U21 Report and Photos 2012
Go to U21 Results 2012
Photos of the LRTA Under 21 Tournament 2012
24th and 25th November at Radley College
Photos taken on Saturday 24th November 2012 - thanks to Jill Newby
Photos taken on Sunday 24th November 2012 - thanks to Jill Newby
Report of the U21 Handicap Singles at Radley……by Jill Newby
This year we had 19 players in the tournament, slightly fewer than last year but with clashes of exeat weekend for the Canford girls, ballet performances and pending A level mocks with other potential competitors this was to be expected. Of those who played and had entered the tournament in previous years it is marvellous to see the progress that all the players have made.
The tournament was played over 2 days starting with Group E - Tania Leslau, Issy Taylor and Artemis Paterson. This group was dominated by who could hold onto the serving end longest. First match was Issy playing Tania. Tania is extremely new to the game but hit the ball strongly and in particular produced some lovely volleys. Issy our youngest competitor (11 yrs old) raced around the court making sure she retrieved the ball and always putting pressure on her opponent. At 5-5 Issy served exceptionally well to quickly take the next three games and the match, 8-5. Next Issy played Artemis. Here she kept on a serving roll and kept Artemis out of the game for a long time building up a good lead. Artemis finally began timing the ball off the back wall but Issy’s lead was too great and she won the set 8-3. Tania versus Artemis was a very close encounter with Tania continuing to volley well and take a dominating lead of 6-3. However, Artemis dug in and found her timing, clawed her way back and the match went game for game, reaching 7-7 with Tania just snatching the last game to win 8-7. With Issy winning both her matches she became the group winner – the second year running!!
Group D - Nina Ludekens, Alice Messer, Venetia Harding, Jessica Walker. This turned out to be a very close group with 3 players finishing with 2 wins. The first match was Nina v Venetia and right from the start Nina showed that she had excellent footwork and good timing off the floor and back wall and comprehensively beat Venetia 6-1. The second match was Alice against Jessica. Jessica struggled in her first match against a strong hitting Alice. However, throughout all her matches Jessica moved well about the court and was keen to volley. Serving again dominated several of these group matches with Alice playing her best tennis against Nina delivering several super serves to help her win 6-3. Venetia showed that she has much of her Mum’s competitive spirit and excellent eye for a ball becoming used to the pace of the court over her next 2 matches. In her final match against Alice, Venetia hit 3 shots running into the dedans!! The final group result went to the one who had fewer games against them and in this case it was Nina with only 9 to Alice’s 12.
Group C - Felicity Sargent, Lottie Fullerton, Edie Phillimore, Annie Fountain. Felicity v Lottie was the first match. Both players moved well about the court and played a consistent game. The match went game for game until 3-3 then Felicity ran out the eventual winner 6-3. Next up was Annie v Edie. Annie served well throughout the match and hit some good width shots ending the match beating chase 2 yards! Edie with a tough handicap worked hard on court and ran every ball down but received little reward for all her efforts. In Lottie v Annie’s match Lottie served extremely well to start with taking a quick 4-1 lead but gradually Annie began to return the serve and she pulled back to 4-4. By this stage both players were hitting the ball well off the back wall and Lottie was taking lovely long strides into her shots. The last 2 games were very close and long with Lottie pulling off a 6-4 win. Felicity v Annie was another close game with both girls retrieving the ball well and Felicity hitting lots of shots into the corners of the court. Felicity’s recent tournament play in the Handicap Tournament at Leamington clearly gave her a lot of experience and she looked very confident in her 3 matches to win the group outright.
Group B - Ciara Sullivan, Audrey Davies, Georgie Willis, Annie Fountain (Annie kindly filled in with the last minute withdrawal of Phillippa Twohig-Howell with a back injury). There were some very tough matches in this group. In the first match Audrey got off to a great lead of 5-2 against Ciara hitting some lovely attacking shots into the corners and some fabulous volleys but steadily Ciara crept back into the match and Audrey began to lose a bit of confidence and was a little hesitant on her shots and it was suddenly 5-5. Some good shots off the back wall by Ciara saw her take the final game and the set. It was Annie v Georgie next. Georgie produced some lovely underarm twist serves with enough varied length that made it difficult for Annie to get into any rhythm with the return of serve. Annie kept calm and hit some nice cross court forehands and also volleyed well but Georgie was definitely in command and won 6-2. Ciara v Georgie was another close game with Ciara making sure that she got the ball over the net somehow or other and just the odd mistake from Georgie produced another win for Ciara. Audrey v Annie was another tight match with Audrey giving Annie 17 points handicap! This match went game for game and Audrey did well to claw so many points back but in the end Annie sneaked the 11th game and the set 6-5. Annie’s consistency continued to improve throughout the afternoon and it looked as if she was about to pull off another win this time over Ciara. From 3-5 down Ciara doggedly worked away and eventually took the set 6-5. Audrey v Georgie was another cracking match with some excellent tight retrieving down the walls by both players. Audrey again produced some super volleys and penetrating shots but Georgie served well throughout the match forcing Audrey to hit the ball onto the penthouse. Whilst Georgie won the match 6-2 it did not reflect the closeness of the match. So with 3 match wins under her belt, Ciara, the comeback kid became the winner of the group.
