TAVISTOCK Tennis Club held the finals of its annual club tournaments for the seniors last Saturday and it was nice to see some new faces both winners and runners up. The juniors? finals are planned for Saturday, July 29. Overall matches were very competitive, well balanced and to a good standard. Out of the five matches played four went to ?Championship? tie breaks (the first to reach 10 points by at least 2 clear points or beyond) which were used instead of a third set to shorten matches. Outstanding performances in the ladies events were by Sara Lucas, a junior playing up in the seniors events, who won the ladies singles and was runner up in the ladies doubles: Annie Jefferies, a previous seven times champion, runner up in the singles and on the winning side in the ladies doubles. In the men?s events Phil Harbottle had a busy afternoon winning the singles for the fifth time, a winner in the mixed doubles and runner up in the mens doubles. Ray Hinton was on the winning side in the men?s doubles and runner up in the mixed doubles. Tournament results: Men?s singles: Phil Harbottle beat Josh Brown, a junior playing up, 5-7, 6-4, (10-3) in the longest match of the day lasting 1hr 45mins. Phil came back from a set down to win the tie break in a match with some very good shot making and long rallies, Phil?s consistent play being crucial on the day. This is the fifth time that he has won the title. Josh has a great future in the game and kept to his attacking style throughout albeit making mistakes which were costly at times. Ladies singles: Sara Lucas beat Annie Jefferies 2-6, 6-4, (10-4) in a match enjoyable to watch with stylish strokes and long rallies of a high standard. Sara after being a set down changed her tactics to be more aggressive coming back to win. Men?s Doubles: Ray Hinton/Mike Webb beat Phil Harbottle/Scot Pluckrose, a junior playing up, 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, (11-9) in the outstanding match of the day where the nail biting final tie breaker could have gone either way. It is notable that Scot played extremely well holding his own against seniors in a typical hard hitting men?s match and nice to see Mike playing well, now recovered from a serious shoulder injury. Ladies Doubles: Annie Jefferies/Tricia Mowle beat Sara Lucas/Gaynor Pollard 1-6, 6-4, (10-3) coming back from a set down in a match demonstrating good court craft with a mixture of some hard hitting and touch shots. Mixed doubles: Viv Iles/Phil Harbottle beat Barbara Chalk/Ray Hinton 6-2, 6-3 in the last match of the day which was closer than the score depicts and entertaining to watch with Phil suffering somewhat after three exhausting matches in the heat. Trophies were presented for the different events by the club president, Norma Woodcock, vice president Bill Smyly, chairman, Mike Prout and Kylie Martin. The day was rounded off with a well attended barbecue in the evening. ABOVE: Finalists with Club President, Norma Woodcock, Vice President, Bill Smyly and Chairman, Mike Prout. Picture by James Bird
