| |
Order of Play
Due to circumstances beyond the control of the West Heath LTC the schedule of
matches for an individual court may have to be changed at short notice. We apologise for any
inconvenience to spectators that this may cause, and we advise spectators to occupy the
seats with a good view over all courts first.
| Order of Play |
| Grass
1 |
Grass
2 |
| Saturday 26 July - Finals Day |
14:00 Ladies Singles Final
Christine Thompson
vs
Malika Sood
|
14:00 Mens Singles Final
Cedric de la Chaise
vs
Mark Stapleton
|
To be followed by
Ladies
Doubles Final
Christine Thompson
& Malika Sood
vs
Philippa Glynn
& Elena Valarche
|
To be followed by
Mens
Doubles Final
Cedric de la Chaise
& Joris Fletcher
vs
Mark Stapleton
& Sultan Gangji
|
Including World Famous
Finals Day Tea and Trophy Presentation (16:00)
followed by Social Tennis (17:00)
and
Evening Barbecue (20:00)
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
Tournament Reports and Gossip
We are very grateful to SAB Miller for sponsoring the West Heath Tournament by providing complimentary supplies
of their brands. If (and only if) you are visiting the club you are entitled to one complimentary bottle per
visit. Any further bottles must be paid for at £1 per bottle (this provision is to ensure that supplies last until Finals Day at the end of the second week).
Finals Day, Saturday 26 July (day 15)
Men's Singles Final
Mark Stapleton (2) versus Cedric de la Chaise (1)
Umpire : Kevin Ryan
Cedric is a notoriously slow starter, particularly in singles. Mark started very quickly and broke Cedric in the first game thanks to some aggressive returning,
coming in behind his return and good volleysat the net. Mark then held his service game for a 2-1 lead. A few
more games went with serve
. However on a later service game Mark was footfaulted on his second serve at deuce
(having received an earlier "private" warning) and, due to this and having to change his
service position, lost the next point as well to allow Cedric back in. Cedric took full advantage, chasing
everything, hitting some superb winners, including those that Mark and the spectators had written off as a
winner hit by Mark. The net effect was that Cedric came into his own. Mark's accuracy at the net was
not sufficient to keep the ball away from Cedric and Mark made a number of unforced volley
errors. As a result Cedric was able to keep the pressure up and break Mark to win the set 6-3.
In the second set Mark was broken twice early on. After
this he changed his tactics and stayed back more on his first serve
which enabled him to hold serve more frequently, but it was still very
tough against Cedric who ran and ran, got most things and made few unforced errors. Mark
broke Cedric when he was serving at 4-1, to
get back to 2-4. On the next game Mark
was under pressure as Cedric forced a deuce but was unable to reach
break point as
Mark's second set strategy started to reap dividends. When
Cedric was serving at 4-3 Mark put some good pressure on Cedric but Cedric missed very
little and Mark played too safe on a couple of points rather than
go closer to the lines which enabled Cedric to get the to ball, win
the point and hold the game. Serving at 3-5 down, Mark allowed
Cedric to get to 30 all,but then put in two good first serves to hold
the game for 5 all.
Serving at 5-4 for the match Cedric held the first point but Mark put
pressure on with a deep return to the baseline, and won the point with
an
angled shot. On the 3rd point Mark forced a high return from Cedric
and put the volley away. A low return made Cedric put the ball in
the net, but Mark missed the shot on the first break point and now had only
one left. On this Mark and Cedric both
came in and had a machine-gun rattle of volleys with Cedric at the
before forcing an error from Cedric to even the set at 5 all.
Serving at 5 all Mark was pegged back to deuce and we thought he might be
broken, but he played intelligently to lob Cedric then put the
short return away. Mark then put pressure on Cedric on the last point
to force an error and lead 6-5 in the second set.
Cedric struggled to hold his next sere, and Mark had set points but could not convert so
Cedric held his serve to level the set at 6 all and force the tie
break.
