Tournament report – Finals Day 26 July 2026

Finals Day was well attended this year. Marjan Denis counted a crowd of around 40 after a set or so in the first two matches, but later, perhaps attracted by the Finals Day tea, the number of spectators rose considerably higher.

Men’s Singles Final

This was a closely fought Final between Stephen Cooke, the 3rd seed and Marcio Sugui the 2nd seed, the top seed, Olly Turner, having been beaten by Richard Keep in the Quarter Finals. The match was well umpired by Greg Lim, with four vintage line judges, policing every baseline and service line.

This match took so long that, while starting first, it finished within seconds of the Ladies’ Doubles which followed the Ladies’ Singles on grass court 1.

Marcio is a very consistent leftie, who takes advantage of leftie and other spins. He generally uses heavy topspin on both sides to ensure the ball goes in. He also has a deadly drop shot which he employs when he has moved his opponent wide and deep to a corner, angling it to the opposite side of the court. Quite often, this won Marcio the point. However, on a few occasions, Stephen’s long legs took him to the ball on time, and he hit a precise, short angled half volley to put the ball a few inches inside the side line, to which Marcio had no response.

Stephen has some stronger strokes, but made more mistakes, particularly in the second half of the first set. He also has a preference for the forehand and lost a handful of points running round Marcio’s leftie spin slice serves to his forehand and mishitting. But when presented a narrow opportunity to hit a winner he can put the ball on a sixpence 6 inches diagonally in from the corner. He aced Marcio a few times. Someone commented that Stephen often has a hangdog look, even when he has just won the point with a brilliant shot.

After a couple of games, light rain started, which made the court a little slippery, and the players came off. Sultan Gangji came on to assess the situation, while the umpire, Greg, checked on how wet the balls had become. The match continued after only a short delay.

This was an thrilling match for the spectators, particularly since the outcome wasn’t obvious, and there were nail biting moments for the supporters of either player.

Stephen started well with an early break, to go 3-1 up. But then, as Marcio got into the match, Stephen seemed to lose concentration, hitting balls long and making other errors, allowing the score to reach 4 all. The set reached 6 all for a set tie break (first to 7). During the tie break, Stephen seemed to sharpen up a lot, and took it fairly easily 7-2.

At this point one or two of the spectators were speculating that Stephen had to win the second set too, or was likely to lose in 3 sets. Stephen himself didn’t seem too concerned at any point.

Ladies’ Singles Final

Eléonore beat Alex Reyner in three sets in the Semi-Finals, though her loss of the first set can probably be ascribed to the fact that it had been her first match played on grass.

Becca played both singles and doubles in matches for Oxford university, but has since played her only singles in the West Heath tournament. She is steady and consistent and hard hitting, with a good tennis brain.

The umpire, Marjan Denis, later described Eléonore as the strongest female player she had seen during her time at West Heath.

Ladies’ Doubles Final

This took place between Marjan Denis & Barbara Thomas, the 2nd seed, and Alex Reyner & Becca Vaughan the top seeds. The title was won last year by Alex Reyner and Posy Frederick. The umpire was Alex Vallmajor.

Marjan seems to play tennis most days, often more than once. Barbara has recently returned to playing competitive matches. Alex and Becca play a lot of first team doubles, when they are available, and are an experienced partnership. Both have strong all round games and were thoroughly coached in doubles tactics as part of the Oxford University tennis team, though that was a few years ago.

Although Marjan and Barbara put up a good fight, it was not easy to stop Alex and Becca, who had the experience and shots to get in a position to hit winners or force errors. Marjan and Barbara won one game in the second set for a 6-0 6-1 victory to Alex and Becca.

Men’s Doubles Final

This was contested between Greg Lim & James Li-Tremble, the 2nd seeds, and Stephen Cooke & Logan Mair, the top seeds and title holders. The umpire was Joseph Rigal.

