On Sunday, 18th July the club held its annual finals day on what was arguably the hottest day of the year. Despite starting at 10 AM, in no time at all were the players involved sweating buckets. The surrounding shrubbery afforded ample shade for the spectators, so they, at least, could enjoy the day without any fear of collapsing from the heat!
This year’s winners
Men’s Singles was fought between Henry and Mac. Unfortunately, Mac had to withdraw after only one game due to back pain (could he not have postponed his falling downstairs into the cellar for a week?!). As luck would have it, Harry was present and stepped into Mac’s shoes. The boys had a great game full of relentless rallies, thoroughly entertaining the audience. In the end, Henry came out victorious beating Harry 6-2 6-0. The final score really does not truly reflect the match as most games went to deuce, but that’s tennis!
Ladies’ Singles was fought between Jana and Juliet. After a tense start from both, the girls got into it a bit more in the second set and had some enjoyable rallies. The final score was 6-1 6-4 to Jana.
Men’s Doubles was contested by Mac & Julian and Gerry & Dave. After his retirement from the singles, Mac was determined to win at least one trophy! Gerry & Dave fought valiantly, coming back from 0-5 down in the second set to 5-5 but, in the end, Mac & Julian just managed to win. The final score was 6-4 7-5.
Ladies’ Doubles was contested by Sarah & Anita and Jana & Laura. By this point, the sun was rather high up in the sky, there were no clouds, no breeze and no shade on the courts (except one tiny bit in the corner and an even tinier bit cast by one of the lights, which, if you positioned yourself just right, offered just enough shade for your head :D). Jana and Laura won the first set comfortably 6-1 and were 5-3 up, with a match point on Laura’s serve…and then Sarah and Anita woke up and fought back to win the second set 7-5. And then…poor Anita decided she had had enough of the heat and positioned herself comfortably on the floor in the shaded corner… Luckily, after a few jelly babies, an ice pack and lots of cold water she was happy to carry on, and win! The final score was 1-6 7-5 10-6 (championship tie-break).
Mixed Doubles was the last final to be contested. It was Jana’s third and Henry’s, Laura’s and Julian’s second, so all players had already had their fair share of sunshine! With Jana and Henry normally going for hard shots and Laura and Julian being more gentle, it was always going to be interesting. And it certainly was! There were plenty of deuces and long rallies, which was great for the spectators but quite tiring for everyone on court, as can be seen from the state of their t-shirts and tomato-red faces. Eventually, after two long sets and a championship tie-break, Jana & Julian came out on top, winning 7-5 3-6 10-7 (championship tie-break).
