totteridge in this league, having played their fourth team back in the midsts of 2016. Talking of midsts, the conditions were certainly misty. We had the pleasure, perhaps a surreal one, of warming-up to the sounds of bagpipes which were sufficiently distant to be inoffensive.
To avoid any slippery problems with likely formation of ice, we played the match on their artificial clay courts. Although one couldn’t really see the service or baselines, it made for better tennis than slipping around on greasy tarmac. The mist gave it a certain ambience, and the temperature made it really quite cold.
Greg and James got off to a strong start and won the first set 6-0 before a Classic Wobble pushed the scores up to 2-2 in the second set. Banana, Lucozade and some kind of almond/apricot/yogurt bar to the rescue, the CW was sent packing and the rest of the games were snapped up. Meanwhile, Tim and Marcio (salve, Marcio) had made lighter work on the neighbouring court and won 6-1 6-1. Whilst Greg and James were in their second set tussle, on the neighbouring court the teams had been mixed up for a friendly game of Social Tennis.
The second rubber got underway with each Heathen pair losing just the one game in the two sets. Greg and James lost theirs in the first set, Tim and Marcio in the second. Greg’s losing streak is at least consistent – he has lost 3 games in his previous three winter league matches.
Following the completion of the match, we were treated to a warming supper in the clubhouse. We thank Totteridge for their hearty food, company and sportsmanship. The next match, against Elmwood II, is scheduled for the following week. Hopefully Tim’s and Greg’s trip to Mallorca and 10 days of consecutive tennis will put them in fine fettle for the showdown between the top two teams.
Saturday is an unusual time for a winter league match. But a welcome one, as it meant we played in the glorious, if not blazing, sunshine. Mercury were our opponents, who had very hospitably provided hot beverages to those members of the travelling team who arrived at the designated hour. The captain, as usual, was a few minutes late so missed out on a cuppa.
But to the tennis. The sunglasses were deployed, in conjunction with multiple layers and even pants. Tim, however, hard man that he is, has no pants, so shuddered his way through the warmup until his springy legs had stoked his own internal flames.
Greg and James got off to a flying start, by winning the first 6 games and the set. The Classic Wobble at the beginning of the second set materialised, and combined with some spirited play from Mercury, the score got to 2-2 in the second set. Then probably 3-3 before the wobble was dispatched for the final 3 games, to record a 6-0 6-3 result. Tim and Sam were exceedingly clinical in their match on the neighbouring court. They romped through both sets dropping only a single game, to win 6-0 6-1.
The second rubber for Greg and James was a little more comfortable than the first. No games were dropped for a double bagel serving up 6-0 6-0. Tim and Sam started their match strongly, winning the first 6-3. The second could have been as simple, but there is always room for a Classic Wobble. Trailing by 4 games in the second (I think), they produced an exceedingly dogged fightback to win 6-4.
Many thanks to Mercury for your hosting, graciousness and post-match refreshments. It was a charming way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The men’s Middlesex Winter League got off to a flying start against Totteridge’s fourth team on Tuesday 25th October. The awesome foursome on court were Tim, Sam and Greg and James. The four traveled to Totteridge with a week of clay court tennis behind them; some benefitted from the practice, whilst others found that their shoulders made noises that weren’t there before.
Either way, the West Heath pairings got off to comfortable starts after gradually adjusting to the Totteridge tarmac. Messrs Luscious and Leftover started with a 6-0 6-0 double bagel, which was matched by Messrs Leftie and Languid. With the travelling contingent of fans staying for a while to shake a few pompoms, there was an appreciable rise in standards from both pairings (and even a successful interception at the net from James).
The second rotation of pairings was a little less comfortable for Greg and James, with a few more deuces than they would have cared for. However, they still managed to win all the games and in doing so recorded a quadruple bagel. Sam and Tim struggled perhaps a little more with adjusting to the dropping temperatures. They ended the evening well, in spite of a mini-blip at the beginning; nonetheless they triumphed 6-3 6-0 in the end. That wrapped up a 16-0 victory for the Heathens.
