The tournament proper has started, and some matches have been played.
On Thursday, the preliminary (“qualifying”) round of the Men’s Singles was played between Harry Smouha and Paul O’Flynn. The first set went to Paul 6-3, but Harry more than got his own back in the second set, in which he allowed Paul only one game.
Singles matches are supposed to be 3 tie break sets, but Harry and Paul didn’t seem to know this and must have agreed to play a Champions Tie Break as the decider instead. Somehow, Paul must have reversed the momentum from the second set and roared ahead, taking the tie break [10-1] and the match 6-3 1-6 [10-1]
On Friday, at the bottom of the draw, also in the Men’s Singles, Peter Farrell took on the second seed Marcio Sugui. It wasn’t a very even match, in terms of games, but Peter detained Marcio for over an hour, and did manage to take one game off Marcio in the second set. So Marcio won 6-0 6-1.
Another Men’s Singles match on Friday was between Adi Bhagwat and Stephen Cooke, the third seed. Although there was a significant discrepancy between their single ratings, it was a fun match, and there were a number of long, competitive rallies between the pair. Although Stephen’s pace and consistency won out, Adi got one game in each set, for a 6-1 6-1 victory to Stephen.
In the evening, Jason Yung took on Richard Keep, the sixth seed. Jason is a new member this year who lives locally, and is very keen on his tennis. However, Richard is a strong singles player, as well as a solid men’s first team player when his acting commitments allow. Jason won one game in the first set and two in the second set for a 6-1 6-2 victory to Richard.
