IRTPA Championships at Manchester Tennis & Racquets Club
Wednedsay 24th October
FINAL
Camden Riviere (1) beat Bryn Sayers (2) 6/3 6/2 6/0
The final between Camden Riviere and Bryn Sayers was a much-anticipated affair in front of a packed Manchester dedans and accompanied by the merry clinking of bottles and glasses. Camden arrived at the tournament fresh from his impressive win at the European Open at Lords and had sailed through his rounds to date. Bryn, by his own admission, had not been at his best at Lords and had had a tough semi-final against Ben Matthews, coming through by 6 games to 3 in the fifth set to reach the final. The smart money was heavily on Camden.
And the smart money was right. In a high-class final, Camden prevailed 6/3 6/2 6/0. Not that there was anything, apparently, between them for the first half dozen games. Bryn was determined to serve in such a way that Camden was unable to turn on the ball for his favoured inside-out main wall force to the dedans. He also adjusted the pace on his railroad, which in previous rounds had been overhit and too far away from the side wall. This led to some unforced volleying errors from Camden which Bryn gratefully received.
The speed of the two players was awesome and the quality of strokeplay extremely high in these early exchanges but it was becoming apparent that Camden possessed a greater weight of shot at critical moments and was putting Bryn under ever-increasing pressure as a result. From 3-all in the first set, he consistently hit the targets, in particular volleying off his backhand at the service end into either the grille or the winning gallery with unerring accuracy. Much as Bryn tried to vary his play, Camden had an answer to it. It was noticeable that he was happy to concede chases from 5 yards to further out but defended tigerishly the laying of short chases, always getting something on the ball if there was a danger. As a result, he found himself with easier chases to beat when at the hazard end and thereby spent much more time than Bryn at the service end.
Eventually, the pressure proved too much for Bryn who, valiantly though he persisted, found himself on the receiving end of too many winners and, inevitably, started to make too many unforced errors on his own account. It was a match played in excellent spirit, admirably marked by Rod MacNaughtan and much appreciated by the enthusiastic Manchester dedans.
Jamie Bebb
Satellite Final
Josh Dodgson beats Will Burns 6/5 6/3
Honours even to 2-all then Josh Dodgson established a 4-2 lead, with a point for 5-2. Will Burns then rallied and moved 5-4 up - the next game was long with Josh leading 40-30. Then Will had two set points, one of which brought about the rally of the match, before Josh secured the game to reach 5-all. At 40-love Josh looked home and dry, but Will again came back but Josh just managed to close the set out 6/5.
In the second Josh looked confident and quickly went 5-1 up. He then became trapped at the receiving end and Will quickly recovered to 3-5 - then going in the lead in the vital ninth game. At this critical point, Josh pegged him back and managed to take game, set and match at the second match point!
NJ