Thanks must be extended to our opponents, who were most graceful in the absence of any charitable play. The evening’s refreshments and chit chat were excellent and enjoyable. The nether reaches of northern Middlesex were highly hospitable; our next fixture takes us slightly further nether-wards to Ravenscroft in 5 weeks.
The second team’s last fixture of the season was an away match against Finchley Manor IV. With WHII already confirmed as league winners, the pressure was somewhat reduced amongst the ranks. We were delighted to introduce two new players of the game we love to play into the team for our final match. Salve! to young Joseph and salve! to Paul, an erstwhile second team captain himself. So whilst specifically not new this year, Paul was making his 2016 debut. He was paired with the steady, and reliably late, Marcio for the evening, whilst Philip was tasked with guiding Joseph through the travails of the fifth division. The pairings were completed by Greg and James, both still somewhat smarting since their poor showing in the WH men’s doubles final.
All three pairings got off to, quite frankly, terrible starts*. Joseph and Philip were up against the difficult first pair. They performed valiantly, and a little nervously, but lost 6-4. Meanwhile, Paul and Marcio were also struggling against the third pair who were dogged and troublesome. Both had good ground strokes but also some excellent and clinical volleying. The clay surface favours longer rallies, so their third pair’s ability to intercept and volley the ball to safety was a potent weapon. Finally, Greg and James were going toe-to-toe against the second pair. Suffering from the well-documented macaroni cheese withdrawal symptoms, James was carried quite considerably by Greg. With the score line marching inexorably towards a tie break, it was at 4-5 on the FM serve that server’s and partner’s game went off frequency. After a series of deuces, a smash was delivered with considerable gusto to James’s feet. Getting a racket to the ball, the backspin-laden ball rose like some kind of a bird into the air. Coming down, the ball bounced on the other side of the net right next to the FM player. Due to the backspin, the ball leapt up and crossed back to the WH side. Seemingly a simple reach-over-and-put-away-kind-of-a-shot, the FM player came over all static. Gifting the point to Greg and James, it is somewhat an understatement to say that his partner was not best pleased. With a request to replay the point falling on deaf/incredulous ears, the Heathens took the next point and the set 6-4.
The second round of matches was as difficult for the Heathens as the first. The FM first pair were just too strong for Paul and Marcio, although they were certainly warming to the task. The same was true for Joseph and Philip. And as Greg was enforcing maltloaf rations at each change of ends, James was finally beginning to work a little better. By talking the second set 6-3, The Lovely Samantha informed the masses that the half-way aggregate score was 8-4 in favour of Finchley Manor. As they needed only 10 points to ensure a second place league finish and promotion, they certainly seemed on course as the minute waltz of the second round faded into the background.
But West Heath are a force to be reckoned with; it is not for no reason that league victory was secured with a match to spare. A fight back was inevitable, as the Heathens take nothing but beer and grapes lying down.
Talking about beer, James’s and Greg’s minds were finally focussed. With the maltloaf and banana deficits destroyed (and hesitation removed), it must be said that the first pair were performing unequivocally quite well. Greg is known for his pithy one-liners (to say nothing of his innuendo), and his favourite of the night was about “it being much easier to lead from the front”. Much like The Lovely Samantha had done the night before, Greg was bashing balls around with pin-point abandon. It left the first seeds on the right side of a 6-2 6-1 tour de Finchley. From a personal perspective, it left the pairing unbeaten in Middlesex for two years.
On the spectators’ benches there was a vociferous contingent from West Heath, and much of their attention was, perhaps quite rightly, directed to Joseph’s and Philip’s efforts on the far court. Having got off to a nervy start in the first two rubbers, they put their troubles behind them and were entirely relentless in their play. The FM 3rd pair, after the match, were full of praise for their serving, volleying, and ability to put the ball out of reach. To the sound of applause and whooping from the bench of travelling WH supporters, Philip and Joseph did a demolition job to win 6-2 6-0.
