Aldershot & District Lawn Tennis Association

Affiliated to Surrey LTA and Hants & Isle Of Wight LTA

TOURNAMENTS

ALDERSHOT & FARNHAM TOURNAMENT

FINALS’ DAY REPORT – 13^th September 2009

This annual event is played on a knock out basis over the summer months and the finals were on 13^th September at the Aldershot Tennis Centre.

Matt Marlow of Camberley LTC started his first tennis match at 11am and with only minimal breaks in between he played his last point at 4:45pm.

First up was the Men’s singles. Marlow versus Avondale’s Stuart Lamb. There were plenty of fine base line rallies, with some powerful hitting in windy conditions on the courts at the Aldershot Tennis Centre. Marlow broke Lamb in the first game and that remained the only dropped service game in the 1^st set, but it was enough for Marlow to win it 6-4. The second set saw both players dropping their serve in their opening games but at 3-3 the game was hotting up. Marlow though always seemed to just have the edge and unfortunately for Lamb he was broken to love in his next 2 service games and the match belonged to Marlow. 6-4, 6-3

In the Men’s doubles both players were again pitched against each other. Marlow teamed up with David Gill (Camberley) and Lamb with Peter Grant (Avondale). Grant and Lamb made a good start and were soon ahead 5-2 in the first set. Grant’s serves were not easy to return and he held serve throughout the first set, and although their opposition started to come back, they managed to hold on to the lead and take the first set 6-4. The 2^nd set saw a reversal of fortunes and in a very fast time of 22 minutes, Gill and Marlow won the second set 6-1. Gill and Marlow took a 2-0 lead in the 3^rd set and although Grant and Lamb fought back they could not close the gap and once again this Matt was not for beating. Gill and Marlow won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

Marlow’s last match of the day was the mixed doubles where he partnered Sara Dorey (Elstead) and they were defending their championship win of 2008. Their opposition was Adam Sturt and Kay Sargent (Bourne) The 1^st set was a runaway one with Sturt and Sargent winning 6-1. Dorey wasn’t yet into her stride and Sargent in particular took full advantage of this, serving to the Dorey backhand and making good use of the lob. The 2^nd set was more competitive. Marlow started with an ace and although both ladies dropped their service game in the middle of the set there was some fine tennis with good touch shots and excellent pick-ups. Inevitably the set headed for a tiebreak, which Marlow and Dorey won 7-4. With a chance to win 3 titles in a day Marlow was determined to keep going on his 8th set of the day. The first 6 games all went with serve and in the 7^th game Sargent did well to hold her serve after 7 deuces. In this case it was very much Dan Maskell’s ‘Vital 7^th game’ as Sturt and Sargent held on to the lead to take the match 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.

Last year’s Ladies singles champion –Betty Maitland (Elstead) won through the earlier rounds to come back to defend her title. Her opponent was Mary Gill (Camberley) and the left-handed player matched Maitland well for the first 7 games. It was unfortunate that Gill then dropped her serve in the 8^th game and with Maitland winning her own service game she took the set. Interestingly all games in the first set bar one were love games. By the 2^nd set Maitland was into her stride, and made good use of dropping the ball short, dragging Gill in and then effectively lobbing her. A delighted Maitland retained her crown 6-3, 6-0.

The Ladies Doubles was between Liz Jukes and Jackie West of Brightwell and last year’s runners up – Kathy Norkett and Diane Pettitt of Wrecclesham. Jukes and West won the first set 6-1 but Norkett and Pettitt deserved a better score line. There were some fine rallies but somehow the winning points when it really mattered came off the racquets of Jukes and West. The 2^nd set had a more competitive score line and although Jukes and West gradually crept ahead to a 5-2 lead, Norkett and Petitt did not give up. They dragged the score back to a very respectable 6-5 and as the rallies got longer and longer Jukes and West held their cool to take the 2^nd set to a tiebreak. This went all Jukes and West way and they won the tiebreak by 7 points to 1. Final score 6-1, 7-6

This tournament is for players in the region of Aldershot (approx 10 miles).

Historical Tournament Reports