British Open Report & Photos 2015
Go to Neptune British Open 2015 Results
Neptune British Ladies Open Singles Championship 2015
8th – 12th April 2015
Sixteen players in the
Singles draw with six seeds; ten pairs in the Doubles with 4 seeds. And the top two players in the world, the sisters, Claire Fahey and Sarah Vigrass. What’s not to like? Especially as the British Open was being held
just before the even bigger World Championships, so Seacourt was graced with a
much more international flavour than usual, including a French threesome exuding
Bordelaise sunshine in the bar.
Also spreading a shine of a different sort – the trainers of Number 1 Seed Claire Fahey, whose neon footwear made its first LRTA appearance, much to the interest of spectators, and possibly to the dismay of her opponents – with the colours so spectacular, those shoes must be really amazing equipment. Only Dorothy in Oz ever had a brighter pair of shoes……. and she didn’t play Real Tennis.
A Doubles Handicap with twelve pairs ran alongside the Open matches – it was noticeable that very few of those players had strayed far from shoes perfectly white.
An excellent live streaming system was in action, posting up not just the score and the chases, but also game statistics - so good indeed was the coverage, that it was difficult sometimes to leave the screen in the bar to watch in the dedans in the traditional way (well, that was the excuse from a number of spectators as they clutched their glasses).
Also spreading a shine of a different sort – the trainers of Number 1 Seed Claire Fahey, whose neon footwear made its first LRTA appearance, much to the interest of spectators, and possibly to the dismay of her opponents – with the colours so spectacular, those shoes must be really amazing equipment. Only Dorothy in Oz ever had a brighter pair of shoes……. and she didn’t play Real Tennis.
A Doubles Handicap with twelve pairs ran alongside the Open matches – it was noticeable that very few of those players had strayed far from shoes perfectly white.
An excellent live streaming system was in action, posting up not just the score and the chases, but also game statistics - so good indeed was the coverage, that it was difficult sometimes to leave the screen in the bar to watch in the dedans in the traditional way (well, that was the excuse from a number of spectators as they clutched their glasses).
Singles Open matches
As usual, no surprises in the first round where the fancied players all came through without much trouble. The winners then moved into the second round, to confront the six seeds waiting there: Irina Dulbish, Alex Garside, Freddy Adam, Penny Lumley and the two sisters Claire Fahey and Sarah Vigrass. Again no surprises, apart from Harriet Ingham taking out Irina Dulbish, which was not actually a big shock given that Harriet recently lifted the Australian Open title and is now ranked in the top ten of lady players.
In the third round, Alex Garside (5) met Penny Lumley (3), who had beaten Alex’s daughter Jess in the previous round. Alex was not able to avenge Jess. Though she tried hard to find a serve to bother Penny and kept in touch in the exciting rests, Penny’s elegant and consistent play was too much and Penny went through 6/0 6/1.
Freddy Adam against Harriet Ingham looked like being a big upset, with Harriet continuing to play very well and getting 5/3 ahead in the first set. However, Freddy knuckled down, improved her serving, and didn’t lose another game, winning 6/5 6/0. And in the final match of this round Tara Lumley met Sarah Vigrass (2). Tara played well with great length and coped most of the time with Sarah’s powerful ground strokes. But she wasn’t allowed to have a good hit at many volleys, and never grabbed the match by the scruff of its neck – Sarah went through 6/0 6/2.
As usual, no surprises in the first round where the fancied players all came through without much trouble. The winners then moved into the second round, to confront the six seeds waiting there: Irina Dulbish, Alex Garside, Freddy Adam, Penny Lumley and the two sisters Claire Fahey and Sarah Vigrass. Again no surprises, apart from Harriet Ingham taking out Irina Dulbish, which was not actually a big shock given that Harriet recently lifted the Australian Open title and is now ranked in the top ten of lady players.
In the third round, Alex Garside (5) met Penny Lumley (3), who had beaten Alex’s daughter Jess in the previous round. Alex was not able to avenge Jess. Though she tried hard to find a serve to bother Penny and kept in touch in the exciting rests, Penny’s elegant and consistent play was too much and Penny went through 6/0 6/1.
Freddy Adam against Harriet Ingham looked like being a big upset, with Harriet continuing to play very well and getting 5/3 ahead in the first set. However, Freddy knuckled down, improved her serving, and didn’t lose another game, winning 6/5 6/0. And in the final match of this round Tara Lumley met Sarah Vigrass (2). Tara played well with great length and coped most of the time with Sarah’s powerful ground strokes. But she wasn’t allowed to have a good hit at many volleys, and never grabbed the match by the scruff of its neck – Sarah went through 6/0 6/2.