Paul’s and Marcio’s collective fortunes were also on the up. Tim had taken it upon himself to, from the side-lines, give them a talking to, and for once it may actually have worked. The second pair’s play improved a lot, and whilst it would be injudicious (and incorrect) to attribute the performance increase to Tim’s pep talk, it might be noted that perhaps we have found a use for WHII’s Mr Petulant as a motivational speaker. Those at the club’s tournament week must certainly be aware of his storytelling prowess in relation to the curious incident of the brother and the beard. Tim’s intervention notwithstanding, the second pair took their sets 6-2 6-1 in the kind of form reminiscent of last year’s season ending match when they were cohabiting a court in blissful harmony.
With all of the final round sets going the West Heath way, Samantha choked back, amongst other stuff, her surprise that the score had flipped from 4-8 to 16-8. The final round performance had sealed FM to a third successive third place finish in Division 5; in their stead Brondesbury take second place (by a single point) in the Division and, with it, promotion next year. The Lovely Samantha is looking forward to playing with their balls next year!
The post-match friendlies were taken in good sprits, in spite of FM’s understandable rueful disappointment at being so close to securing promotion. To their exceptional credit, they put it behind them (only mentioning it once or twice more) and hosted a most marvellous end of season meal. Their chef served up some excellent and plenteous Thai food, which was supplemented with a bit of beer and plenty of “banter”.
So as the tennis ball of destiny slams into the clay court ball mark inspection of inevitability, the 2016 summer league draws to a close. It has been a rip-roaring encounter, and a pleasure to organise such an august body (careful, Samantha) into another league-topping performance. Many thanks to all of you for playing, for reading, for cooking (Marjan!), and for supporting. So, until next year and the heady heights of the Middlesex Summer League North East Division 4! Hurrah!
* Some of this may be attributable to the not so sterling team talk delivered by the captain. For the first time this season, a pre-match team talk was requested. As there was no pressure for results, the captain told his team to go and have fun. Clearly this wasn’t sufficiently motivating.
The lines were freshly painted. The umpire’s chairs were out and the umpires arms had been twisted. The sandwiches and cakes for tea had all been made. All that remained was to watch the on-court entertainment provided.
Men’s Singles Final
In the 2015 final Graeme Pearson was beaten by Cedric de la Chaise for the first time in four years, achieving a clean sweep of men’s titles, but Cedric did not play in this year’s tournament. So Graeme was the top seed this year. In the bottom half of the draw Marcio Sugui, the 4th seed emerged after beating Philip Reid who, in turn, knocked out the second seed Logan Mair. The match was umpired by Kevin Ryan after a break of a few years.
In the first set Marcio was caught a little cold by Graeme. Marcio’s topspin forehands were not going in consistently, and these and his leftie spin serve are his major weapons. Graeme was able to play pretty safely and did not need to take chances – the points kept rolling in. It could have been a bagel (6-0), but Marcio stopped the rot to claim his only game, giving the set to Graeme 6-1.
In the second set Marcio raised his level considerably and cut out most of the errors. It took Graeme a while to twig that this had happened, as he found himself 1-3 down – a break which Marcio retained until the score reached 5-3. In particular in the first set Graeme had been able to get away with putting the ball on Marcio’s (leftie) forehand (i.e. Marcio’s left) half the time or more, but in the second set this tactic stopped producing a steady stream of points and instead allowed Marcio to hit a number of winners past him. So around 5-3 Graeme switched tactics and started hitting the ball more to Marcio’s backhand (i.e. right), denying Marcio the winners and points which had come more easily earlier in the set. Further, Graeme started hitting the ball a little harder and taking more risks with placement (deeper and closer to the lines). These changes affected the points won ratios, and Graeme took the next four games to wrap the match up in two sets 6-1 7-5.
Being challenged to raise your game and respond is what serious tennis is all about. At this level it is about playing one’s best (if you wanted just to win all the time you could play only weaker opponents). See the book “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Timothy Galwey for more details.
