Taken to the line…
Wigmore hosted Woodfield Grove in the Millennium Cup on Sunday 20 May and found quite a battle on their hands, although they came through the tight tie, 6-3, after four of the rubbers were decided by match tiebreaks.
Two epic matches formed part of the first round of rubbers, during which Tom Murray (W) and Lev Hunsu (WGTC) were on court for over 2 hours in the Men’s Open Singles, with the majority of rallies over 5 shots and the intensity not dipping throughout the encounter.
Tom took an early break in the first set, only for Lev to break back and win three of the next four games to take the first set 6-4.
Consolidating his next early break in the next, Tom took the second, 6-3, and into a deciding third set match tiebreak.
Surpassing the two hour mark, the rallies were still long and, with the pauses between points getting longer, Lev held two match points at 9-7 but Tom did brilliantly to claw it back to level at 9-all.
Lev still had more to come, and two epic rallies later, sealed the match, 6-4 3-6 [11-9].
In the women’s over 40s, Lynette Boot (W) and Ali Epton (WGTC) were also on court for over two and a half hours before a match tiebreak decided their contest.
After Ali took the first set 7-5, and Lynette returned the favour by taking the second 7-5, it was Wigmore in command of the breaker, taking the lead and keeping it to secure a 5-7 7-5 [10-4] win.
The Juniors were both shorter encounters but enjoyed nonetheless by the competitors.
Thomas McMullan (W) looked the more experienced over the course of the boys match against Lukas Govan (WGTC), and in the end Thomas prevailed 6-1 6-1.
In the Under 16 Girls, both Lorena Valle and Alex Grozdanova looked so professional with their beautiful text book techniques, Alex taking the match for Woodfield after two sets but not without a series of long, strong rallies.
In the Women Open Singles, a tight opening set full of very long rallies between Anna Hodgkinson (W) and Naomi Anderson (WGTC) was decided by only one break of serve in favour of Anna, 7-5.
Naomi came back strong in the second to take it 6-1 and into a deciding match tiebreak, in which Anna, putting the second set disappointment behind her, took an early lead and hung in to win through, 7-5 1-6 [10-6].
The vet’s singles match, scheduled for 11.15am, did not start until 12.30 as a result of the lengthy epic matches being played on three of Wigmore’s courts but, fortunately, the organisers had had the foresight to book another court at 12.30pm to cater for such eventualities.
Jon Elwes (WGTC) and John McLean (W), who had actually played in last year’s Millennium Cup, took to the court and made a very shaky start as both lost their opening service games.
The whole match was marked by extremely erratic serving and both players were relieved that there was nobody recording the number of missed first serves.
With the sun beating down, there were some long drawn out rallies and a lot of deuces before John took the first set 6-2, Jon struggling to get the better of some of John’s sublime drop shots and excellent angles.
The final scoreline was 6-2 6-1 to Wigmore, although this did not quite reflect how close the match felt, with John proving to be the more solid player and definitely deserving of the victory.
Perhaps next year, having lost twice to John, Jon will get his revenge!
In the Men’s Doubles, Chris Davies & Nick Eastwood started strongly with a mix of fine serving from both against the Woodfield Grove team of Adam Callaghan & Blaise Marin-Curtoud, who were somewhat slower out of the blocks, and Wigmore were able to pocket the first set 6-1.
As Woodfield got into their groove, they took a 4-1 lead in the second, before Wigmore settled down to level at 4-4, and then had a chance to take the match after breaking to serve at 6-5, but Adam & Blaise broke back immediately to take it into a tiebreak.
Wigmore took control in the breaker to establish a 6-1 lead, with five match points in hand, two of which were saved on Woodfield’s serve, before Chris & Nick volleyed home to take the rubber, 6-1 7-6(3).
John Nicholls & Jo Kiernander (WGTC) got off to a flying start in the mixed doubles, taking the first set 6-2, but the Wigmore pairing of Linda Patto & Mark Jackson were certainly not going to take the loss of the first set lying down and came back with a stunning 6-0 victory to take the second, prompting another match tiebreak settled the matter that ultimately went Woodfield’s way, 10-5.
The Women’s Doubles, the final match of the day, was won by Alexandra McAdam Clarke & Sharon Goulds for Wigmore, 6-3 6-1, against Carol Britton & Andrea Thompson, after a competitive first set and the rubber was closer than the score suggests, with many games going to several deuces.
The weather could not have been better and both teams had a very enjoyable afternoon.
Report by Nick Eastwood, Millennium Cup Captain, Wigmore LTC
Results
Wigmore LTC d Woodfield Grove TC 6-3
[Wigmore names first]
Women’s Singles: Anna Hodgkinson d Naomi Anderson, 7-5 1-6 [10-6]; Men’s Singles: Tom Murray lost to Lev Husnu, 6-4 3-6 [11-9]; Women’s Over 40 Singles: Lynette Boot d Ali Epton, 5-7 7-5 [10-4]; Men’s Over 45 Singles: John McLean d Jon Elwes, 6-2 6-1; Girls Under 16 Singles: Lorena Valle lost to Alex Grozdanova, 6-1 6-2; Boys Under 16 Singles: Thomas McMullan d Lukas Govan, 6-1 6-1; Women’s Doubles: Sharon Goulds & Alex McAdam d Andrea Thompson & Carole Britton, 6-3 6-1; Men’s Doubles: Chris Davies & Nick Eastwood d Adam Callaghan & Blaise Marin-Curtoud, 6-1 7-6; Mixed Doubles: Linda Patto & Mark Jackson lost to John Nicholls & Jo Kiernander, 6-2 0-6 [10- 5].
