Tournament 2002 - Winners and Runners Up

	Men's Open Singles Holder : Mark Stapleton
Round 1 Sat 13 July	Round 2 Thu 18 July	Round 3 Mon 22 July	Semi-final Thu 25 July	Final Sat 27 July	Winner
	Mark Stapleton	Mark Stapleton 6-1 6-2	Mark Stapleton 6-3 6-2	Mark Stapleton 6-4 7-5	Mark Stapleton 6-0 6-1
F Samad	Vince Sudbery 6-2 6-0
Vince Sudbery
David Griffith	David Griffith	Fareed Samad w/o
Ludwig Berlin
Harris Raphael	Fareed Samad 6-2 6-1
Fareed Samad
	Russell Huxtable	Russell Huxtable 4-6 6-1 6-1	Russell Huxtable 6-4 6-2
Charles Rubenstein	Dudley Leigh 6-4 6-4
Dudley Leigh
Dan Braverman	Dan Braverman 6-2 6-0	Mark Anderson w/o
Jeff Hiday
F Samad	Mark Anderson 6-1 6-0
Mark Anderson
	Kevin Ryan	Kevin Ryan	Jeff Fine w/o	Sultan Gangji 6-1 6-3
Dan Simmons	Vivek Sood
Vivek Sood
Brian Coffey	Brian Coffey 6-4 6-4	Jeff Fine 6-1 6-1
Huw Crompton
	Jeff Fine
David Chawira	David Chawira 6-1 6-2	David Chawira 6-2 6-2	Sultan Gangji 6-4 6-3
Paul Rubie
Andrew Brodie	Andrew Brodie 4-6 6-3 6-3
J Maciek
John Barnes	Vince Mulvey 6-7 6-2 6-3	Sultan Gangji 6-2 6-3
Vince Mulvey
	Sultan Gangji

	Ladies' Open Singles Holder : Lesley South
Round 1 Sun 14 July	Round 2 Sat 20 July	Semi-final Wed 24 July	Final Sat 27 July	Winner
	Jane Boyle	Jane Boyle 6-1 6-1	Jane Boyle 6-4 6-4	Lesley South 6-4 6-4
Aileen Young	Gillian Green 6-0 4-0 (retired)
Gillian Green
Liz Goodfellow	Liz Goodfellow 6-2 6-2	Liz Goodfellow 7-67 5 6-2
Jenny Councell
Julia Abbot	Mary Jacquin 6-0 6-0
Mary Jacquin
Carol Jardine	Carol Jardine 6-4 6-3	Carol Jardine 7-67 5 6-4	Lesley South 1-6 7-5 6-4
Elena Valache
Mary de Jong	Vivian Berry 6-77 5 6-1 6-4
Vivian Berry
Moira Duncan	Moira Duncan 7-67 5 7-5	Lesley South 6-1 6-3
Sally Tornow
Ludmilla Stapleton	Lesley South 6-1 6-1 (??)
Lesley South

	Men's Open Doubles Holders : Russell Huxtable & Adam Seitchik
Round 0/1 Sun 14 July	Round 2 Sun 21 July	Semi-final Wed 24 July	Final Sat 27 July	Winner
	Sultan Gangji Gabriel Solomon	Sultan Gangji Gabriel Solomon 6-0 6-3	Sultan Gangji Gabriel Solomon 6-1 6-2	Russell Huxtable Adam Seitchik 6-7 6-2 7-5
Dudley Leigh Joshua Leigh	Brian Coffey Maciek Janowski 6-2 6-1
Brian Coffey Maciek Janowski
	Andrew Brodie Paul O'Flynn	Andrew Brodie Paul O'Flynn 7-6 3-6 6-4
	Harris Raphael Vivek Sood
David Griffith Charles Rubinstein	Paul Rubie V Mulvey 1-6 7-6 4-5 Retired hurt	Russell Huxtable Adam Seitchik 6-3 6-3	Russell Huxtable Adam Seitchik 6-2 6-3
Paul Rubie V Mulvey Paul Rubie V Mulvey F Samad Y Samad
Russell Huxtable Mark Anderson	Russell Huxtable Adam Seitchik w/o
Dan Braverman Boury
Huw Compton Jeff Hiday	Huw Compton Jeff Hiday 7-5 7-6	Mark Stapleton Yevgeny Bogrov 7-6 6-4
John Barnes Vince Sudbery
	Mark Stapleton Yevgeny Bogrov