If you want to know about the duck then ask Barbara.
Ladies’ Singles Final
The Ladies Singles Final this year was between Marjan Denis, the 2015 Champion and top seed, and Ros Norkett who beat the second seed, Lesley South, in three sets. I do feel a little guilty about this after certain information came to light. Lesley had three match points in the second set at 5-6 when I asked someone to go and find out what the score in the match was. Apparently the question was popped immediately to Lesley who says it destroyed her concentration at that critical time, allowing Ros to save the game. Ros then went on to take that set and the next.
Since both Ros and Marjan have strong games when on form, the result of the final was likely to be decided in favour of whoever played closest to their potential. In the first set Ros had the edge, with Marjan making more errors. Ros won it 6-4. This momentum carried over into the second set with Ros 2-1 up with a break, but on her serve Ros double faulted a couple of times which seemed to change the balance of the match, with Marjan now starting to believe she could win it and Ros becoming less certain. The momentum swung – Marjan pulled the break back and created one of her own to take the second set 6-4. In the third set the momentum shift continued as Marjan’s game improved, and Ros had no response. Marjan won 4-6 6-4 6-0.
Men’s Doubles Final
This final was contested between the first and second seeded pairs, Sultan Gangji & Graeme Pearson vs James McKenzie & Greg Lim, also representing a men’s first team pair vs the first pair in the men’s second team. Playing together, James and Greg are unbeated in the Middlesex League for the last 2 years. When it came to the play, Sultan and Graeme had the edge because of their lower error rates and ability to put shots away, but James has a big advantage with his leftie serve with Greg stationed at the net to put away any loose returns, and Greg’s flat shots have a lot of pace. Sultan and Graeme won the first set 6-3, and the second set was only marginally less close at 6-2 for a 6-3 6-2 championship win for Sultan and Graeme.
Ladies’ Doubles Final
This final was also contested between the first seeds, Marjan Denis & Rachel Savin, and second seeds, Ros Norkett & Vandana Talwar. The first set was very one sided as Marjan and Rachel bagelled it (winning 6-0). But the second set proved to be a much tighter and more nervy affair for Marjan and Rachel. The score reached 5 all, but, contrary to expectations, Ros and Vandana won the next two games to take the match to a champions tie-break. Ros and Vandana dug in at this point, making few errors, but Marjan and Rachel made a few mistakes which resulted in a 0-6 7-5 [10-5] championship win to Ros and Vandana.
The Finals’ Day Tea came in between the Men’s and Ladies’ doubles finals and was the usual resplendent event. This was followed by the Presentation of the Trophies, for which the celebrity guest this year was Jane Boyle, with some assistance from Sultan Gangji.
The tasty evening barbecue was attended by thirty people. It is on occasions like this that we all notice the absence of the huge old reservoir valve cover, which has been replaced with a very discreet cover on the ground. This allows the outdoor eating area to spread out as far as the tables will allow. Anna Ganev started some enthusiastic dancing with which various others joined in.
Thanks to the many volunteers who provided or cooked food or helped in many other ways. And thanks to Sultan and Marjan as the tournament organisers / referees. Looking forward to next year (after a suitably lengthy rest from the pressure of daily posts).
Rachael Gangji provided the evening’s fish pie, with Lara’s cheesecake and strawberry pavlova proffered as the sumptuous climax to this year’s Gourmet Dinner season.
Three matches were played on the last mid-week evening of Finals Week. The weather, whilst still kind, had conspired to bring cloud cover to West Heath for the first time this week. The matches were played with perfect visibility for all, so there was no need to shift courts to avoid the sun or take up a defensive position behind a tree.