In the tie break Cedric forced a mini-break early, and Mark had chances to
break back but failed until Cedric was serving at 6-4 for the match.
at this point Mark played well to retrieve the mini-break but on his next
serve he made an error on a low ball to give Cedric the match 6-3 7-67-5
Ladies' Singles Final
Malika Sood (1) vs Christine Thompson (2)
Umpire : Moira Duncan
Malika started convincingly, made fewer unforced errors than Christine and was generally capable of
hitting a winner off any short balls that her power and placement forced off Christine. Malika won the first set
6-2, and continued the pressure to take the second set 6-3 for a 6-2 6-3 match. It is difficult to see
anyone currently at the club taking the title away from Malika.
Men's Doubles Final
Cedric de la Chaise & Joris Fletcher (2) vs Sultan Gangji & Mark Stapleton (1)
Umpire : Vince Sudbery
The first three games went with serve (Joris, Mark, Cedric), though those served by Joris and Cedric took longer as they
were initially under more pressure. Sultan was not playing as well as he had
done in the semi-final. After a slow start and contrary to what everyone was expecting from previous matches
Joris stepped up the standard of his tennis significantly, occasionally even taking the limelight from
Cedric (who, of course, like Mark, had just played a tough Men's Singles Final). The relative performance of
these two opponents made a significant difference, and resulted in Sultan and Mark being broken in the middle of
the set for Cedric and Joris to take it 6-3.
The second set was more closely fought, and Sultan raised his game for most of it to allow Mark and Sultan to
stay in contention, but could not maintain this standard throughout, which gave Cedric and Joris the
opportunity to break and take the set 6-4 for a 6-3 6-4 victory.
Ladies' Doubles Final
Malika Sood & Christine Thompson (1) versus Elena Valarche & Philippa Glynn
Umpire : Marjan Denis
As an unseeded pair, Elena and Philippa considered themselves outgunned prior to the match, and set themselves the worthwhile
objective of ensuring at least that they were not subject to a humiliating double bagel (as a 6-0 6-0 loss is known in the
trade). This they achieved through Elena's flat but weighty serve (which can stay very
low on grass) which set them up with a chance in the resultant rallies. But otherwise the weight and accuracy of
the groundstokes from both Malika and Christine together with their presence at the net told, and Malika and Christine
won the match comfortably 6-1 6-1.
Presentation of Trophies - Phil Hardy
More pictures to come.
Friday 25 (day 14)
We have just heard from Ed Nightingale (who snapped his Achilles tendon on Tuesday just after the
start of his Mixed Doubles match). He saw a specialist this afternoon and has been
recommended to have an operation on Tuesday. Apparently this was a close, tough call.
Thursday 24 (day 13)
Kate Povey, 2005 Ladies' singles champion and her toddler daughter Laura came along to see old
friends. Everything is going well with their apple orchard in the West Country.
In the men's semi-finals, in accordance with the seedings, Cedric de la Chaise defeated Jeff Fine. The
winning margin was 6-1 6-2.
In the other men's semi-final Sultan Gangji fared less well against Mark Stapleton, losing 6-0 6-1.
In the semi-finals of the Ladies' Doubles, Philippa Glynn and Elena
Valarche took on Alexa Tilley and Ros Norkett, the number two seeds. The first set was an easy ride
for the seeds, Alexa and Ros. In the second set Elena and Philippa decided to change sides - they had to try
something, and somehow this got them going, reaching 5 all. By this point Elena was very dominant at the
net. At this point Elena and Philippa broke the opponents and held to take the second set 7-5. Unfortunately this match was run in parallel with
the Mixed Doubles Final below, and both matches reached the Champions tie break at the same
time. By the Champions tie break Elena's net play was in full
swing, and Elena and Philippa, the challengers, had a relatively easy tie-break to win 10-3 and take the match
0-6 7-5 [10-3].