The other semi-final saw Claire’s sister, Sarah Vigrass, take on Freddy Adam. She seemed to be able to hit the nick, the tambour and even the Winning Gallery at will from anywhere on court. She did give Freddy a few opportunities with slightly loose shots, but Freddy seemed unable to take advantage, returning hard but not in the right place. A fight-back by Freddy with some great forces and strokes down the sides gave her a game at 5/0 and then another, but Sarah hung on to take the first set 6/2. So, could Freddy build on her resurgence? She certainly did better in the second set, with a closely-fought third game where she was ahead 40/0. But a lost chase, a fluffed service return, and a missed tambour shot got the game to deuce. At her advantage, she then made a double fault; but in the end won a nail-biting game to get on the score-board again, 1/2. Things continued this way up to 3/4 to Sarah. There was then an unfortunate point, where Freddy serving put a lucky low ball at Sarah’s feet, which Sarah didn’t pick up. Freddy quickly apologised to Sarah for the flukey shot, but was too quick, as she spoke just before the marker had called the point. So he – quite within the rules – called a let. This not surprisingly seemed to niggle in Freddy’s mind, and she lost the next six points, allowing Sarah to cruise to victory 6/2 6/3.
So with much anticipation, a great final was in prospect between the two sisters, Claire and Sarah.
Sarah walked on court looking as if she fully intended to tear up the Plan, and take her sister down. She was attacking all second serves, employing devastating volleys and they seemed equal at 1/1. In the following games, there were fantastic rests, with ten, twelve, fourteen strokes, both moving at full stretch around the court. Both were also able to suddenly moderate their pace – one beautiful shot by Sarah was a soft drop shot that just kissed the Hazard side wall, then just kissed the back wall, to fall an inch from the nick. But Claire was now winning the vital points and though Sarah was going toe to toe on power and retrieving, Claire had the edge on pinpoint accuracy and length. Claire took the first set 6/2.
In the second set, Claire piled on the pressure in the first game with three superb service returns in a row into the forehand corner. And so it continued. So many times, Sarah apparently was about to win a point, until Claire somehow got the ball back with interest. Sarah did win one game, and then looked likely to win the next, going 40/0 up with a fine force to the dedans. But Claire got that back too, and then continued on to take the set and the title, 6/2 6/1.
A wonderful and entertaining match….
Sarah walked on court looking as if she fully intended to tear up the Plan, and take her sister down. She was attacking all second serves, employing devastating volleys and they seemed equal at 1/1. In the following games, there were fantastic rests, with ten, twelve, fourteen strokes, both moving at full stretch around the court. Both were also able to suddenly moderate their pace – one beautiful shot by Sarah was a soft drop shot that just kissed the Hazard side wall, then just kissed the back wall, to fall an inch from the nick. But Claire was now winning the vital points and though Sarah was going toe to toe on power and retrieving, Claire had the edge on pinpoint accuracy and length. Claire took the first set 6/2.
In the second set, Claire piled on the pressure in the first game with three superb service returns in a row into the forehand corner. And so it continued. So many times, Sarah apparently was about to win a point, until Claire somehow got the ball back with interest. Sarah did win one game, and then looked likely to win the next, going 40/0 up with a fine force to the dedans. But Claire got that back too, and then continued on to take the set and the title, 6/2 6/1.
A wonderful and entertaining match….
Open Doubles
As in the Singles, there were no surprises in the first or second rounds of the Doubles. The hardest battle was between Number 4 Seeds Freddy Adam and Irina Dulbish against mother and daughter Alex and Jess Garside, which went to three sets, eventually taken by the seeded pair 3/6 6/2 6/2. Spirited defence was also put up by Maggie Henderson-Tew and Georgie Willis against Sue Haswell and Harriet Ingham, the number 3 seeds, who on paper should have crushed them easily. But Maggie and Georgie hung in splendidly, and never lost faith – their reward was two games in the first set, and a lot of deuces and game points in the second which unfortunately they weren’t able to convert. So Sue and Harriet had a harder fight than expected to go through 6/2 6/0.
Their prize was to meet up with the number one seeds, Claire Fahey and Sarah Vigrass, in the semi-finals. Sue and Harriet had their chances, with a number of games that had multiple deuces, and many game points too. Harriet was visibly improving all the time, with lovely defensive volleys, and attacking courageously off the walls. So they were defending very well, but the rests were all too often finished by their opponents, with a whizzing force to the grille or dedans, too good to intercept.
So for all their efforts, Sue and Harriet were only rewarded with one game in the first set, and it continued into the second set. It’s pretty hard to even keep the ball in play against Claire and Sarah, but defensive play is not enough, as they always are there to deliver the killer shots, and seldom oblige their opponents with any errors. They won 6/1 6/0.