The first of the two men’s singles semi-finals to begin was Sam Evans against Graeme Pearson. In the absence of Cedric de la Chaise (2015 champion), Graeme is the top seed. Tim Simpson had taken 4 games off Graeme in the first set in the quarter final match, and the question was whether jet lag from Graeme’s trip to Canada earlier this week had featured in this minor delay in Graeme’s swift progress to the final; we got the answer today. Sam played well, but Graeme made very few errors, even under pressure and was almost always able to hit the ball with pace to the exact spot required. Sam hit hard balls and serves at Graeme, but Graeme typically returned them to his chosen spot as if it was the 100th ball he had drilled to that point in the last 5 minutes. Sam could not apply sufficient pressure to stop Graeme from hitting balls he had only just got to, to the most inconvenient place on the court for Sam, whereas Sam usually lost the point immediately when in the same situation. So the match was short and sweet (at least as far as Graeme was concerned) and Sam got raucous cheers from the crowd when, in the second set, he won his only game. Graeme won 6-0 6-1. Come back Cedric de la Chaise, because it is difficult to see anyone else present that Graeme will not take apart in the final on Saturday, such seemed the gulf in this semi-final.
Starting slightly after them on Court 2 was the hotly anticipated fixture between Marcio Sugui and Philip Reid. Whereas everyone knew the result of the first semi-final in advance, this one was expected to be very close indeed. The first set started with 3rd seed Marcio, the left hander, a bit cold. A lot of his topspin shots, normally hooked in, went wide, meaning that 7th seed Philip usually won the point when Marcio had to hit an angle or lose the point. Philip made errors too though, including the occasional double fault. Philip is very tall, and, considering the speed at which he can hit the serve, he should be getting huge penetration, but his service is flawed because he hits the ball when his upper body is on the way down, rather than at the peak of its extension. So the penetration and margin for error is reduced compared to what it could be. The net of all these effects is that the first set was very tight and reached 6-6, with Philip winning the resulting tie-break.
Marcio was much better warmed-up for the second set and typically succeeded in passing Philip when he came to the net, and also had the upper hand in baseline rallies whose winner depended on hitting accurate angles. Marcio won this set 6-1. At the beginning of the third set it looked like it could have gone either way, but Marcio gained the upper hand and did not let up, eventually winning 6-7 6-1 6-3.
Mixed Doubles Final
The last match was the mixed doubles final between first and second seeds, Lesley South and James McKenzie (last year’s runners up)playing Marjan Denis and Greg Lim. Not only had the seeding committee got it right but there was also a fair amount of money being exchanged on the bank regarding this match’s outcome. The new pairing of Marjan and Greg had come through a difficult semi-final encounter whilst Lesley and James were yet to drop a set. In traditional fashion, Lesley won the toss and put James in to bat. After Marjan and Greg gave their opponents ‘one in the sun’, James served and did not do so as convincingly as desired. Nonetheless, he held his serve after a deuce or two and much the more relieved for it. Greg’s service game was remarkable for pin-point accuracy in the deuce court; Lesley could do nothing with the wide serves and Greg secured points with two aces and an unreturned serve. However, the story in the ad’ court was almost the reverse, with all returns being made and then made good. Lesley and James unexpectedly secured the break after a couple of deuces and started Lesley’s service game at 2-0. Lesley’s serve is not rapid, but is exceptionally well placed. Hit consistently to both backhands, it gives an opportunity for interceptions at the net. Some of these were put away whilst others hit the back fence. After much too-ing and fro-ing, the game was held for a 3-0 lead. After replenishments at the change of ends (for one of the players, it should be noted that the half-life of macaroni cheese is notoriously short), it was Marjan’s turn to serve. With some good placement and lengthy rallies, Marjan and Greg held the game. James’s second service game was a little more comfortable, as also was Greg’s. The score reached 5-3 leaving lefty James to serve for the set. Whilst not entirely straightforward, the top seeds hung on to clinch the first set 6-3.