Group A - Saskia Bollerman, Jess Garside, Tara Lumley, Mollie Thomas. It was great that Saskia could come over from Holland to play, Tara come back from first term at Bristol, Mollie should mix her real tennis with her music commitments and Jess tear herself away from ‘A’ Level revision. There were some excellent matches in this group with the handicap making life awkward and there were few cheap points. Saskia played Jess first. The match went game for game until 3-3 when Jess hit a series of very nasty serves making Saskia lift the ball up enabling Jess to put the ball away with a cracking volley to take Jess to 5-3. Saskia pulled back one game and the next game went to 40-40 with Saskia just missing a chase 3 yards. Molly and Tara then went on court. Tara was giving owe 15 rec 30. Both players are very quick around the court. Some excellent serving by Tara helped her pull back the deficit but the match went game for game through to 5-5 when Tara’s super cut shots into the corners paid off and she won the final game. Tara then took on Saskia. Even though Tara continued to serve well Saskia played extremely well to make sure that return of serve went over the net. Tara made, unusually for her, 3 unforced errors and with the handicap against her it was good bye match 6-3! Molly v Saskia was another good game. Both players were serving with much greater accuracy and with Saskia’s continued consistency and return of serves tight to the side wall she brought off another 6-3 win. The final group match saw Tara v Jess. What a nail-biting affair! Jess played terrifically well with good serves and attacking play, not making any mistakes to take a 5-1 lead. Then Tara dug deep; we lost count of the match points that she saved. Some super rallies ensued. Great cut short chases by Tara and perhaps Jess wasn’t quite so attacking but Tara still being made to win the point. Eventually, after another long game Jess managed to hit the winning shot into the dedans and take the set 6-3. With 3 wins to her credit Jess was again tournament champion.
It is terrific to see how much progress some of the players have made since last year and to watch the improvement of everyone as they played their group matches.
Many thanks go to Radley College for allowing us to host the tournament on their courts. Many thanks as well to John Lumley, Colin Lumley and Mick Dean for marking all the matches. Finally, huge thanks to our anonymous benefactor who sponsored the tournament and in addition gave all the players a very smart polo shirt.
The tournament was played over 2 days starting with Group E - Tania Leslau, Issy Taylor and Artemis Paterson. This group was dominated by who could hold onto the serving end longest. First match was Issy playing Tania. Tania is extremely new to the game but hit the ball strongly and in particular produced some lovely volleys. Issy our youngest competitor (11 yrs old) raced around the court making sure she retrieved the ball and always putting pressure on her opponent. At 5-5 Issy served exceptionally well to quickly take the next three games and the match, 8-5. Next Issy played Artemis. Here she kept on a serving roll and kept Artemis out of the game for a long time building up a good lead. Artemis finally began timing the ball off the back wall but Issy’s lead was too great and she won the set 8-3. Tania versus Artemis was a very close encounter with Tania continuing to volley well and take a dominating lead of 6-3. However, Artemis dug in and found her timing, clawed her way back and the match went game for game, reaching 7-7 with Tania just snatching the last game to win 8-7. With Issy winning both her matches she became the group winner – the second year running!!
Group D - Nina Ludekens, Alice Messer, Venetia Harding, Jessica Walker. This turned out to be a very close group with 3 players finishing with 2 wins. The first match was Nina v Venetia and right from the start Nina showed that she had excellent footwork and good timing off the floor and back wall and comprehensively beat Venetia 6-1. The second match was Alice against Jessica. Jessica struggled in her first match against a strong hitting Alice. However, throughout all her matches Jessica moved well about the court and was keen to volley. Serving again dominated several of these group matches with Alice playing her best tennis against Nina delivering several super serves to help her win 6-3. Venetia showed that she has much of her Mum’s competitive spirit and excellent eye for a ball becoming used to the pace of the court over her next 2 matches. In her final match against Alice, Venetia hit 3 shots running into the dedans!! The final group result went to the one who had fewer games against them and in this case it was Nina with only 9 to Alice’s 12.
