Captain's Report 2022

CLUB TOURNAMENT

This took place on Sunday 4th September and involved mixed doubles, ladies doubles, mens doubles and mens singles. The entry was good when considering the low-level membership.

Despite forecasts predicting the worst the weather was in fact extremely kind to us and the tournament went ahead as scheduled without interruption.

All events were played on a knock-out basis with sets being played to 7 rather than 6. The Mixed Doubles saw the biggest entry and it produced some of the most entertaining matches of the day. The semi-finals saw Jayne and Andrew taking on a dangerous-looking Wendy and Clive with possible favourites Marie and Ben looking to get the better of an unpredictable Judith and Nigel. There was much tension and excitement but Jayne and Andrew and Marie and Ben claimed victories and went on to contest an even better final. Marie and Ben were made to fight hard for a 7-5 win.

The Ladies Doubles saw Judith and Sharon win a very tough semi-final against Jayne and Marie and Wendy and Catherine won through against Paula and stand-in ‘lady’ Oliver (thanks Oliver!). It was terrific to see both Paula and Catherine on court again and enjoying their tennis after such a long time away and they both played superbly well. In a pulsating final Judith and Sharon just had a little too much firepower for the very impressive Wendy and Catherine. It was great to see Sharon winning a club tournament and showing what a tough player she can be.

In the Mens Doubles John and Bryan had a good win against Nigel and Clive to reach the semi-finals where they came up against an in-form Oliver and Chris who were too good on this occasion, winning 7-3. In the other semi-final Gavin and Ben fought out a thrilling encounter against Dave and Andrew with Gavin and Ben just edging the only 7-6 of the day. Gavin and Ben went on to convincingly win the final against a subdued Oliver and Chris who didn’t quite hit top gear on this occasion, with Gavin and Ben proving very difficult to hit through.

Four brave souls entered the Mens Singles. Oliver lost a tough match against the very determined Gavin and Clive could not find the winning formula against Ben’s terrific all-round tennis. The final had to be carried over to a later date and is unplayed at the time of this report.

Sadly there were no volunteers to take on Paula in the Ladies Singles!! LOL.

So a great day’s tennis in good weather but this event was immediately made so much the merrier once John and Sharon very kindly organised wine and nibbles. A very big thank you to both for doing that and making sure everybody left having had a really good time as far as they could remember.

OFFICIAL

The format of the tournament generally worked well and we appreciate everyone’s patience if they had to sit out a long time and everybody played their part in creating a really enjoyable atmosphere. Well done to all those who entered and for playing in such a good spirit – the club tournament is important and all those present made it a great day.

CAPTAIN’S REPORT 2022

LEAGUE REPORTS

MENS TEAM:

The men finished a very creditable fourth out of eight teams. The top three teams were clearly in a class of their own and finished a long long way ahead of the rest of the teams so we came ‘best of the rest’.

We scored particularly good wins against Chester C, Hoole D, and Helsby B all of which have a much bigger pool of players to select from. The team have shown great character with impressively gutsy performances from Chris Quartermaine, Ben, Chris Saul, Gavin and Huseyin – who all contributed valuable points to our overall total. Alex Mason had a terrific first season playing for Upton and his record was very impressive in terms of matches played and sets won, putting him in the top ten in the divisional ratings list.

There have been issues in getting teams in place for matches and we did have to request a postponement on one occasion but the teams we have put out have put in 100% effort and performed possibly above expectations. Great credit to everybody concerned.

MIXED TEAM:

The team finished fifth out of seven teams in a similar situation to the mens division in that there were in this case four teams very much better than the three other teams but we came out on top in that three horse race at the bottom.

Our best performance came in the opening match against ultimate champions Port Sunlight when we won 5-4 thanks to a great performance in the top mixed by Gautam and Judith in darkness. Generally we gave every one of the top four teams a good match especially in the mens doubles where we had many notable wins from Alex, Matt and Gautam.

Sadly we had less success in ladies doubles but no shortage of effort and commitment here either. Judith has been as reliable as ever with excellent support from Marie and Jayne. Again there were availability issues which meant we had to request four postponements, but we have been very short of players on the ladies side due to holidays and injuries etc. We did our best though and finished as high as we could expect.

SUMMARY – a difficult and frustrating time for the captain/selector regarding availability but from a tennis perspective a hugely enjoyable season indeed and with a very respectable finish from both teams. It should be pointed out that these matches are conducted in a very friendly atmosphere against very nice people like ourselves and so if you are reluctant to play matches you should be reassured it is not a high-pressure experience. Many thanks to everyone who played any matches – it is very much appreciated.