The second semi-final was between Freddy and Irina against the other mother/daughter partnership in the tournament, Penny and Tara Lumley, the number 2 seeds. This was a thrilling match, played with power and grace, and every point contested in long rests. There was an interesting contrast in styles of play: the older player in each pair went for powerful ground strokes generally; while the younger players’ shot of choice was the double handed back-hand volley.
In the first set, the Lumleys found themselves down 5/1 having done nothing wrong, but just seeing game points slip away. They battled back to 4/5, but couldn’t hold on to the momentum and lost the first set, 6/4. In the second set, all was level to 3 all. Penny was being made to suffer as she was pulled from side to side at the back, with Tara defending the galleries. But her superb physicality never let her down, especially when picking up seemingly impossible balls off the back walls or sides. However, Irina then started also forcing for the dedans and slamming shots past Tara into the service end galleries to get serve. There was a telling interchange at 4/3, Advantage to Freddy and Irina. Tara was defending at the front: she coped with a screaming shot aimed behind her at the Second Gallery, but this was followed by a second, even stronger, which she couldn’t handle. The score was now 5/3 to Freddy and Irina and with the momentum now with them, Freddy finished the match with a fine shot to the Winning Gallery, 6/4 6/3.
In the first set, the Lumleys found themselves down 5/1 having done nothing wrong, but just seeing game points slip away. They battled back to 4/5, but couldn’t hold on to the momentum and lost the first set, 6/4. In the second set, all was level to 3 all. Penny was being made to suffer as she was pulled from side to side at the back, with Tara defending the galleries. But her superb physicality never let her down, especially when picking up seemingly impossible balls off the back walls or sides. However, Irina then started also forcing for the dedans and slamming shots past Tara into the service end galleries to get serve. There was a telling interchange at 4/3, Advantage to Freddy and Irina. Tara was defending at the front: she coped with a screaming shot aimed behind her at the Second Gallery, but this was followed by a second, even stronger, which she couldn’t handle. The score was now 5/3 to Freddy and Irina and with the momentum now with them, Freddy finished the match with a fine shot to the Winning Gallery, 6/4 6/3.
The Doubles Final was an intriguing battle, with Claire and Sarah taking some time to get into their stride. A second game that went to four deuces, eventually won by Freddy and Irina, promised a great match ahead. And so it was – a fine contest with great rests and some awesome power from both sides as they traded volleys across the net. A number of errors from Claire (and one must accept that for those in the dedans, any shot not returned by Claire more-or-less counts as an ‘error’, such are the high expectations), gave Freddy and Irina a number of opportunities, but when it mattered, their opponents somehow always seemed to return to business and take the game. By 4/1, the two sisters were starting to fire better with fewer errors, and now finding the grille and tambour with heart-wrenching accuracy. Great defending, in particular by Freddy, was just not enough, and the first set went to Claire and Sarah 6/1.
In the second set, Freddy and Irina kept fighting and after three games slipped from their grasp, were rewarded with a game to make it 1/3, lost the next despite having had game point and then won another to make it 4/2. It was so difficult for Freddy and Irina to win those vital points and they had to play their very best all the time to keep up with Claire and Sarah, who by now looked relaxed and smiling, and moved the ball around the court with ease. At 3/5, the first point showed how hard it was for Freddy and Irina: a rest of around 16 strokes, with approximately 12 volleys, and neither side willing to lose it. But someone had to win the point, and – surprise, surprise – it was Claire with a lovely tambour shot that died on the edge. After that it was all over, with Claire and Sarah successfully defending their British title 6/1 6/3, in a fine match played to the limit.
At 1/3, however, Maggie finally laid two good chases and was rewarded at last with a well-deserved game. But that was that; Georgie was now pacing around like a hungry tiger as she waited to receive serve, and laying two great chases to win the next game, and then a grille shot to take it to 5/1, she looked like the tiger who was about to consume the goat (if Maggie will forgive the analogy). Despite her winning appetite, however, Georgie endeared herself to the dedans by very nicely thanking them whenever there was applause for a particularly good shot. No problem for her as she swept to a very fine victory, 6/0 6/1.
The Doubles Plate involved four pairs, with the Final being fought between Bernadette Bidouze from Bordeaux with Isabel Candy, against Linda Medlow and Caroline MacDowell. This was an excellent three-setter, with both pairs playing good steady shots without obvious unforced errors, leading to long rests. Linda and Caroline played from the back, while Bernadette rightly decided that her strength was not in running around, but in positioning herself at the front for a killer shot on the tambour or in a corner. She was seen to scamper across the court to pick up a very short ball at least three or four times, but generally she stayed put like a mighty mountain, with frequent calls of ‘You-ze!’ to her partner behind, who did a great job of picking up everything. At 5/4 to Linda and Caroline, all was to fight for. In a close game that went to four deuces, the two British players finally sealed the set with a successfully defended chase. In the second set, everything went step by step up to 5 all, with Linda and Caroline using their calm steady ground strokes to oppose the sometimes wild, sometimes successful, death-and-glory shots of Bernadette and Isabel. Three match points came their way, but all were lost, as was another at Advantage. Finally, Isabel won the game, and set, with a fine shot to the grille, 6/5.