Group C - Felicity Sargent, Lottie Fullerton, Edie Phillimore, Annie Fountain. Felicity v Lottie was the first match. Both players moved well about the court and played a consistent game. The match went game for game until 3-3 then Felicity ran out the eventual winner 6-3. Next up was Annie v Edie. Annie served well throughout the match and hit some good width shots ending the match beating chase 2 yards! Edie with a tough handicap worked hard on court and ran every ball down but received little reward for all her efforts. In Lottie v Annie’s match Lottie served extremely well to start with taking a quick 4-1 lead but gradually Annie began to return the serve and she pulled back to 4-4. By this stage both players were hitting the ball well off the back wall and Lottie was taking lovely long strides into her shots. The last 2 games were very close and long with Lottie pulling off a 6-4 win. Felicity v Annie was another close game with both girls retrieving the ball well and Felicity hitting lots of shots into the corners of the court. Felicity’s recent tournament play in the Handicap Tournament at Leamington clearly gave her a lot of experience and she looked very confident in her 3 matches to win the group outright.
Group B - Ciara Sullivan, Audrey Davies, Georgie Willis, Annie Fountain (Annie kindly filled in with the last minute withdrawal of Phillippa Twohig-Howell with a back injury). There were some very tough matches in this group. In the first match Audrey got off to a great lead of 5-2 against Ciara hitting some lovely attacking shots into the corners and some fabulous volleys but steadily Ciara crept back into the match and Audrey began to lose a bit of confidence and was a little hesitant on her shots and it was suddenly 5-5. Some good shots off the back wall by Ciara saw her take the final game and the set. It was Annie v Georgie next. Georgie produced some lovely underarm twist serves with enough varied length that made it difficult for Annie to get into any rhythm with the return of serve. Annie kept calm and hit some nice cross court forehands and also volleyed well but Georgie was definitely in command and won 6-2. Ciara v Georgie was another close game with Ciara making sure that she got the ball over the net somehow or other and just the odd mistake from Georgie produced another win for Ciara. Audrey v Annie was another tight match with Audrey giving Annie 17 points handicap! This match went game for game and Audrey did well to claw so many points back but in the end Annie sneaked the 11th game and the set 6-5. Annie’s consistency continued to improve throughout the afternoon and it looked as if she was about to pull off another win this time over Ciara. From 3-5 down Ciara doggedly worked away and eventually took the set 6-5. Audrey v Georgie was another cracking match with some excellent tight retrieving down the walls by both players. Audrey again produced some super volleys and penetrating shots but Georgie served well throughout the match forcing Audrey to hit the ball onto the penthouse. Whilst Georgie won the match 6-2 it did not reflect the closeness of the match. So with 3 match wins under her belt, Ciara, the comeback kid became the winner of the group.
Group A - Saskia Bollerman, Jess Garside, Tara Lumley, Mollie Thomas. It was great that Saskia could come over from Holland to play, Tara come back from first term at Bristol, Mollie should mix her real tennis with her music commitments and Jess tear herself away from ‘A’ Level revision. There were some excellent matches in this group with the handicap making life awkward and there were few cheap points. Saskia played Jess first. The match went game for game until 3-3 when Jess hit a series of very nasty serves making Saskia lift the ball up enabling Jess to put the ball away with a cracking volley to take Jess to 5-3. Saskia pulled back one game and the next game went to 40-40 with Saskia just missing a chase 3 yards. Molly and Tara then went on court. Tara was giving owe 15 rec 30. Both players are very quick around the court. Some excellent serving by Tara helped her pull back the deficit but the match went game for game through to 5-5 when Tara’s super cut shots into the corners paid off and she won the final game. Tara then took on Saskia. Even though Tara continued to serve well Saskia played extremely well to make sure that return of serve went over the net. Tara made, unusually for her, 3 unforced errors and with the handicap against her it was good bye match 6-3! Molly v Saskia was another good game. Both players were serving with much greater accuracy and with Saskia’s continued consistency and return of serves tight to the side wall she brought off another 6-3 win. The final group match saw Tara v Jess. What a nail-biting affair! Jess played terrifically well with good serves and attacking play, not making any mistakes to take a 5-1 lead. Then Tara dug deep; we lost count of the match points that she saved. Some super rallies ensued. Great cut short chases by Tara and perhaps Jess wasn’t quite so attacking but Tara still being made to win the point. Eventually, after another long game Jess managed to hit the winning shot into the dedans and take the set 6-3. With 3 wins to her credit Jess was again tournament champion.
It is terrific to see how much progress some of the players have made since last year and to watch the improvement of everyone as they played their group matches.
Many thanks go to Radley College for allowing us to host the tournament on their courts. Many thanks as well to John Lumley, Colin Lumley and Mick Dean for marking all the matches. Finally, huge thanks to our anonymous benefactor who sponsored the tournament and in addition gave all the players a very smart polo shirt.