Report by Sarah:
Newton St Cyres held its first Wimbledon social tennis tournament in glorious sunshine on Sunday 10th July 2022. Eighteen club members entered the event, however one dropped out at the last minute due to a puncture! It was a mix of new and long standing members of the club.
The format was eight minutes timed mixed doubles tie breaks. In each round each player had a different partner. When on court the tennis was fast and furious as members tried to play as many points as possible in the time. There were entertaining shouts of ‘start’ and ‘stop’ from the sidelines, which included dances at times and even a false alarm of ‘stop’ in one of the rounds!
One of our new members, Bob, had a very eventful morning. They say things happen in threes and it really did for him. In his first round match in a desperate attempt to reach a ball at the net he took a tumble. He ended up in a heap with cuts to his knees for his effort. If that wasn’t bad enough, in a later round, whilst on court he got stung by a wasp! When it was all over and he probably thought he was safe, just as we were all leaving the clubhouse to head to the Beer Engine he got stung by a bee! He is okay and we haven’t put him off the club! Phew!
Harry had the most points out of the men with 103. Selena had the most points out of the ladies with 94. They both won a tube of tennis balls.
When off the court it was very relaxed as people mixed and tried to find shade from the blazing sun. A big thanks must go to Penny for bringing along some big umbrellas. Everyone brought along food to share and it was a real social occasion.
There was a football tournament taking place at the same time and it was lovely to see the Recreation ground being well used.
Fifteen members then headed to the Beer Engine in time to watch the entertaining Wimbledon final on the TV.