	Ladies' Open Doubles Holders : Jane Boyle & Janet O'Connor
Round 1 Sat 20 July	Semi-final Tue 23 July	Final Sat 27 July	Winner
	Janet O'Connor Jane Boyle	Janet O'Connor Jane Boyle w/o (Elena Valache injured)	Jane Boyle Janet O'Connor 4-6 6-4 6-3
Carol Jardine Elena Valache	Carol Jardine Elena Valache 6-2 6-1
Moira Duncan Mary De Jong
Viv Canter Denise Simmons	Sally Tornow Gillian Green 6-1 6-3	Lesley South Liz Goodfellow w/o (Gill Green injured)
Sally Tornow Gillian Green
Mary Jacquin Aileen Young	Lesley South Liz Goodfellow 6-1 6-4
Lesley South Liz Goodfellow

	Open Mixed Doubles Holders : Mark Stapleton & Ludmilla Stapleton
Round 1 Tue 16 July	Round 2 Sat 20 July	Semi-final Mon 22 July	Final Thu 25 July	Winner
	Sultan Gangji Rachael Gangji	Sultan Gangji Rachael Gangji 6-2 6-1	Sultan Gangji Rachael Gangji 6-3 6-2	Mark Stapleton Ludmilla Stapleton 6-1 6-2
Dan Simmons Denise Simmons	Brian Coffey Gillian Green 6-2 7-5
Brian Coffey Gillian Green
Dan Braverman Jane Boyle	Dan Braverman Jane Boyle 6-3 6-7 6-2	Maciek Janowski Sue Latimer w/o
John Fox Mary de Jong
Maciek Janowski Sue Latimer	Maciek Janowski Sue Latimer 6-2 6-1
Huw Compton Sue Harrison
Vivek Sood Radhika Sood	Vivek Sood Radhika Sood 6-3 3-6 6-4	Russell Huxtable Moira Duncan 6-3 6-2	Mark Stapleton Ludmilla Stapleton 6-3 7-5
John Barnes Joan Barnes
Russell Huxtable Moira Duncan	Russell Huxtable Moira Duncan 7-67-5 7-67-5
Kevin Ryan Mary Jacquin
Harris Raphael Elena Valache	Harris Raphael Elena Valache 6-1 6-0	Mark Stapleton Ludmilla Stapleton 6-2 6-0
Vince Sudbery Julia Abbott
Andrew Brodie Carol Jardine	Mark Stapleton Ludmilla Stapleton 6-2 6-3
Mark Stapleton Ludmilla Stapleton

Match Reports

Men's Singles Final - Mark Stapleton vs Sultan Gangji

Finals day was a bit cooler than last year at about 24 degrees.

Sultan won the toss and elected to serve, producing at least one tremendous ace, but Mark broke immediately. Sultan applied the pressure in the next game, taking Mark to deuce, but Mark closed out the next two points to establish the break.

In the third game Mark produced a couple of spectacular shots right in the corners to break again. The next three games were a bit of a route, with Sultan making the errors and Mark coming to the net to put away the winners. Mark took the first set 6-0.

The set was punctuated by Carine Valache being stung by a bee, which distracted the ladies final somewhat but did not seem to concern the men.

Mark broke Sultan again in the first game of the second set. In the second game Sultan again took Mark to deuce, but Mark again took the game to establish the break. In the third game Sultan served better but Mark got to almost everything that Sultan could throw at him, to go 15-40 up. Sultan then switched to a topspin serve to force a couple of errors with some good shots before making an error to give Mark yet another break point. But this time Sultan did not crack and won his first game of the match to rapturous applause from the crowd who had been egging him on throughout.

Mark did not let this momentary set back disturb him, and took is next service game with ease. Back on serve, Sultan again had his back to the wall at 15-40, and pulled it back to deuce with some good angled volleys, but lost the next point on a ball 1 inch out and conceded the game with a volley into the net.