The highlight of the day was the Mixed Doubles Final, featuring Mark and Ludmilla Stapleton
against Sultan Gangji and Christine Thompson. The Stapletons got off to the faster start and took the first
set 6-2, but Sultan and Christine came back in the second set to take it 6-3. The ensuing Champions tie break
was very close, but Sultan (playing to justify his choice of seeds for this event) and Christine just gained the edge to take it
10-8 for a 2-6 6-3 [10-8] victory.
Wednesday 23 July (day 12)
There were five matches today.
Paul O'Flynn took on Sultan Gangji in the remaining men's singles quarter final match. Paul said he enjoyed the match but he was no match for Sultan who
won 6-2 6-1.
In the first Ladies' Singles semi-final, Marjan Denis played Malika Sood The previous time these two had met
had been in 2006 in the quarter finals where Malika had won a close fought match 7-5 4-6 6-4. Of course Malika was
only 11 then. While she hit some excellent shots, frustratingly, Marjan did not produce her best tennis overall. Marjan made some unforced
errors and sometimes returned balls short (often but not always under pressure from Malika's weight of shot), allowing Malika to hit a number of winners to the corners. Of course it is a
tribute to Malika's tennis that she was able to put most of these shots away without error. The final score was
6-2 6-1 to Malika.
In the second Ladies' Singles semi-final, Alexa Tilley played Christine Thompson. Christine sometimes
takes a while to
get going in a match, and Alexa adopted a tactic of giving her no pace to hit, preferring instead to
put gentle topspin balls down the centre of the court. Christine had real difficulty dealing with
these and made a number of
unforced errors. Further, Alexa is super-fit, doing a lot of running in her spare time, and her motto is
never to stop running until the ball has bounced twice, however hopeless the cause seems. As a result she
was able to chase down a number of balls that Christine must have thought she had hit for outright winners, which increased
Christine's frustration. On this basis Alexa was able to take the first set 6-3. Christine sensibly
changed her tactics in
the second set and started to chip and place balls rather than keeping with the high-risk strategy of pacy
winners off Alexa's moon balls, and
a rather tactical battle ensued. Christine slowly got the better of Alexa on this basis, but in my view
Alexa made a strategic
mistake in returning a number of easy short balls straight down the middle of the court back to Christine, rather than going
for a down-the-line winner, which appeared to be an option open to her on a number of occasions. This
might have given
her a better chance. As a result
Christine took the second set 6-2. Unfortunately I had to drive to Nottingham and missed the third set of this
fascinating encounter, but I was told it went a similar way to the second set, and Christine was the deserved winner
3-6 6-2 6-3. We look forward to a hard hitting final on Saturday between Christine and Malika Sood.
In the Men's Doubles semi-finals Sultan Gangji and Mark Stapleton had no obvious trouble in beating
Simon Nelson and Brian Coffey 6-1 6-0.
Cedric de al Chaise and Joris Fletcher (number two seeds) versus James Angus and Ollie Brock produced a close first set at 5 all, before
the seeds rose to the occasion and took the set 7-5. But the second set was much less even as the Cedric and Joris
took it 6-1 for a 7-5 6-1 victory.
Tuesday 22 July (day 11)
There were five matches today.
Jeff Fine, unseeded, having summarily despatched the number 3 seed Tim Allen, continued
his excellent singles form against Ed Nightingale, the number 5 seed. This time Jeff's margin of victory was
6-3 6-1. He is determined to prove the seeding committee wrong and has palpably succeeded!! Half
way through the match Ed's Achilles tendon started to ache.
After their fine victory over Malika Sood and Tim Allen, Cedric de la Chaise and Jane Boyle had to face up to
Ludmilla and Mark Stapleton. The Stapleton's adopted the tactic of playing on Jane, as
they rightly reckoned they would not get much mileage out of Cedric. It clearly paid of as they won 6-3 6-2.
