* Category D Open Championship (Level Singles for Hcaps 30-39) 2021

Almost 18 months since the 2020 version had to be cancelled after day 1 as the country entered the first lockdown, Hatfield held it’s first tournament since reopening with the 2021 Category D Singles. A total of 17 players lined up in the 2 sections 30-34 and 35-39 and we were treated to some great tennis and very tight matches throughout.

In the 35-39 section the 2 finalists had very different routes to the final. Number 1 seed Tim Robinson (Oratory/Radley) had 2 very tight 3 set matches against local Hatfield players Chris Handley and Silas Manhood to take his place in the final. His opponent Number 2 seed James Kempton (Oxford), who had a fairly comfortable Quarter-Final win, unfortunately received a bye in his Semi-Final as his opponent had to withdraw after a car accident on the way home from his previous match. This clear difference in court time perhaps played a part in the first set as Tim raced away to take it 6/1, barely making a mistake and keeping the pressure firmly on James who was struggling to get a foothold. The second set was a much tighter affair as James started to find the form he had shown the day before and Tim made one or two more mistakes to give James hope that he may be able to force the match into a deciding set. It wasn’t to be though as Tim played the big points impeccably, as he had all tournament and he closed the set out for a very impressive 6/1 6/4 win.

In the 30-34 both Semi-Finals proved to be equally close and enthralling matches which perfectly set the tone for an equally tight final. First of the Semi-Finals saw ex Ladies World Champion Penny Lumley (Holyport) taking on Jack Josephs, who has only recently taken up the game as an Apprentice at Middlesex. Having won the first 3 games without losing a point it looked like Penny was going to storm through the match but Jack showed incredible maturity for one so new to the game and from that moment on it was an incredibly tight tussle which could have gone either way. Penny eventually won through 6/4 6/5 with some really clinical shots and points to deservedly take her place in the final but huge respect should go to Jack who shows enormous potential, especially mentally and he clearly has a big future in the game! The second Semi-Final was between Number 2 seed Simon Constantine (Hardwick House) and Hatfield player Jonathan Fisher in another epic battle which swung one way and then the next. It was eventually Jonathan who came out on top 6/5 6/3 to become the only non-seeded player to make a final and set up what was potentially going to be an incredibly close battle. So it proved to be as yet another epic battle took place with lots of long rallies and some exceptional tennis from both players before after 2 hours we found ourselves at 1 set all, Penny winning the first set 6/4 and Jonathan the second set 6/2. Unfortunately the match wasn’t to last too much longer though with Penny leading 2/0 in the final set Jonathan was forced to concede with an injury which was a real shame but neither player, nor anyone in the crowd, could say they hadn’t had value for money from a great match, with Penny ending a deserving winner.