Casting around for ideas for this fixture by which to mark the host Club's 10th Anniversary, whilst avoiding a repeat of the Association's 7 1 whitewash of Prested's fledgling players last season, Match Managers Gill Goddard (LRTA) and Alix Barfett (Prested Hall) latched gratefully onto Sheila Macintosh's suggestion of an "Highest with Lowest" Handicap Doubles Tournament, followed by an Exhibition Match.

By dint of persuasion from Gill (unable, unfortunately, to participate herself, owing to a long standing engagement), and assiduous emailing of LRTA members by Caroline Gilmore, the Tournament attracted 13 competitors; to their delight, Exhibition Match players Freddy Adam (Oxford), Aldona Greenwood (Manchester), and Claire Vigrass (Prested) also entered [Penny Lumley (Holyport) would gladly have swelled the ranks, but was attending her daughter Tara's school's Speech Day in the morning].

The Tournament pairings gave rise to partners who had not even met, let alone played doubles together, and a number of intriguing handicaps! To maximise competitors' playing time (in theory!), and capitalise on the host Club's boasting two courts, Prested's Head Pro Matt Potter, and fellow marker Ricardo Smith, decided upon a round robin format, with each match to consist of a first to five games set. The resultant schedule of play was quite demanding, allowing participants brief respite between matches.

Whilst Aldona, Jess Garside (Seacourt), Lucy Hutchinson (Petworth) and Audrey Yeung (Queen's) took the opportunity of visitors' practice time to familiarise themselves with the idiosyncrasies of Prested's glass back walled Court No.1, home players Jo Bartholomew, Jacqueline McCormick and Sarah Vermont downed industrial quantities of tea in the Fitness Centre's café, by way of calming their nerves at the prospect of partnering Aldona, Claire, and Freddy respectively!

It was evident on Claire and Freddy's arrival, however, that both were the worse for wear in the wake of the previous day's Herbert Invitational; Claire had sustained a broken toe, and Freddy sported sunglasses reminiscent of the outsize Ray Bans worn by Bradley Cooper in 2009's hit comedy film "The Hangover"! Spectators gave both ladies a rapturous reception as they stepped onto opposite sides of Court No.1 for their first match. Freddy and Sarah's comfortable 5/1 win set the pattern for Claire and Jacqueline's subsequent defeats. The latter's handicaps, of the "Owe ½ 30, 1 serve, ban tambour, no chases worse 3 and 4 Receive 30" variety, bordered on the penal, and Claire and Jacqueline duly paid the penalty, culminating in Claire's being awarded a Wooden Spoon for the first, and hopefully the last, time, in her career!

Hazel Dunn's knowledge of Prested's courts, gained from representing Newmarket two years running as the only lady competitor in the East Anglian Cup, stood her and partner Bella Brown (Prested), a recent convert from lawn tennis, in good stead. Their crisp shots at pace threw off balance Aldona and Jo, 5/2, Freddy and Sarah, and Claire and Jacqueline, in quick succession. On failing to take a game off Annabel Wyatt and Felicity Simpson, albeit that the Prested pair had dominated the Tournament from the outset, Hazel and Bella seemed to lose momentum; they succumbed to Audrey's and Carrie Hart (Oratory)'s proficient teamwork 2/5, and a combative Gael Vigrass (Prested) and Jess 1/5, before pulling back to 4/5 against Lucy and Sam Shrager (Prested).

Sam, with Lucy's guidance and encouragement (not to mention strong vocal support from her husband, Tom Shrager!), recovered well from her first foray into tournament tennis – a victim first, of the opening sally in the tactical campaign waged throughout by Gael and Jess, 3/5, second, Audrey and Carrie's entrenching themselves at the service end to close out 5/1, and third, bombardment by Annabel and Felicity's strong volleys and steady ground strokes in pursuance of their 5/0 victory.

Lucy opted to defend the galleries in their match against Aldona and Jo, dropping back to assist Sam deal with floor shots and forces. This ploy proved successful, with Lucy and Sam avoiding conceding chases to win 5/4.

Aldona and Jo's immediate response was to concentrate on firm hitting, clean and flat, Aldona attacking any loose balls with controlled shots cut to length, to beat Audrey and Carrie, who had fast become a formidable combination, 5/4.

Freddy and Sarah, a relative newcomer introduced to the game by her son Hugh, a promising junior, suffered a fate similar to Claire and Jacqueline's. Freddy nonetheless managed to bolster her partner's self belief to the point where their pegging back Gael and Jess to 3/5, and Lucy and Sam to 4/5, demonstrated Sarah's considerable potential.

