tennis Fixture

Oxford vs Cambridge 2012

Oxford Men and Women’s teams won both their respective Blues and Seconds Varsity Matches. The Double-Double Varsity win is a feat never before achieved by Oxford.

Ladies match Singles:

Sophie Dannreuther, playing at Number 4, got Oxford off to a terrific start, losing only one game in her rapid and emphatic 6-1, 6-0 win over Kate Kirk. This performance was followed almost exactly by Cam Ormsby who beat Emily Brady 6-0, 6-2 with a commanding performance. This was exactly the start for which the team had hoped.

The Number 1 and 2 player captains played first: Maggie Henderson-Tew against Emma Samia-Aly, who brought a winning streak of a dozen matches to the tournament and proved a tough, in-form opponent. Maggie won the tight first set 6-5. The next two sets went to Emma 6-4, from a 3-all position. This encounter was as long as the preceding two matches together and the loss meant that Oxford could not win the Match on the first day.

Vicki Ormerod finished her final exam at 09.30 that morning and raced up to Lord’s to play to take on last year’s Cambridge captain, Lucie Browning. Lucie was clearly determined to avenge her 3-6, 2-6 defeat by Vicki at last year’s Varsity. But it was not to be, with Vicki winning 6-4, 6-2.

Maggie Henderson-Tew, Oxford Women’s Captain 2010/11 and 2011/12.

Oxford Cambridge

1 Victoria Ormerod bt Lucie Browning 6/4 6/2

2 Maggie Henderson-Tew lost to Emma Samia-Aly 6/5 4/6 4/6

3 Cameron Ormsby bt Emily Brady 6/0 6/2

4 Sophie Dannreuther bt Kate Kirk 6/1 6/0

Doubles

Lucie Browning and Kate Kirk were matched against Vicki Ormerod and Cam Ormsby. This was a tactical Cambridge pairing, as Kate was over 25 points weaker than the strongest player on court. She positioned herself in the galleries and proved highly effective. Lucie was on fire and Cambridge started like a whirlwind, completely unsettling the apparently much stronger Oxford pairing. The first set went to Cambridge 6-2 and at 5-all, Oxford were staring down the barrel of a surprising loss, but they played the big points well and nipped the set 6-5. After that, the momentum was with Oxford, who took the set 6-1 to give their team an unbeatable 4-1 lead in the Match. The next doubles was neither as exciting, nor, happily for Oxford supporters, as nerve-wracking, as Maggie and Sophie ran out winners against Emma and Emily 6-5, 6-2. Oxford won 5-1 overall, repeating their winning score in the 2011 Varsity Match.

Maggie Henderson-Tew, Oxford Women’s Captain 2010/11 and 2011/12.

1 Victoria Ormerod & Cameron Ormsby bt Lucie Browning & Kate Kirk 2/6 6/5 6/1

2 Maggie Henderson-Tew & Sophie Dannreuther bt Emma Sarnia-Aly + Emily Brady 6/5 6/2

Oxford Ladies won 5/1

Men’s match Doubles

Buoyed by the 3-1 success of the Oxford Women’s team that morning the Men’s doubles on the Friday began well for the dark blues with Miles Jackson and Johnny Beale dominating the second string doubles to come out on top 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 against the Cambridge pair of Jules Camp and Oliver Watson. Cambridge took their revenge however in the next match through some incredible volleying by 4th seed player Edmund Kay and solid back court play by captain James Watson (c) which proved too much for the nervous Oxford pairing (Simon Roach and captain Alex Evans), the score 6-0 , 6-4 , 6-5.

1 Simon Roach & Alex Evans lost to James Watson & Edmund Kay 0/6 4/6 5/6

2 Johnny Beale & Miles Jackson bt Jules Camp & Oliver Watson 6/0 6/1 6/1

Singles

Thus Saturday began with the scores tied at one rubber each with a thrilling day of singles to look forward to. Once again following on from the great example set by the successful Women’s team that morning, Johnny Beale completed a focused 6-2 6-3 win over Edmund Kay despite some continued talented hitting by the latter.

Following this came the contest between Oxford debutant Miles Jackson and Oliver Watson. Whilst the slight handicap advantage favoured Miles the outcome of the match was far from certain. However, Miles held his nerve to complete a 6-3 6-2 and leave the match score 3-1 in the dark blues favour.

The second seed singles was to be contested between Jules Camp and the Oxford captain, the two of whom had also faced off the previous year. The Cambridge team were hoping that Jules would exact revenge for the year before whilst Oxford knew they needed just one more victory to secure the varsity victory. Oxford got off to a good start securing the first set 6 games to 2. The second set was, however far more closely contested with tensions high both on and off the court and the score reaching 5 games apiece. The match finally ended with Alex emerging in front securing the overall match victory for Oxford.

The spectators could have been forgiven for believing the last match wouldn’t be as interesting given that Oxford had already amassed an unassailable lead. However the two players involved fought out an intensely close and riveting match. James Watson (Cambridge) eventually came through 6/4, 4/6, 6/4 against Simon Roach (Oxford), but it was a match to remember with both players retrieving seemingly impossible shots throughout and providing a very fitting ending to a weekend of excellent Tennis.

Oxford Cambridge

1 Simon Roach lost to James Watson 4/6 6/4 4/6

2 Alex Evans bt Jules Camp 6/2 6/5

3 Miles Jackson bt Oliver Watson 6/3 6/2

4 Johnny Beale bt Edmund Kay 6/2 6/3

Oxford Men won 4/2