Mark took the next game with relative ease as Sultan missed a chance to put a smash away. Mark then broke Sultan again to win the match 6-0 6-1.

There is no doubt that Mark was on form and enjoying himself and played some really good tennis to deserve the championship. Commiserations to Sultan who must be disappointed to lose both this and the mixed to Mark.

Men's Doubles Final - Russell Huxtable and Adam Seitchik versus Sultan Gangji and Gabriel Solomon.

There were no service breaks in the first set, but then things started happening fast. The tie break was even at the changeover (3-3), and Gabriel won his serve, but at that point Adam lost his two service points and there was no way back.

In the second set Russell and Adam broke early and Adam held for a 2-0 lead. The next two games went with serve, but then Russell and Adam broke again, taking the game with a ball on the line just out of Gabriel's reach for a 4-1 lead. Russell and Adam then both won their serves comfortably to take the second set 6-2.

The final set went with serve up to 3 all. Gabriel was then put to a stern test with a number of deuces with break point on some. However, he scraped through somehow. Pressure mounted towards the end of the set and at 5 games all Russell returned Gabriel's serve down the line and Sultan could only get his racket on it. Two tight points followed, but both against serve. Gabriel then double faulted to leave Adam serving for the championship. Adam lost the first point but won the next three to earn two match points. On the first match point he put the first volley in the net but on the second he put in a good serve which Gabriel returned just a few inches long.

Final score was 6-7 6-2 7-5. Russell and Adam deserved to win as they did not lost their serve once in the match. As the match went on they played more consistent tennis, and ultimately Sultan and Gabriel could not keep up.

Ladies' Singles Final - Jane Boyle vs Lesley South

The first set was very tight. The first two games went against serve, but after that the score reached 4-4 with no further breaks. Lesley then broke and closed it out for 6-4.

Jane served the first game of the second set. Both players were desparate to win it. There were at least 10 deuces, but the old-style score sheet gives up at that point (new one goes to 14), so we will never know. Lesley won the game and then raced to a 5-1 lead. She served for the match at 5-2, but got overexcited (or nervous) and, despite 2 match points lost it (and the game).

Jane held to love, leaving Lesley another opportunity serving at 5-4 up. This game was very tentative from both players, but on the final point Jane hit a high ball. The crowd were waiting for Lesley to muff it (her words), but Lesley fearlessly put it away for a winner on the chalk of the sideline for a 6-4 6-4 victory to atone for last year and the year before (she said bitterly).

Lesley said her game plan was to go to Jane's forehand and also mix it up.

Ladies' Doubles Final - Lesley South and Liz Goodfellow vs Janet O'Connor and Jane Boyle

The first eight games went with serve, but then Jane dropped her serve to love and Liz held serve to close out the first set.

In the second set Lesley and Liz broke Jane again in the third game. Liz held for 3-1 and then came a crucial game. Janet served a very long game and (she says) showed true grit and determination in holding it. She claims she was really focussed. Then Lesley was broken for 3 all and Jane and Liz held serve for 4 all.

Janet held, but Lesley was then broken to love. Janet claims Lesley lost her concentration but Lesley disagrees vehemently but can't remember the game. Anyway Jane and Janet closed in for the kill and won the set 6-4.

The first six games of the third set were all against serve, leaving all to play for. Janet was the first one to hold in the set, but Lesley found the pressure too much and lost the next game on her very first double fault of the whole afternoon. The ninth game was a real corker, but, to quote Jane in the post match interview, she didn't fancy going around the net again, and determination and equity ensured that the J's played their best to take the championship.

Janet put her victory down to "saving herself for the final", since this was the only game she played in the tournament.

Mixed Doubles Final - Mark and Ludmilla Stapleton vs Sultan and Rachael Gangji

Men's Singles   Ladies' Singles   Men's Doubles   Ladies' Doubles   Mixed Doubles   Match Reports   Player Bios   Tournament Gossip  

Player Biographies

Mark Stapleton

Strong right-hander who is now back playing for West Heath in the Middlesex league after a season on loan to David Lloyd to gain experience of the Intermediate division.  Mark's domination of the men's singles resumed last year after a brief interruption by Miles Raybould in 2000. Mark is married to the delectable Ludmilla whom he partners in the mixed doubles.  Now that Peter Philipps has moved to Florida Mark and Ludmilla are one of the contenders for the mixed crown.

