tennis Fixture

Category D Open Championship (Level Singles for Handicaps 30-39) 2011

Category D Open Championship (Level Singles for Handicaps 30-39)

Once again Hatfield played host to the Category D championships for players between 30-39 handicap. As in previous years the event was well supported with a total of 23 competitors split into 2 categories, 30-34 and 35-39.

Category D 30-34

The 30-34 event this year was contested by 12 players, with a mix of old and new faces competing for the trophy. The early rounds went according to seeding with one exception when Tom Cameron (MURTC) won through in comfortable style against No. 3 Seed Stephen Goss (RTC) 6/2 6/3. The 2 semi-final matches were differing affairs as No.1 Seed Martin Kellaway (Jesmond Dene) came unstuck against a Hatfield regular in the event and No. 3 Seed, Steve Brewerton 6/3 6/2 and the other match proving a tight 3 set match with No. 2 Seed Nick Brodie (Hatfield) finally overcoming Tom Cameron 3/6 6/3 6/2. Tom had perfected a series of very nasty serves from the main wall side of the court which had perplexed his opponents throughout the event and he had Nick in real trouble until 3/3 in the second set, at which point Nick began to return them a bit tighter and from the receiving end, Tom started to miss the galleries, which up to this point he had found with frustrating regularity. Once Nick was able to spend longer periods at the serving end he started to control proceedings and rightly booked his place in the final.

The final was the fairly familiar site at Hatfield of Nick Brodie taking on Steve Brewerton. They have played together many times before and have even contested a Category D final together in the past but sadly this was not to be one of their better clashes. Nick got off to a flying start racing to a 4/0 lead before Steve got on the scoreboard and then closed out the set 6/2. Steve, for reasons only he could try to explain, decided to attack Nick’s far stronger side of the forehand. Nick has always had a very attacking forehand and very defensive backhand, which can’t have escaped Steve’s attention over the years but attack it he did and sadly this meant he was always going to be in trouble. Steve though wasn’t prepared to give up and he raced into a 4/0 lead of his own in the second set and we looked destined for a decider. Nick had other ideas though and unbeknownst to Steve a flight to catch to Scotland and he clawed his way back one game at a time to win the set 6/4 for a much deserved win.

Category D 35-39

The 35-39 event had a total of 11 entrants and unlike recent years there were no talented youngsters to dominate this section of the event. Unlike the 30-34 section the seeds were not to have things all their own way. No. 1 Seed and current holder Roger Cotton (MCC) came unstuck in the quarter-final against Dutchman Andreas Van Braam, who has only played a few times and was fresh from his recent success in the Dutch Championships at Radley. Andreas is a very talented player and finally won through 6/4 2/6 6/4 after a great battle. He sadly came up against another Hatfield entrant, David Barnes in the Semi-Final, who’s extra experience and ability to heavily cut the ball both on serve and into the corners was a bit too much for Andreas, eventually winning 6/2 6/5 to book his place in the final.

The bottom half of the draw was littered with tightly fought matches, all of which were of a very high standard. No. 3 Seed Owen Saunders (RTC) overcame Louise Mercier (Hatfield) 6/2 2/6 6/2 while No.2 Seed John Savage (Hatfield) lost out in a fantastic battle with Richard Ramjane (Prested) 6/3 3/6 6/5 in what was an impossible match to call until the final point had been won. In their semi-final in what was another incredibly tight match Owen won through 6/4 6/4 but again it could have gone either way.

The final was never quite as close as those matches that had gone before with Owen moving into a fairly comfortable lead in the first set only for David to battle back to 4/4 and make the marker feel that yet again we were destined for 3 sets. David though unfortunately played two fairly poor games at this point to allow Owen to close out the set 6/4 and from that point on there only looked like one winner. Owen raced to 5/1 in the second set, playing some very tight, controlled and consistent tennis. David kept fighting hard and battled back to 3/5 before Owen finally closed it out 6/3 to become the deserved champion.

Once again thanks go to the Professionals Jon Dawes and Will Burns for their organisation and marking and to the Hatfield members, John Savage for keeping the players fed throughout the event with his wonderful Ploughman’s Lunch and Nick Brodie for his organisation of the tournament dinner at the Jaipur Curry House.

DRAW and RESULTS