*Category G Open Championship (Level Singles for Handicaps 60-69) 2024

The draw was very evenly matched with over half the matches going to 3 sets and saw a marathon Sunday of 12 hours play from 1/4 finals onwards. A great representation of players from across the country and a testament to how accurate the handicaps are for this handicap range given the number of different clubs involved. As the Sunday 1/4 finals matches eventually came to a conclusion we were left with Simon Blake (Wellington), Simon Benney (Radley), Joel Humphrey (Moreton Morrell) and Doug Sheperdigian (RTC) were left to fight out the semi-finals. The two Simons put on an epic 3 setter with one after the other taking the lead only to see the other fight back. A very tight end to the 2nd set fell eventually to Simon Benney after saving a handful of match points. The extra energy spent on saving that set took its toll as Simon Blake kept his cool and took control of the 3rd set to make it into the final. The second semi was equally close despite not going to 3 sets. It was neck and neck until 4/4 all in the second set when Joel made heavy contact with the main wall and seemed to be winded by the impact. This allowed the very steady play of Doug to carry him into the final. The final did not disappoint either as the longest match of the tournament. Despite the closeness of the individual games (a world record number of deuces) Simon took a comfortable lead of a set and 4-1. The match remained very close but the crucial points started going Doug's way with his very consistent play starting to have an impact after such a long day. Doug saved match points at 4-5 and then again at 5 all while Simon was saving just as many set points before the set eventually went to Doug. Despite the 6-3 scoreline the final set was just as close again and was a fitting climax to the event. The final set lasted 50 minutes and most games had game points for each player. In the end, it was the consistently good length that Doug played that made the difference as he was able to pick up just enough chase wins to get him across the line. Despite the 9 pm finish both players were still throwing themselves into every point and it was a pleasure to watch. Massive congratulations to Doug on an impressive wrong-handed win and equal congratulations must go to Simon for the very impressive 9 sets of tennis he played that day. Many thanks to all the entrants and we look forward to hosting those of you that qualify in 2025. 

The Oratory