Sultan Gangji

Sultan's hip problem is now reported to be stable after the standard regular treatment with Glucosamine Sulphate, and it remains to be seen how much of an improvement there has been in Sultan's game since last year.

Peter Phillips

As ex-owner of Preston Sports Peter is in the trade, but has chucked it in to provide a professional tennis education for his daughter Natasha in Florida. So he is no longer with us and will leave the way open for others in the doubles this year.

Kevin Ryan

Kevin is a good doubles player and steady under pressure although his singles record does not match his doubles ranking.  This year Kevin has had a foot problem which may (or may not) slow him down a bit.

Lesley South

Lesley may be up for it this year after a lack of silverware in 2001.

Jane Boyle

Since her retirement Jane has been going from strength to strength.   Who is going to bet against her for this year's singles?

Janet O'Connor

Very little has reached our reporter's ears concerning Janet this year, with one exception - that she was seen dancing with Paul Rubie at the Centenary dinner.  To see Janet dancing with a man is hardly noteworth, but it is the first time ever that Paul has been seen dancing in public.  Well it is the silly season.

The LTA Official View

The LTA have an inter-club rating scheme for players who register. You get an initial rating, then ratings are updated regularly based on your tournament results. The ratings of our club finalists are on the LTA web site (click on the underlined link above) and can be years out of date (mine is). They are:-

4.1 - Mark Stapleton (good improvement from 4.2 last year and very pleased with it too!)
4.2 - Jane Boyle, Sultan Gangji, Peter Phillips
5.2 - Kevin Ryan, Lesley South (and yours truly)
6.1 - Liz Goodfellow (I don't think this is current somehow).
Janet O'Connor appears to have no published Middlesex rating.

Tournament Gossip

Saturday 27 July - Commiserations to Sultan Gangji for his deserved appearance in all three finals but complete lack of silverware.
- Thanks to John Fox for presenting the trophies.  You can see pictures of John doing this at the top of the draws above!
- Moira Duncan hot footed it back from her Cumberland Mixed Doubles handicap final just in time to make a speech of thanks before the presention of the trophies.   Unfortunately she lost 11-9 8-6.
- As usual there was an excellent spread for tea.  Thank you everyone.
- Peter Davies lost only £1.50 in taking bets on the finals.  However, it would have been considerably more had Sultan won his singles final.  Thank you Mark Stapleton.

Thursday 24 July
- Russell Huxtable aquitted himself well against Mark Anderson in the Men's Singles quarter final, beating Mark by 6-4 6-2
- Russel then went on to challenge Mark Stapleton in the semi final.   This was a cracking match.  Russell lost the first set on a single service break 6-4.  Then he started to compete well. He broke Mark early, and was 3-1 up in the second set with a point on his serve for 4-1 and a chance of evening things up.  However, Mark stepped up the pressure and despite a few deuces, broke back.  The set proceeded on serve until 5 all.  At that point Mark broke and held to close it out.  By common consent Russell served well and played a good match but was beaten by a better player.  Congratulations to Mark on reaching the finals once more.
- It is somewhat of a shame that both Ladies semis were walkovers, as Gill Green and Elena Valache were injured.  We hope they both recover swiftly and commiserate on them missing out on their moment of semi-final glory.
- The saga of the budgerigar continues (see Sunday's news).   Apparently no-one in Westfield is allowed to keep pets and the local police station knew nothing about it.  So Paul took it home and built it a fantastic cage from a cardboard box, chicken wire and sticky tape (he's not called Heath Robinson for nothing).  But the sly yellow bird got the better of him and flew through his hand and back to freedom.   Apparently it decided that the cage was not good enough for it as it was missing a proper budgie perch and mirror.....

