Lillian won the U8 mixed tournament in Bedford on 7 March.  Well done

Ashley Martin, Cambs 55s Men's County Tennis team Captain, reports that he is very pleased to say that Cambridgeshire has won the 2019/20 Men's Over 55s Midlands Veterans Winter League held during the Winter weekends at Corby Indoor Centre, Corby.  We played our final match on Saturday and beat Leicestershire 6-2. It came down to 'winner takes all' as both Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire went into the match with a record of played five, won five against, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire all 7-1, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire 6-1, Bedfordshire 5-3.

It is the first time that Cambridgeshire has won this League in its 27-year history.  The county has its name on the 55s trophy at last! The people who played in all the matches were: Ashley Martin (captain), Alan Jordan, Simon Elliott, Chris Cope, Julian Attfield, Nick Balon, Andy Rice and Scott Martin.  The attached photo is of the 55s Men's team who played the final match, which was taken with the trophy at Corby Indoor Tennis Centre (left to right) Chris Cope, Ashley Martin (Capt), Scott Martin and Alan Jordan.

​Cambs County 40 ladies Team (Captain, Christine Sprowell) also play in the Midlands County Tennis Seniors Leagues at the Corby Indoor Tennis Centre, in the Ladies 40s League.  They were, also in the same position as the Men's team, when they played their final match against Lincolnshire, where both teams had won all their matches and were playing 'winner takes all' but sadly they lost.  They were hoping to get a hat-trick as they had won it the last 2 years.

In a wet and windy Hull Cambridgeshire U18 boys pitted their wits against North of Scotland, Hampshire and Isle of White and West of Scotland in that order. 
 
Initially we were finding our feet which meant that we had a slow start going down 0-3 to North of Scotland.  However strong performances from Darius, Zach and Yujiro meant we levelled up after the singles 3-3.  Going into the doubles with all to play for, momentum shifts were all around.  Yujiro and Ethan playing at pair one again got off to a slow start, but then having been 0-3 down they got their act together and demolished their opponents thereon 6-3, 6-1.  Next to finish were pair three, we had Charlie and Matt which went down to a match tie break also having their chances with a match point, however it wasn’t to be with their opponents pulling through in crucial moments winning 11-9 in the match tie break.  Last to finish were pair two with Zach and Darius fighting with everything they had but it just wasn’t to be.  A painful yet motivating lost of the first day 4-5 to eventual group winners.
 
Day two facing a very strong team on paper in Hampshire and Isle of White our numbers 6,5, 4 and 3 were all involved in very close battles, three of which going the full distance in three sets.  We could have quietly easily been 4-0 up rather than 4-0 down.  Another very strong performance from Zach meant we were still in the tie and number one Yujiro was up against a brick wall in Louie and could not quite dismantle the wall.  This meant we had already lost going into the doubles.  It was a great opportunity to practice some doubles skills and send a bit of a message going into our relegation battle on day three.
 
We were all fired up to battle hard and save relegation on day three.  Charlie got us off to a flyer putting on a very disciplined and professional performance.  Matt and Ethan fought hard however we found ourselves 2-1 down after the first three singles rubbers.  Darius was very clinically levelling us up at 2-2.  Zach had a serious part to play in this story with yet another well earnt victory in three sets.  Our pair three doubles in Leon and Eduardo were sent on whilst Yujiro was playing his singles.  Leon and Eduardo were ruthless demolishing their opponents in quick time setting Yujiro up to clinch staying in group three for next year.
 
Some valuable lessons have been learnt.  All part of the journey and bring on next year.  

The U8 Inter County event took place this Sunday, 8 March at Hills Road.  The Cambridgeshire girls team narrowly missed out on third place on the last point of the last match which was lost 10/9.  

The Cambridgeshire boys came a magnificent third by 2 points.  Etienne won all his matches and Damian won 5 out of 6 with Martin winning 4.  Overall the boys and girls came third behind the winners Essex and then second were Hertfordshire.

Ryan and Raphael won the U14 doubles event at Cambridge Lawn Tennis Club on 7 March.  They won the final 4-2, 4-1.  Well done to you both.

Christof and Raphael won the Grade 4 U16 doubles event at Milton Keynes this weekend.  They won the tournament without dropping a set.  Congratulations.

Nathan won the Tournament at David Lloyd in Ipswich on Sunday with Damian as the runner up.  Well done to both of you.