Greg and James are a new tournament pairing. Previously Greg has been playing with Sultan Gangji, but Sultan believed that Greg now stood a better chance of taking the doubles title with a younger partner. Greg doesn’t make many mistakes. James was the revelation at the tournament, with a good serve and capable of excellent forcing doubles play.

Stephen and Logan have been playing doubles together for some time. Of the two, Logan has the better, heavier serve, and contrary to my previous belief, Stephen assured me that Logan can place his serve accurately (in terms or direction) when directed by his partner. Stephen’s is excellent in terms of placement but not as penetrating as Logan’s.

Unfortunately, during the preceding prize giving, Sultan placed additional pressure on Stephen and Logan, and particularly Logan, by pointing out that that Stephen now had the opportunity to win the Triple Crown (singles, doubles and mixed) by taking the trifecta of Men’s Singles, Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles. But only if Logan and Stephen could take the Men’s Doubles.

Logan denied he felt under any more pressure than previously because of the public pronouncement, but it was notable that he, and to a lesser extent Stephen, did not play as well in the first set as they are capable of. Add to this that James played a blinder and Greg made few mistakes in the first set. This resulted in a 6-2 first set to Greg and James with at least two service breaks.

Stephen and Logan reset themselves at the beginning of the second set and got into their stride. They played much closer to their capability and the extra pressure on Greg and James led to the latter losing serve a few times, for a 6-2 second set to Stephen and Logan. But it wasn’t easy and the crowd was on tenterhooks on quite a few points which could have gone either way.

So all was dependent on the Champions Tie Break (first to 10 with a 2 point margin) – aptly named in this case. Anticipation in the crowd was at fever pitch levels at various points, especially at times of a mini-break.

At 4 all, Greg and James secured a mini-break to gain a 6-4 advantage, but Greg lost the 2nd point on his serve. The score then moved through 6 all, 7 all and 8 all. Stephen won his second service point to go 9-8 up, and he and Logan took the last point on the opponent’s serve to win the Championship at the first opportunity 2-6 6-2 [10-8].

Thus Stephen is now the first Triple Crown holder since 2015.

Stephen joins the following august body of six women and just two other men (though Cedric did win it 5 times):-

• 2015 – Cedric de la Chaise (and 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011)
• 2003 – Sofie Becaus
• 1997 – Julie Goodacre
• 1992 – Claire Willis
• 1989 – Penny Wild
• 1981 – Sultan Gangji
• 1978 – Jane Boyle
• 1959 – Jean Pateman

Note the achievements from over 40 years ago of two very active current members (highlighted).

The Mixed Doubles Champion only has records going back to since 1958.

Prizegiving and Tea

The initial Prizegiving was held around 16:30 before the Men’s Doubles Final, so that the super sandwiches for the Finals Day Tea did not start to curl!

Before the prizes for the Ladies and Men’s Singles were presented, Sultan outlined the plans for the Clubhouse which has served us all well for the last 60 years.

The guest celebrity presenting the trophies was Manual Vallmajor, representing the Monte Carlo Tennis Club. He compared the West Heath tournament favourably with their Monte Carlo Open (sshh)!

The complete set of finalists are in the front row of the photo of all those present at the bottom

There was also a separate presentation later for the Men’s Doubles.

Spectators

By the time the Men’s Singles Final had finished, there were considerably more spectators than before, queuing up to see the exciting tennis (particularly the men’s doubles, as it turned out). Those seated on benches had to move them forward to allow a second and third row to stand or sit on chairs or bar stools behind to get a good view of the Men’s Doubles.

If you count the number of people (including those hiding behind others with just some parts visible) in the photo at the bottom of this post, of those present by the prizegiving at the end of the Men’s Singles Final, it must have been around 60 altogether, which is surely a recent record.

Here is everyone, with the Finals Day winners and runners up in the front line.

Summary

The originals of all the photos used in these reports can be found here.

Signing off until next year.