The debut matches for the LTA Senior Tennis Competition took place last week, with our girls and boys playing against Rikkyo School, a Japanese boarding school in Horsham.
Our U18 boys demonstrated faultless and slick tennis from start to finish and swiftly secured an exceptional 6-0 win. George R, George L and late replacement Jack M all made short work of their opponents. However, for our captain, Cameron R it was a different story with an arduous game, although he displayed true resilience to secure a 6-4 win. The doubles matches were equally as convincing as the earlier singles, with both pairs winning comfortably. The boys are now preparing for their crucial match against Bede’s this week which will determine whether they qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
It has been a difficult season so far for our U18 girls with injury, illness and misfortune continuously blighting the team. They were feeling slightly depleted as they started their matches, since they were missing both Ruby L and Daisy M due to illness. Thankfully, Issy J stepped up and joined the team for this important fixture. The Bower sisters got the team off to a fine start, both cruising to 6-0 wins. However, we soon lost Lottie C due to a sudden back injury which meant she had to forfeit her singles and pull out of the doubles. Issy played fantastically, although was overcome by her persistent opponent, and this left us needing to win the top doubles. The Bower sisters were confident as they started their match, but it all went horribly wrong as the Rikkyo pair produced a stunning win to leave us 4-2 down.
“ Although it was not the result we were hoping for, the girls should feel incredibly proud of their efforts and how they demonstrated true teamwork. I am now looking forward to our important boys’ fixture against Bede’s ” Martin Tigg, Master-in-charge of Tennis