Pol Roger Trophy 2019/20

The Pol Roger trophy is the amateur level inter-club championships, with each match made up of 3 singles and 2 doubles matches. RTC have made it to the final for the last two years but lost 3/2 both times. Having made routine progress to the final on March 7 this year they were hoping to break the trend against Queen’s Club.

Up first were Charlie Packham and James Sohl against Freddie Kalfayan and Richard Elmitt. Charlie and James have been a safe bet all season, combining James’s killer instinct at net with Charlie’s reliable retrieving. The first set followed this pattern and RTC went ahead 6/3. But Queen’s fought back and took it to a deciding set, but some brutal play from James helped RTC to close out the match.

Captain Phil Dunn had his work cut out for him playing Matthieu Sarlangue, one of the top-ranked amateurs in the world. The match was full of excellent tennis and Phil definitely gave Matthieu something to think about; however it was not to be, and the match went 6/2, 6/2 to Queen’s.

Next James Watson took on Matt Shaw, where Queens’s had the advantage on paper. However, a determined looking James took to the court more quickly than his opponent and won the first set 6/2. The second set was a tense affair with Matt starting to find his rhythm and James losing his accuracy on serve. But RTC’s man found his best tennis when he needed it and won the second set 6/4.

Knowing a win in either of the last two matches would be enough to take the trophy Tom Freeman was up against Jonny Whitaker. Tom dug deep and came from behind to win a topsy-turvy first set 6/5. However, Jonny gathered himself and found some fierce hitting to win the next two sets 6/2, 6/1.

This meant it all went down to the final match, with Peter Wright and David Watson facing Harry Eddis and Ben Boddington. The RTC pair came flying out of the blocks and stormed the first set 6/0 with some ruthless play, leaving their opponents looking shell shocked.

Queen’s, and in particular Ben, decided to throw caution to the wind and it paid off - some outrageous shot-making gave them the second set 6/3. Fittingly it came down to the final set, where Peter and David steadied the ship and some more errors started to show from the Queen’s pair. Ultimately RTC’s quality came through and Peter and David took the final set 6/3, which started the celebrations and the flow of superb Pol Roger champagne!

A big thank you to all our supporters who made the journey, to Nick Wood for his advice on the day, to Oratory for hosting the match, Nino Merola and Levi Gale for marking the matches and to Pol Roger for sponsoring the competition. The cover photograph shows captain Phil Dunn receiving the trophy from James Simpson MW, managing director of Pol Roger.

Results: 2nd Doubles: Charlie Packham & James Sohl beat Freddie Kalfayan & Richard Elmitt 6/3 3/6 6/3. 1st Singles: Phil Dunn lost to Matthieu Sarlangue 2/6 2/6. 2nd Singles: James Watson beat Matt Shaw 6/2 6/4. 3rd Singles: Tom Freeman lost to Jonny Whitaker 6/5 2/6 1/6. 1st Doubles: Peter Wright & David Watson beat Harry Eddis & Ben Boddington 6/0 3/6 6/3

James Watson

• 2nd Doubles: Charlie Packham & James Sohl bt Freddie Kalfayan & Richard Elmitt 6/3 3/6 6/3
• 1st Singles: Phil Dunn lost to Matthieu Sarlangue 2/6 2/6
• 2nd Singles: James Watson beat Matt Shaw 6/2 6/2
• 3rd Singles: Tom Freeman lost to Jonny Whitaker 6/5 2/6 1/6
• 1st Doubles: Peter Wright & David Watson beat Harry Eddis & Ben Boddington 6/0 3/6 6/3

Matches marked by Nino Merola and then Levi Gale, with Maggie H-T managing the day

Photo: James Simpson presenting stylish Pol Roger Trophy to the winning captain - Phil Dunn of RTC.