rackets Fixture

Open Doubles Championship 2009

Mar 26, 2009 - Apr 05, 2009 The Queen's Club M A Bailey

Published May 11, 2017

Open Doubles Championship

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Alex Titchener-Barret and Tim Cockroft won the British Open doubles on Sunday 5 April at Queens by 4 games to 1, defeating the young pair of James Coyne and Will Hopton.

The match had been preceded by two excellent semi finals in which both of today's finalists excelled themselves, and thus had a great deal to live up to. The standard was incredibly high, and at times it looked as though killing the ball was almost impossible, such was the standard of retrieving. However, as in many Rackets matches before, it was the serve that proved decisive. Tim and Alex made better use of their serves and several times went on runs of 8 points or more. The second game highlighted this when coming in to serve at 3-5, they served through for the game. Throughout the tournament the number of aces has not been particularly high, but service placement, and being dominant on the 3rd shot, has.

James and Will may well have been guilty of not punishing enough loose balls, but certainly gave the more experienced pair trouble throughout the match. Hopton's consistency and "wall like" presence is a perfect foil for Coyne's flair and power. It may have been that by beating the World Champions in the previous round, James and Will had 'played their best Rackets', but take nothing away from the victors, it was a classy display.

None of the players featured in todays final will have any say in the World Championship challenge later this month, but it maybe that they will in the future.

Winners - Alex Titchener-Barrett & Tim Cockroft