After a 30 minute break Ed Nightingale resumed his play, this time partnering Alexa Tilley in the mixed
against Christine Thompson and Sultan Gangji, and it was at this point that
the evening started to go wrong. The match proceeded with serve to 1-2, at which point,
with Ed serving, he pushed off his back leg, only to hear a snapping sound, and on landing on it found that it
was no longer working. It sounded for all the world like a snapped Achilles tendon, and this was later
confirmed. Ed was administered ice and laid down flat on the court wrapped in a blanket with support for his
head, and appeared to be in remarkably good spirits, all things considering. These considerations include the fact
that he is getting married the weekend after next and was then expecting to go on a honeymoon hiking in Indonesia for
5 weeks. An ambulance was summoned - a West Heath first - as no-one has been that seriously
injured before in living memory. The paramedics confirmed the likely diagnosis, loaded Ed into a fold-up
wheel chair, and bundled him off to the Royal Free where he was to be met by his fiancée. We were not entirely sure
what her reaction to his tennis-induced mishap might be, but a later text from him confirmed a 50% tear, no surgery, and that a
plaster cast had already been applied which would remain in place for a couple of months. Then he was sent home
on crutches.
Ollie Brock and James Angus played against Dan Braverman and Bill Thom. It was a close fought
match in which Ollie and James took the first set 6-4 and reached 5 all in the second with high hopes, only to be broken and
to cede the second set to Dan and Bill 7-5. The Champions tie break ensued and clearly the momentum started with
Dan and Bill. Fortunately for Ollie and James it did not remain there for long as Ollie and James excelled themselves
in the tie-break to take it 10-2 for a 6-4 5-7 [10-2] victory.
The evening's tennis entertainment was concluded with a ladies doubles match featuring Jane Boyle
and Ludmilla Stapleton against Christine Thompson and Malika Sood, the number one seeds. The number 1 seeds soon
found themselves 5-2 up, but were pegged back to 5 all and forced into a first-set tie break. Jane and Ludmilla
quickly reached 3-0 up, but then the seeds regained their composure and proceeded to even the score at 3 all
on the change of ends, then take the rest of the points to win the first set 7-3. In the second set, in
increasing gloom (see photo), Malika and
Christine proceeded to take the set 6-2 for a 7-67-3 6-2 victory.
At this point the second disaster of the day struck. Just as the spectators were getting peckish in anticipation of
the advertised Moussaka, Sultan Gangji called at the Cumberland to collect it only to find that Robbie, the chef, had completely
forgotten he was supposed to make it. Sultan did the only think he could think of and headed for Hendon for an
Indian Biriani take-away which was supplied in a large plastic container, and around 22:00 dinner was served (only an hour
late). The official story put out was that the name of the chef was "Moussaka", and that the rather spicy curry had
always been on the menu. This was supplemented by delicious salads from Rachael Gangji and assorted puddings from Moira Duncan
and Marjan Denis. Everyone had a good meal, and the delay was forgiven.
The third disaster of the day was fairly minor in that Marjan forgot to put her banana toffee pudding in the oven, but this was
speedily rectified once she realised.
I am off to Nottingham for an IBM (work) technical convention for the next two evenings - an event which somehow always coincides with the
Wednesday and Thursday West Heath Gourmet Dinners - so the web site service may be somewhat
limited, to probably just an update of the draw sheets for the next two days.
Monday 21 July (day 10)
There were three matches played today and an outstanding dinner was prepared by Marjan Denis and Ros Norkett.
- Martin Schotness played Paul O'Flynn. Apparently they play a lot of friendly singles
together and Paul reckons it is usually close but he wins about 60% of the time. However, this time was a bit of
a one way street as Paul was the victor by a margin of 6-1 6-1.
- Liz Goodfellow, returning this season to West Heath after a break of a season or so, took on Alexa
Tilley. Liz is a very experienced single player, having won the tournament in 1995 and 1998. However,
anno domini has slowed her down a little and Alexa was able to break her a couple of times in each set for
a 6-2 6-2 victory.