The girls team of Chaaya, Lydia, Neha, Natasha, Isabelle, Gabby, Sama, Sophie and reserve Tiffany played in group 3a at Hills Road with Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, and Wiltshire.
The team played very well during the weekend but lacked the experience of their number one player Megan who is currently side-lined which meant three under fourteen players stepped up to join the team.

First up on the Friday were Nottinghamshire and Gabby and Isabelle made their 18 debuts and played very well to get the team off to a great start. Gabby at number 6 won 6/1, 7/6 against Evie and then Issie at number 5 easily beat Sophie 6/2, 6/0. Number 4 Natasha  had a tough match against Anna losing 0/6, 1/6 and despite some good rallies Neha at Number 3 lost a close match to Ellie  4/6, 4/6. The match of the day was undoubtedly Lydia’s against Jessica which was a marathon which Lydia eventually pulled through 4/6, 6/3. 6/4. Chaaya at number one was up against a very good opponent in Amelia and despite some excellent tennis could only muster one game and went down 0/6, 1/6.

So after the 6 singles it was 3 matches a piece and all to play for! Neha and Natasha playing at pair 3 won their doubles convincingly 6/2, 6/3. The top pairing of Chaaya and Sama was always up against it playing Ellie and Amelia and lost 0/6, 2/6. The overall result rested on the second pairing of Issie and Lydia who played some great tennis especially in the second set but just succumbed 3/6, 6/7 to leave Cambridgeshire 4/5 down on the first day.

On the second day Cambridgeshire took on the other winning team of Cheshire which was going to be tough. The girls had played Cheshire in the Ladies County Cup in the winter and knew how strong they were. Gabby was shown how tough 18 County Cup can be and lost her match 2/6, 0/6 to a strong number 6 Ellie! Issie had a marathon 3 hour match against Phoebe and just came out on the losing end 7/6, 2/6, 4/6 but gave it her all. Natasha at number 4 had a great second set against Amy and nearly took her all the way – 2/6, 6/7. Neha at number 3 played her best match of the weekend beating Ella 4/6, 6/3, 6/2 and came back strongly after losing the first set.  Lydia at number 2 played the more experienced Jemma and lost 3/6, 1/6.Chaaya again had a tough time at number 1 losing to Rhona 3/6, 0/6.

Sophie came in to play doubles with Gabby at pair 3 and competed well against Ellie and Amy but they lost 2/6, 3/6. Neha and Sama played at pair 2 and had a close match with Jemma and Phoebe but just lost 6/7, 3/6. The top pairing of Chaaya and Lydia battled really well having lost the first set 1/6 to win the second 7/5 but then lost in the match tiebreak 10-7. Overall it was a 8/1 win to Cheshire.

On the third day Sunday 1st March Cambridgeshire were in a shoot- out relegation battle with Wiltshire to see who stayed and who went down. For three players this was their last 18 and under County Cup as they move out of the age group next year – so the team wanted a good send off for Chaaya, Sama and Natasha.

Gabby got the team off to a good start beating Louisa 6/3, 6/3. Issie then beat the hard hitting Jessica 6/1, 6/3. Natasha played her best match of the weekend and beat Amelia 6/0, 6/1 and Neha again playing very well beat Georgi 6/0, 6/1 to give Cambs a 4/0 lead. The next two matches were always going to be tough and so they proved as Lydia went down to Jessica 0/6, 5/7 and did cause a lot of problems to her opponent in the second set. Chaaya played her best singles of the weekend and again had her opponent worried in the second set when she led 5/4 but was unable to quite convert this and lost a great match to Rebecca  1/6, 5/7.

This was the anticipated score after the singles and the team was then hoping the strong third pair of Neha and Natasha would clinch the final rubber which they duly did beating Jessica and Louisa 6/3, 6/3. Issie and Lydia played some excellent doubles and took Georgi and Jessica to a match tie break before losing 4/6, 6/3, 6-10. The final doubles saw the Chaaya and Sama end their junior days with a 4/2, 4/2 win against Amelia and Rebecca. It was a fitting fair well to 3 players who have played for the County for a number of years through the age groups and they have left the younger generation still in group 3 for 2021.

Overall a weekend where we had a great team spirit and thanks to Megan for coming and helping the team every day with all her positive vibes. Well done team – onwards and upwards – here we go Cambs – Commitment, Ambition, Motivation, Belief and Sportsmanship.

Amelia won the U12 Grade 4 tournament in Boston on Saturday.  Congratulations.