In the final set, the question was whether Linda and Caroline could get over the disappointment of not converting those match points, and hang on. It went to 2 all, and then quickly to 4/2 to Bernadette and Isabel. They had found their mojo, with Isabel especially on fire, attacking the tambour and running like mad from side to side to take it to 5/2.. Linda and Caroline never gave up, and valiantly defended, but only to see points going against them time and time again. They fended off two match points, but in the end Isabel placed a shot on the base of the tambour to win the game. Match won by Bernadette Bidouze and Isabel Candy, 4/6 6/5 6/2.
Handicap Doubles
Some very classy pairs took part in the Handicap Doubles, which ran alongside the Open tournaments. They included Tara Lumley with Jess Garside and Harriet Ingham with Irina Dulbish. The sixteen pairs were grouped into three round robins, playing to best of six games. Two pairs from each group then went through to the knock-out round.
Interestingly, the two lowest handicap pairs had very differing results; Tara and Jess weren’t able to overcome the large handicaps against them and came bottom of their group; while Harriet and Irina kept their cool, played simply but effectively and won the same group convincingly.
Linda Medlow and Caroline MacDowell surprised no one by getting through to the final, (playing best of 8) to meet Harriet and Irina, who were working with a tough handicap of Owe 15/Half30.
But tired from their previous three sets match in the Doubles Plate final, Linda and Caroline found it difficult at first to generate enough energy. Harriet and Irina raced to a 7/0 lead. Then, with disaster staring Linda and Caroline in the face, somehow they were liberated to swing more freely, go for shots and generally refuse to lose. The games began to creep up – 1/7, 2/7, up to 4/7 – as Harriet and Irina began to get rattled and make errors. An error into the net at 30/40 gave another game to Linda and Caroline. Things were now really getting exciting at 5/7. In the next game, Harriet and Irina finally got a point ahead of their opponents for the first time for many games. 30/15 became 40/15, with 2 match points. Could Linda and Caroline hang on, with a Chase 4 to defend? No, the chase was won, and with it the match for Harriet and Irina, 8/5. An excellent match to finish the Handicap doubles, and indeed the whole event at Seacourt.
Some very classy pairs took part in the Handicap Doubles, which ran alongside the Open tournaments. They included Tara Lumley with Jess Garside and Harriet Ingham with Irina Dulbish. The sixteen pairs were grouped into three round robins, playing to best of six games. Two pairs from each group then went through to the knock-out round.
Interestingly, the two lowest handicap pairs had very differing results; Tara and Jess weren’t able to overcome the large handicaps against them and came bottom of their group; while Harriet and Irina kept their cool, played simply but effectively and won the same group convincingly.
Linda Medlow and Caroline MacDowell surprised no one by getting through to the final, (playing best of 8) to meet Harriet and Irina, who were working with a tough handicap of Owe 15/Half30.
But tired from their previous three sets match in the Doubles Plate final, Linda and Caroline found it difficult at first to generate enough energy. Harriet and Irina raced to a 7/0 lead. Then, with disaster staring Linda and Caroline in the face, somehow they were liberated to swing more freely, go for shots and generally refuse to lose. The games began to creep up – 1/7, 2/7, up to 4/7 – as Harriet and Irina began to get rattled and make errors. An error into the net at 30/40 gave another game to Linda and Caroline. Things were now really getting exciting at 5/7. In the next game, Harriet and Irina finally got a point ahead of their opponents for the first time for many games. 30/15 became 40/15, with 2 match points. Could Linda and Caroline hang on, with a Chase 4 to defend? No, the chase was won, and with it the match for Harriet and Irina, 8/5. An excellent match to finish the Handicap doubles, and indeed the whole event at Seacourt.
Our thanks to the Seacourt Tennis Club for hosting the Open tournament and the Handicap Doubles, which has always such a friendly and lively atmosphere. Neptune Investment Management yet again provided the exclusive sponsorship which is much appreciated.
Pol Roger kindly provided champagne and wine for prizes which were presented by Nick Danby,
The markers – Danny Jones and Adam Player – stayed calm and smiling throughout (apart from when being photographed!) in a tournament that was as usual excellent and good-natured throughout (and served great toasted sandwiches too). Anyone looking at the work table in the bar area could see the hard efforts going on by the tournament team, so many thanks to them who made it all happen so smoothly – Alex Garside, Viv Dawes and Lucy Hutchinson.
Many thanks to Simon Flynn who set up and operated the very successful live streaming.