- Alexa Tilley then paired up with Ed Nightingale to compete with Michelle Ganz and
Darren Lee. Michelle put in some good serves and forced some weak returns, some of which
Darren put away by lurking at the net. But they both found the powerful topspin of Ed Nightingale difficult to
deal with, and Alexa was always full of running, often running back from the net to the baseline to cover opponents lobs
over the head of Ed (which I personally would have expected the man to run for). With the pressure on, Darren
was less effective at the net than in the previous round, and the pair did not win sufficient points to give themselves a
chance. The net margin was a 6-0 6-1 victory for Alexa and Ed.
Sunday 20 July (day 9)
Five of the eight matches played today were in the Mixed Doubles.
- Darren Lee & Paul Rubie played Sultan Gangji & Mark Stapleton in their second round men's doubles
match. The number 1 seeds were the victors by a 6-0 6-1 margin, but I hope that Darren and Paul enjoyed the
match
- Cedric de la Chaise versus Simon Nelson was a similarly one-sided affair, with Cedric
winning 6-1 6-0. I am afraid I have no further information on this match.
- Moira Duncan and Charles Rubinstein took on Elena Valarche and James Angus in the second
round of the mixed doubles. In the first set Elena and James swiftly established a 3-1 lead, but Moira and Charles pulled
it back to 3-4 down, with hopes of evening the match, but it was not to be as Elena and James won the next two games to
take the first set 6-3. In the second set Charles lost his opening serve, but Moira held hers for a 2-1 lead to Elena and
James, but this was the last game that Moira and Charles won. There were some good points in the match but
Elena and James were the better players and deserved their winning margin of 6-3 6-1.
- In the second mixed doubles of the day Ros Norkett and Ollie Brock challenged the number 2 seeds
Ludmilla and Mark Stapleton. The first set was closely fought up to 5 all, but then the Stapletons broke to
take it 7-5. In the second set Mark and Ludmilla held Ros and Ollie to just one game to win the match 7-5 6-1.
Ollie will be
missed when he returns shortly to the USA as he is always great fun to play with or against.
- Christine Thompson and Sultan Gangji, the number one seeds took on Elena
Valarche and James Angus who were flush with their earlier victory. Unfortunately this was not quite such
an easy task for the challengers but they put up a very good fight in the first set with James hitting some good passing shots
against Sultan, and Elena putting pressure on Christine by coming to the net at every opportunity. But Sultan and
Christine found their edge to take the first set 6-3. The second set was a much tighter affair, in which the
challengers played even better. Elena is always determined, and James has some excellent strokes and was playing
near his best. As a result the set reached 6 all. But in the resulting second set tie break Sultan and Christine were able to
force more points and finally took it 7-3 for the match and a 6-3 7-67-3 victory.
- Ros Norkett took on Christine Thompson in the second round of the ladies singles. Ros seemed
to start well in the first game with Christine making a few errors, but Christine won the game eventually, going on to take
the next 5 games as well for a 6-0 first set. In the second set Ros was definitely playing below par, but managed to win
one game of Christine, and lost the set 6-1. Ros seemed to be hitting the ball back to Christine most of the time,
and the bystanders were not sure whether this was due to Christine's weight of shot and regular awkward placing of shots
back to Ros, though this did not seem to be a
factor in some of the points. Christine's winning margin was 6-0 6-1. The real question is whether Christine
is able to step up her game for the final (assuming she beats Alexa Tilley or Liz Goodfellow), because Malika Sood is going to
provide a much tougher test. However, Christine has been seen playing points against Sultan Gangji, presumably to
provide a tougher test then she is likely to meet before the final itself.
- Marjan Denis and Paul O'Flynn played Ludmilla and Mark Stapleton, the number two seeds on grass court 3. It appeared to
be a good game with some fine points from both sides, but Mark's presence at the net and Ludmilla's volleying told over the
classical strokes of Marjan and the enthusiasm of Paul. As Paul said afterwards, Marjan and Paul did get 6
games, but unfortunately they were distributed 2 in the first set and 4 in the second, so the Stapletons were able to take the
match comfortably at 6-2 6-4.