Wednesday 24 July - Less to report today as I wasn't there!
- Apparently Carol Jardin and Lesley South had an almightly tussle.   The smart money was on a close match.  I was hoping to get away from work early just to see most of this one, but it didn't happen.  Shame.   It rather sounds like Lesley didn't know what hit her in the first set as Carol took it 6-1.   Lesley obviously recovered her poise in the second set, which was very closely fought indeed, with the set neck and neck at 5 all before Lesley broke and held serve.   The third set was also an affair of one service break to Lesley, who took it 6-4 and must have been the most relieved seed so far!
- Gill Green is injured yet again.  I've no idea what's up, but apparently it's serious enough to stop her playing in the Ladies Doubles with Sally Tornow.  The match was due to be played tonight, and this gives Lesley South and Liz Goodfellow a walkover to the final on Saturday.   My money was on them getting there anyway, but it's a pity an entertaining match was called off.
- Sultan Ganji beat Jeff Fine in straight sets, 6-1 6-3.

Tuesday 23 July - The second Gourmet dinner was equally successful and was provided by Mary de Jong and Aileen Young.  The Tacos disappeared in double quick time and the mint pineapple was snapped up.  Sultan Gangji claims he had not had that much to drink but was giving Stephanie a piggyback while racing Penny Wild who was carrying Annabel who was shouting "go faster, go faster."
- Jane Boyle claimed she was not playing well and had lost her power strokes, but the drop shots were still enough to despatch Liz Goodfellow 6-4 6-4.
- Dan Braverman is still missing.  This time his walkover in the mixed was reversed, so Maciek Janowski and Sue Latimer got to play mixed against Sultan and Rachael Gangji, who won 6-3 6-2.  Sue was so knackered after this that she had to miss the meal and go home and rest.
- The above was Maciek's second defeat of the evening at the hands of Sultan as he and Brian Coffey had previously lost to Sultan and Gabriel Solomon 6-0 6-2
- Russell Huxtable and Adam Seitchik despatched Mark Stapleton and Yevgeny Bogrov 6-2 6-3.  This was Yevgeny's second competitive tennis match, so he was doing very well.  The proud mum Ludmilla thinks he is so brave to play with Mark.

Monday 22 July - The first Gourmet dinner was great, with Radhika and the recently retired Vivek Sood providing excellent Indian food.  The conversation and wine flowed and it was warm enough to eat outside.  Thank you, Radhika and Vivek.   Don't miss out - book for one of the remaining Gourmet dinners.
- The missing Dan Braverman was involved in a fourth walk-over this evening, except this time it as he and Jane Boyle that were defaulted.   Apparently Dan is involved in a huge deal, details of which must remain confidential until it is signed (but it could be even bigger than Rio Ferdinand).
- The other action in the mixed involved a real game - Stapletons vs Moira Duncan and Russell Huxtable.  The Stapletons took the first set 6-3, but Moira and Russell broke Milly to lead 3-1.  Play then went with serve until Russell was serving for the set at 5-4.  At this point he could not get his serve in.  There still would have been time to recover, but neither Moira nor Russell seemed inclined to put the ball down the empty tramline when Mark moved very early indeed to intercept, allowing Mark and Milly to break Moira to close out the match.
- I missed it, but would have liked to see Sultan Gangji play David Chawira.   Judging by the 6-4 6-3 scoreline David must have hit some good shots but Sultan's consistency won the day.
- Carol Jardine and Viv Berry were involved in a fine first set tussle, which Carol just edged 7 5 in the tie break, also taking the second set 6-4 for a place in the semi-finals.