Gael and Jess's matches against Audrey and Carrie, and Annabel and Felicity, were, essentially, battles of the services. Gael's slow railroad inviting a cross court cut, and Jess's sidewall restricting an opponent's cut shot to her backhand corner, limited Audrey and Carrie's effectiveness by the predictability of their strokes to the extent that they lost 1/5. Annabel's underarm twist and Felicity's heavily top spun services, however, had troubled all their adversaries, and Gael and Jess were no exception; Jess's consistent returns of serve cut sharply off the back wall, drove Annabel and Felicity to some skilled retrieving, but they ran out the winners regardless 5/1.

Defeat of Freddy and Sarah by the same margin gave Annabel and Felicity overall victory; their achievement in not having dropped a match, was all the more remarkable in that Felicity was making her doubles début! Prested's pros declared Audrey and Carrie runners up. Having presented the four with their prizes, which included cookery books kindly inscribed by Sam's mother in law, Rosemary, Matt revealed the pros' difficulty in choosing between Lucy and Jess for the "Woman of the Match" award; Jess's finely judged performance - giving no quarter to more accomplished opponents, whilst subtly bringing the game to those less experienced won her the day, and the prize of a Waterford bowl. Jacqueline received a special trophy, and a pair of Swarovski earrings, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Prested's ladies' section since their inception. As a token of thanks for Gael and her husband Chris's hospitality in inviting players and supporters to a barbeque in the evening, Gael was given a bouquet arranged by Lalita Norgrove, together with a card signed by Doubles Day participants.

Having been treated to a strawberry tea, complete with chocolate cake to celebrate Alix's birthday, everyone settled down in the glass court's galleries' comfy chairs to enjoy the keenly anticipated Exhibition Match. Late arrivals could have been forgiven for mistaking the preliminary hit, for the closing stages, such was the players' determination and focus!

Penny early established her ascendancy, her impeccable shot selections, stylishly delivered, belying her absence from the competitive mainstream. Ably supported by Freddy's solid volleying interspersed with half volleys, Penny's extraordinary athleticism and deftness of touch put Aldona and Claire under unrelenting pressure in all areas of the court. Claire, hindered by injuries aggravated in the Tournament, tried to exert her influence, scoring winning openings at critical moments, but achieved only moderate impact; Aldona's heroic efforts to compensate for her partner drew plaudits from the onlookers, however, being kept at full stretch eventually took its toll on Aldona's redoubtable stamina, and opened up opportunities Freddy and Penny could not fail to exploit, to triumph impressively in straight sets 6/2, 6/3.

The Prested crowd's loud and prolonged applause showed their appreciation at being granted the rare privilege of watching ladies' tennis of this exceptional calibre being played on their home court. Gentlemen spectators' usual flow of "banter" ebbed to the occasional "Good gets – as good as it gets!" as they paid the players' undeniable, and enviable, prowess the compliment of "match analysis", voiced in hushed tones.

In handing out the Exhibition Match prizes, Prested's proprietor Mike Carter thanked Gill and Alix for organising the event, which had brought Prested's 10th anniversary celebrations to a fitting end, and looked forward to having the pleasure of welcoming LRTA members to future fixtures. Alix and Gill were given Marc Jacobs posy vases, and Mike also made presentations to the pros, Prested's Fitness Centre Manager Fay Hudson, Lalita, and staff for all their help. On behalf of the players, Freddy congratulated Alix on raising the funds for the prizes, the pros' marking fees etc in these recessionistic times. Finally, to ensure no one went away empty handed, players were invited to choose a bottle of wine from a selection (Claire helpfully pointing out to Jess that the preserves in the Tiptree gift box which she received in lieu, contained trace amounts of alcohol!).

All who were not returning home then left for Hill House, to relax and enjoy a sumptuous barbeque; the proceedings were enlivened further by the presence of those pros et al, who were still in situ following the Herbert Invitational revelry! Gael and Chris received a framed photograph of Prested's No.1 Court, taken, and signed, by Freddy, as a "Thank you" for their generosity. (Freddy has kindly posted additional photographs of Doubles Day to an album on her "Facebook" page.)

The "guilt" on the gingerbread was that, having entered the Tournament results on RTO (apart from Claire's, and Freddy's, matches, to avoid adversely affecting their handicaps), Prested pros' score sheet was mislaid, rendering it impossible to reproduce the results in full. On attempting to reconstruct the score sheet, it emerged that Gael and Jess might have been runners up. Against that possibility, Gael has been given a runner up prize as well, but since this included a bottle of champagne, a lesson with a Seacourt pro has been arranged for Jess, in lieu – and Prested's pros have promised to do better in future!

Alix Barfett and Ricardo Smith