Perhaps in a slight daze, James, the only professional umpire on the court, claimed that the players should “change for one”. Er, not so, said Marjan whilst bananas were bolted down and Lucozade lapped up during the set break. Back in their previous positions, the second set continued with a couple of service holds and a service break to the second seeds. It seemed likely that the match was heading to a match tie-break. However, the break was quickly returned and the score after Greg’s service game was 5-4. James served to stay in the set [no pressure] and it looked like he and Lesley might have escaped. However, Harry Houdini himself would have struggled [no exaggeration – tennis wasn’t his forte] to escape. James and Lesley saved the first set point, but not the second. Marjan’s hefty returning of serve and Greg’s flat groundstrokes in that game allowed them snatch the second set 6-4.
Match tie-breaks are neither James’s nor Greg’s favourite thing [beer? – Peter]. Although not explicitly discussed, it is probably the case that Marjan favours raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, whilst Lesley has been known to be keener on bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens than match tie breaks. Alas, the final came down to the wire with a first-to-ten-with-a-margin-of-two format. After some solid play, cheeky angles and crucial net interceptions, the 1st seeds inched towards a 4-2 lead at the first change of ends and 8-4 by the second. At 9-4 Lesley served for the title and delivered a low dippy angled serve to Greg’s backhand. James pounced on the return with a decisive down-the-middle volley very fitting to winning a final, securing the title 6-3 4-6 [10-4].
Marjan and Greg played solidly throughout, with little between the four players throughout much of the match. There was some heavy hitting in all quarters, no quarter was spared, and some delicate touch shots to boot. During the deciding match tie-break it was James and Lesley who better mastered their nerves: Lesley calmly delivered angled put-aways and James was dogged at the net, perhaps due to Lesley’s faultless attention to his carbohydrate levels. Whilst Novak reached the top with a gluten-free diet, James’s path was paved with macaroni cheese supplemented mid-match with two bananas and a bottle of Lucozade. In spite of this carb-loading, there was still room for Rachael’s much anticipated – and as it turned out delicious – fish pie.
As an experiment, Sam Evans brought along a drone to take some aerial pictures. Unfortunately it was just a little too noisy (even at 50m height) to use to video sequences from the second men’s semi-final in progress, but he did take some shots of everyone and we look forward to including them in this post when available. They include a shot of Sultan ‘B. DeMille’ Gangji’s attempted choreography of the entire massed attendees at West Heath, who can be seen ‘directing’ in the photo below. Don’t give up the day job Sultan.
We are all looking forward to the four remaining finals at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon. First up on courts 1 and 2 will be the ladies’ and men’s singles finals. These will be followed by the two doubles finals, a delicious tea and an evening BBQ. See you there…
Tonight Marjan Denis cooked a variety of tasty lasagnas designed for all West Heath dietary requirements (including regular, soya-free, and wheat-free also suitable for lactose intolerance), followed by a rapidly-disappearing tiramisu. However, she was also scheduled to play throughout the evening, so Lesley South and Moira Duncan stepped in to complete the cooking, which did not stop Marjan fretting over it. Perhaps this takes her mind off the tennis, enabling her to play better (just a theory, Marjan).
There were six matches on the schedule for the evening. The first was the men’s quarter final between Tim Simpson, the 8th seed, and Graeme Pearson who is the top seed in the absence of Cedric de la Chaise who beat him in the final last year. Tim was rather hoping to catch Graeme on the hop – Atlantic hopping to be precise, as Graeme had just had to make a business trip to Canada and so was presumably suffering from some form of jet lag. Tim’s serve has improved considerably over the last year, as have some of his ground strokes, and Graeme is often a slow starter in the singles matches in the later stages of a tournament. So Tim did quite well in the first set with a heavy serve and volley featuring regularly. However, Graeme not playing full tilt is still a major force to be reckoned with, and Tim made a few more errors than Graeme resulting in Graeme winning the first set 6-4.
In the second set Graeme warmed up and got his eye in. Typically this meant that if Tim was at the net and Graham had a chance to prepare his passing shot, he would generally pass Tim on either side at random (at least as far as Tim was concerned). This put more pressure on Tim who tried to force his second serves, resulting in a few more double faults – enough to give Graeme the edge. The result was that Graeme won the second set more easily – 6-1 for a 6-4 6-1 victory. And as matters turned out later, it was just as well that Tim’s match plan did not achieve ultimate success.