- There was no doubt that the highlight of the day was the mixed doubles match where Malika Sood and Tim Allen took on
Jane Boyle and Cedric de la Chaise. There was some superb tennis from all four players in the first set, with
Jane's slice and tactical nous, Malika's pacy shots, Cedric's athleticism and power, and Tim providing
equal power and accuracy. It was excellent tennis for players and spectators alike, and would
not have been out of place in the final. The first set went to 6 all, and Malika and Tim just had a slight edge in the tie break to
take it 7-5 for a 7-6 set. In the second set Cedric stepped up the pace and was prepared to run for anything. On
one occasion he ran for a superb cross-court forehand hit by Tim, and one which everyone had already labelled a winner, but
Cedric made contact with it about half-way across the next court, to hit it in and recover in time to enable
his side to win the point. The momentum swung around to Cedric and Jane, and they ended up taking the set
6-2 to the delight of the crowd. Since, at this point, both tournament organisers had departed, the combatants
decided that they would prefer to play a normal tie-break third set, rather than undergo the lottery of a champions tie
break. Clearly the spectators were delighted with this decision, and the fine tennis continued apace. In the
end, Cedric and Jane emerged the victors with a score of 6-77-6 6-2 6-4.
Saturday 19 July (day 8)
- Although the weather forecast threatened showers all day, there was no rain after a sprinkling at 10 a.m. Ten matches
were played today, - all but one on grass - which, together with the matches to be played tomorrow will leave the tournament in good shape for the second
week.
- Daniel Coffey and Saswat Bhandra took on Cedric de la Chaise and Joris Fletcher. I don't know exactly
what happened, but Daniel's dad, Brian said that Daniel was back rather earlier than he was expecting. Neither are we
really sure of the score, but comments like "thrashed" lead one to believe that it was probably 6-0 6-0.
- Peter Davies and Susan Grossman played Darren Lee and Michelle Ganz. The match could have gone
either way at first, but Darren was very effective at the net, with Michelle scampering at the baseline and hitting consistent ground strokes, and Susan was not playing as
well as the previous evening. In the end it was 6-4 6-4 to Darren and Michelle.
- The first surprise of the tournament happened on court 3 where Simon Nelson and Brian Coffey
were challenging the number 3 seeds Jeff Fine and Jani Petrou. The first set was very close and went to a
tie break which, unpredictably, Brian and Simon took 7-67-5. However Jeff and Jani stepped up their game in the
second set to take it 3-6, leading to this year's innovation - the champions tie break. This was as close as the
first set tie break, but Simon and Brian just had the edge and took it 10-8 to win the match 7-67-5 6-3 [10-8]. Having
played Jeff and Jani earlier in the week, Jeff is the steadier of the two. Jani has a hard serve and
groundstrokes, but they are inconsistent and can break down under pressure. Simon Nelson on form has some very good
deep groundstrokes and is no slouch at the net, and if Brian is on form he can also play very well. I imagine that Simon and Brian
would have been putting as much pressure as possible on Jani, rather than Jeff, and this may have given them the slight
margin needed to win a very close-fought match and cause the first major upset of the tournament.
- Cedric de la Chaise vs Richard Nightingale seemed to be over quite quickly. I did not see much of it, but Cedric
seemed to win comfortably and this is reflected in the winning margin of 6-1 6-0.
- Alexa Tilley and Stephanie Stapleton elected to play on shale, perhaps to be out of the limelight. Stephanie had
been somewhat reluctant to enter the tournament, but had prevously been
offered a "qualifying" match against Jan Prower earlier in the week. Jan admitted later that
she had not played singles since the age of 15, and was giving Stephanie around 50 years. This preliminary encounter
led to a 6-2 6-3 victory for Stephanie, and she felt emboldened to play Alexa, offering to withdraw the walkover
reported in this column for earlier in the week. We are grateful to Jan for stepping up to the mark to get Stephanie
involved. On the shale Stephanie felt she had acquitted herself well, winning a satisfactory tally of points, though
Alexa did win the match 6-0 6-0.