Sunday 21 July - Gourmet dinners are filling up fast, but there are still places for some days.  Put your name on the list in the clubhouse.
- Wimbledon has its pigeons, which are normally chased away by ball boys or girls. We don't have these at West Heath, but during David Chawira's match with Andrew Brodie on court 3, they suddenly noticed a budgerigar on the court.  Paul Segalini was summoned to recover the poor bird, which he consigned to a large cardboard box with some supposedly small holes.   However, the budgerigar was rather brighter than anyone supposed and was found a few minutes later sitting on top of the box being closely observed by Janet O'Connor's dog.  There is no report of whether Paul found any takers for the bird at Westfield College, the poor bird's next destination.    Andrew Brodie's suggestion of putting it in the fridge for the Final's Day BBQ did not go down too well, but then Andrew did lose 6-2 6-2 to David, though his suggestion that the bird put him off was greeting with muted scepticism.
- Mary Jacquin acquitted herself well against Liz Goodfellow in a fiercely contested first set, which Liz struggled to take on the tie break 7-5.   However, in the second set Liz found her form to win 7-6 6-2.
- Not quite sure what Paul Rubie and Vince Mulvey did to their opponents, David Griffith and Charles Rubinstein, one of whom had to retire hurt a break up in the final set!  Perhaps it was a strategic concession.
- Fresh from her Cumberland tournament semi-final mixed triumph over the dreaded Barbers, Moira Duncan teamed up once more with Russell Huxtable to secure a semi-final place over Radhika and Vivek Sood 6-3 6-2

Saturday 20 July - There seem to have been a lot of walkovers in the last 24 hours - all involving the missing Dan Braverman!
- I advised Moira to hit it to the corners against Lesley, but apparently Lesley really likes to play the angles so it did not work very well.
  Mind you, nothing else would probably have improved on the 6-1 6-3 score either!
- Russell is doing very well.  Having entered late in the mens doubles he not only got a walkover to the second round, but is also on his second partner - all without hitting a ball!

Friday 19 July - Three matches played, but one scheduled match failed to get played.

Thursday 18 July - Six matches played this evening and the club was teeming with children and spectators.
- Charles Rubinstein and Dudley Leigh finally played their first round singles.   Charles put up a good fight despite the new but very flat and very dud tennis balls, just losing out 6-4 6-4 in the end.
- Mark and Vince were relegated by the women to the shale courts
- Moira Duncan and Sally Tornow played a tense, nail biting match with Moira being very relieved to win 7-6(7-5) 7-5.
- Mary de Jong played a super first set and tie break against Vivian Berry, but could not maintain it against the newest first-team member. Congrats Vivian on your 6-7 6-1 6-4 win.

A gentle reminder - if you know that you cannot play the next round then when you get to match point in your favour you should concede to allow your opponents to go through.

Wednesday 17 July - Despite the Ladies 1st team match, two more doubles matches were played. Well done Brian, Maciek, Lesley and Liz and commiserations to Dudley, Joshua, Aileen and Mary.
- Thursday evening has a veritable plethora of matches scheduled.   A good evenings entertainment, I would have thought.

Tuesday 16 July - Visited the clubhouse at 22:00 when passing to pick up the results and it was deserted.  Kevin Ryan and Vivek Sood don't seem to have played their scheduled Round 2 singles (but then neither has anyone else), though it looks like the Soods beat the Barneses in a close mixed.  Fareed appears to have beaten Harris.   Only Charles vs Dudley to play and the first round will be over!

Monday 15 July - No matches played (men's home team match)

Sunday 14 July - Surely the closest match today was in the mixed.  Russell Huxtable and Moira Duncan beat Kevin Ryan and Mary Jacquin 7-6 7-6.   There were a number of service breaks in each set, and in the second set Kevin and Mary had a set point before the breaker.  Furthermore, Kevin and Mary were up 5-1 and 4-2 in the respective tie breaks before losing each one 7-5.  Congrats to Russell and Moira and commiserations to Kevin and Mary.
- Following the defeat Aileen Young was heard to mutter between clenched teeth to to Kevin, "Come on, you should really have fought harder for that one - couldn't you have put a bit more effort into it?"  Apparently he had made a similar comment the previous day after she had retired from playing Gill Green at 6-0 4-0 down following a thorough warm up with Kevin immediately before the match.

Saturday 13 July - Apologies to all members wanting the draw from the web site, but the web master was only given the draw (and no dates for rounds) on Friday 12 July. It was complete by Saturday evening and the intention is to update it with results each evening.
- There have been the usual reports of jostling for position among some of the ladies with the strongest of the old and new male members to secure themselves a good match for the mixed.  You can decide for yourself how successful they have all been by examining the draw above.

A number of finalist have LTA inter-club ratings. Click here to find out more.