The ladies’ singles semi-final match started up alongside the men’s singles and seemed to be a permanent fixture for the evening. Lesley South, the second seed, was playing Ros Norkett. Ros started slowly wheres Lesley’s game is one of placement and accuracy, rather than necessarily pace, so possibly needs less warming up. Lesley took the first set 6-1. With Ros now warmed up, the second set was rather closer, still allowing Lesley to reach match point at 5-4 up. However, this time she forgot her lines and Ros used her better pace to take the game and the next two to win the set 7-5.
Remember that the singles events are still three tie-break sets – no Champions Tie Break. In the third set Lesley never quite achieved the dominance and lower error rate of the first set and most of the second set, and Ros hit some good serves and excellent placed winners just out of reach to put Lesley on the defensive, though Ros’s service game at 1-2 down seemed to last for ever (or at least considerably longer than the Champions Tie-Break described below) . In the end Ros took the set 6-4 for a 1-6 7-6 6-4 victory in a match that must have lasted for over 2 hours.
Rachel Savin was a little delayed for her mixed doubles match and her partner, Philip Reid, had to pick her up. Meanwhile, their opponents, the second seeds Marjan Denis & Greg Lim, were well warmed up by the time Rachel appeared on court and went straight into the match with no obvious warm-up. You might think this would be highly disadvantageous for Rachel and Philip. However, Greg later admitted to being a little nervy in the first set. Certainly Rachel and Philip had the upper hand, and Philip was putting away at the net anything which came even vaguely with reach, intercepting to great effect. Rachel and Philip won the first set 6-2. Greg played a little better in the second set, which Marjan and Denis won 6-2, but they did not both play their best until the Champions Tie Break. They pulled ahead in this, but Philip and Rachel hauled them back to 9 all. If memories are correct, Greg then won his serve and Philip put Marjan’s return from Rachel’s serve out to give Greg and Marjan a 2-6 6-2 [11-9] victory and a place in Thursday’s final.
Perhaps a little chastened by his defeat at the hands of Greame Pearson, Tim Simpson now partnered Marcio Sugui in an all second team men’s doubles match against second seeds James McKenzie & Greg Lim. If you remember, playing as a pair James and Greg have not lost a Middlesex League match in two years, so it was expected to be an uphill struggle for Tim and Marcio. And so it proved, with James and Greg winning the first set 6-2 despite Tim’s booming serve and Marcio’s leftie slice. James and Greg then reached 2-0 in the second set. At this point, in Tim’s words, on one shot he launched himself [at the ball] and felt something in his calf pop. There was no question of carrying on, and he limped to the benches for ice, sympathy and beer. “No question of carrying on” means, of course, no question of Tim carrying on. The other second-team players could see no reason not to draft in Philip Reid to complete the set. The score was not revealed but Philip did later complain that Tim had not left his side in a good state to take the second set.
Tim used an ice pack, got a lot of advice as to what to do, and had a few beers which put him in a better frame of mind, but still could not hobble far unaided so Sam Evans gave him a lift home. We all wish him well.
In the other men’s doubles semi-final the top seeds, Graeme Pearson & Sultan Gangji, were in action against the third seeds Logan Mair & Sam Evans. Graeme and Sam were generally making few mistakes, Logan made a few errors but was serving pretty hard. There were some good net-play reaction points which had the spectators in rapturous applause. But in general Graeme’s accurate placement (nothing spectacular but often just out of reach ) made it difficult for the opposition to gain an advantage in the point. Sultan did his bit, slapping the ball away where possible and chasing down some balls in the tram lines with a speed that would have been impossible a few years ago before his hip operation. The slight advantage to the top seeds translated into a 6-2 score line in both sets, allowing Sultan and Graeme to march into Saturday’s final 6-2 6-2.
