All Comers
Lord's was delighted to host the 2021 All Comers tournament, two and a half years on from the 2019 tournament. The tournament took place on Saturday 23rd October with four of the UK's leading amateurs on show.
In the two semi finals, the two seeded players Jamie Giddins and Rob Shenkman were able to pull through against Jonny Whitaker and Mark Mathias respectively. These were both well contested matches, and it looked like Whitaker would take the first set against Giddins but in the end the seeds prevailed.
After a small break, the crowd was fortunate enough to witness two extremely high quality and closely fought final matches. Whitaker and Mathias slogged it out in 3 grueling sets in the 3rd/4th place playoff match. Mathias started extremely well in the first dominating the service end and controlling the game with a great length. Whitaker fought back and levelled to take the game into a decider. Despite struggling with fatigue and running for only a selection of balls Mathias was able to forge ahead to 5-3. The match was levelled at 5-5, but it was Mathias who was able to take his opportunity and take the game and 3rd place.
In the final, Shenkman and Giddins played out a wonderful game of real tennis. The match ebbed and flowed in the first but it was Shenkman's precision and calmness that allowed him to close out the first set with three games in a row. Shankman started strongly in the second and was on top in most points. Giddins managed to turn the momentum and at 5-4 down won some critical points to win the game and take the match to the third set. The third was another high quality affair, with Giddins able to continue the momentum from the third set. To the disappointment of the crowd at 3-1 in the third Shenkman was forced to retire and a wonderful day of tennis brought to an end.
Giddins goes on to play Jamie Douglas for the MCC Silver Racquet. The winner going on to play Ed Kay for the Gold Racquet - the oldest (est. 1867) and second most prestigious amateur tournament in the country.
Thank you to Jack Clifton for his high quality marking all day.
Scores:
Final:
Jamie Giddins (1) bt Rob Shenkman (2) 3-6, 6-5, 3-1 retd.
3rd/4th place playoff:
Mark Mathias bt Jonny Whitaker 6-1, 2-6, 6-5
Semi Final:
Jamie Giddins (1) bt Jonny Whitaker 6-5, 6-1
Robert Shenkman (2) bt Mark Mathias 6-1, 6-2