The final match of the evening was the resumption of the ladies’ singles semi-final between Marjan Denis and Rachel Savin. This had to be abandoned late on Monday evening as the court became increasingly slippery. Rachel was leading 6-4 3 all. On the resumption a distinct pattern of play was noticeable, with Marjan aiming the ball into the corner (with an appropriate margin) whereas was trying to play it safe and hit the ball down the middle of the court. Rachel also tended to be at a disadvantage when Marjan played a short low ball. Nevertheless, the score reached 6 all, forcing a second set tie-break which Marjan won. In the third set (full set with tie-break), Marjan gained the upper hand and was leading 4-2 when it became slippery and difficult to see the ball. At this point Rachel graciously conceded the match to Marjan as it was not clear otherwise when the match could be completed prior to the final, as Rachel had booked tickets for the theatre for Thursday evening.
Photo courtesy of Susan GrossmanPhoto courtesy of Susan Grossman
The Gourmet Dinner chef this evening was Lesley South, who provided an appetizing Far-Eastern themed barbecue meal. Unfortunately the lighting of the (new club) barbecue caused consternation among the spectators as the wind was blowing exactly towards the clubhouse carrying smoke towards the entire crowd, most of whom rapidly dispersed. Fortunately it did not interfere with the match in play.
The evening’s first match was a mixed doubles quarter final tie between the first and third seeds. Top seeds James and Lesley – also the evening’s Gourmet Chef – were up against Ros and Sultan on a sunny Court 3. Both pairs had recorded convincing wins in the previous round (Anna described Sultan’s and Ros’s victory over her and Jasper as like being run over by a tractor) and this was a fixture that had the potential to go either way. James and Lesley decided to start serving into the sun and in true form (see previous reports ad nauseum), James struggled to serve well and just about clung on to his own service game in spite of facing a few break points. Sultan and Ros returned well to keep the top seeds under pressure, and Sultan, in the second game, showed us how to hold a service game with ease. Lesley, like her partner, got off to a slow service start, but pulled it back with some trademark angles and delicate placement. James and Lesley pulled away to a 2-1 lead and broke Ros and dutifully held the subsequent game to rack up a 4-1 scoreline. Sultan again held his own in the sunshine, and Lesley held her own in the shady end. The first set point for the first seeds came and went, but they grasped the first set on the next attempt, to win 6-2. The second set followed the exact same service hold/break pattern until 5-2 when Ros served to stay in the match. James and Lesley won the next game to record a 6-2 6-3 victory and advance to Thursday’s final. Who they will meet is to be decided on Wednesday. After a quick costume change, Lesley was straight back in the kitchen to organise the evening’s delicious Gourmet Dinner.
The subsequent men’s singles match between between the second seed, Logan Mair, and the seventh, Philip Reid, was expected to be close. However, Logan got off to a slow start in the first set in a match that started off more about placement and not losing points than about hitting winners. Philip took the first set 6-2. In the second set Logan reduced his error rate somewhat and just got the upper hand to take it 6-4. The third set started fairly evenly, but Philip put huge pressure on Logan’s service game which Logan eventually won to take the score to 2 all. But after that Logan was never quite on top, with Philip continuing to apply pressure and Logan making just a few more errors. The inevitable break allowed Philip victory 6-2 4-6 6-3.
The opinion of the crowd is that the result of the semi-final match between Philip and Marcio Sugui will be dependent on how closely each performs to their respective capabilities. If both play as well as they are capable of it should be another cracking match. Tim Simpson is still confidently predicting that he will win his quarter final with Graeme Simpson as Graeme is flying back from 24 hours in Canada, but Sultan Gangji doesn’t think Tim stands much chance. However Graeme can often be a slow starter in the club final, so it is entirely possible Tim could take the first set if he surprises Graeme (and the rest of us) with some solid early play.
Photo courtesy of Susan Grossman
Tomorrows schedule is jam-packed, with six matches to complete. So be sure to get there early so as not to miss any of your chosen action. You will be doing well if you can follow all three matches at the same time.
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