- Playing social tennis, Ludmilla Stapleton suddenly seemed to have a major problem and rushed off court saying she had
"broken her vibrator" and seeking help from Mark. We do not know what Mark said or did but
after a short time Milly seemed to be satisfied with the outcome and was able to resume the social
set. Apparently something similar had also happened at David Lloyds.
- Elena Valarche and Philippa Glynn versus Moira Duncan and Marjan Denis was a rather tense
affair. Moira and Marjan broke to get themselves 3-1 up in the first set, but proceded to lose the
next 5 games to lose the set 6-3. Elena rushed the net as much as possible, as usual, and Philippa played steady
strokes, giving away few cheap points. In the second set Moira and Marjan were a break down, but pulled it back to
6 all, at which point the (second set) tie-break kicked in. This looked pretty even at 5 all, but then there was much
kerfuffle as the players first of all tried to change ends, and secondly seemed not to know what side Moira should be
serving from. After a few minutes Sultan went on court to try to sort it out. Most likely Elena had not had her
deuce court (second) service point at 5 all. Play then resumed and the score got to 6 all, but then Marjan was broken and
Elena and Philippa held the point for a good win over a pair who, on paper, would have been expected to win.
- After a suitable break Marjan Denis and Elena Valarche were back on opposite ends of a court again, this time
in their singles fixture. Marjan took the first set relatively easily at 6-2, and we thought that the second set would
follow shortly, but Elena is nothing if not determined, and dug in to build up an early lead, finally serving to take the second
set 6-3. In the third set the notable battle was not so much on court as in Marjan's head, as she struggled to gain some
advantage from her stronger ground strokes. The third set became a ding-dong battle as both players broke and were then
broken more than once.
The critical point came at 4 games all, when Marjan seemed to put her game together and
hold service.
She then was able to put pressure on Elena when she was serving to stay in the match. Marjan seemed to
come good just at the right time and was able to break Elena to take the final set 6-4 and a tense and closely fought
match was thus won by Marjan 6-2 3-6 6-4. Marjan commented afterwards that she had felt embarassed that the spectators
had been overly partisan in clapping when she won a point but not when Elena did.
Certainly it was true that Marjan hit a number
of outright winners, which were applauded, whereas Elena's points tended to consist of putting Marjan under pressure and causing her
to make errors, which sportsmanship dictates should not be applauded. But it is a very interesting point for Marjan to make.
- Jeff Fine took on Tim Allen the number 4 seed, and, possibly spurred on by the earlier doubles loss to Brian Coffey and Simon
Nelson, played a fine game to put Tim under pressure. Jeff proceeded to win the first set 6-4 and then took the second 6-3, to
force the second upset of the day.
- Jane Boyle versus Malika Sood (now 13) was the evening entertainment for the spectators. However, Malika is
not the club singles champion for nothing and her tennis has moved on apace since last
year and she has grown a few inches into the bargain. Further, Jane Boyle (a nine-times former
champion), was adjudged to be giving Malika 52 years.
Using her strong ground strokes
and fine serve, Malika was able to put Jane under consistent pressure, forcing
some weak returns and shots from Jane which
Malika generally put away, though she did make quite a few unforced errors on these points too.
Both Jane and Malika employed
a number of drop shots, and Jane won a number of points from these, but it was not really enough. Malika deservedly won
the match 6-1 6-1 and Jane commented later that she had felt under pressure from Malika on most points.
Friday 18 July (day 7)
- Due to the variable weather, only 5 of the 8 scheduled matches for this evening
were played, but at least there was a solid band of spectators determined to brave the
elements to watch them.
- Ros Norkett (old tennis pro) and Jen Ehr (twelve)
started their match on shale, presumably because the grass was too wet.
Jen played very well in the first set, and took it 6-4. But
then the contestants switched to grass, with a short knock up. Ros came into her own on grass and proceded to take the
second set 6-0. In the third set matters were a little more equal,
but Ros's grass court experience told as she took the third set 6-4 and
the match 4-6 6-0 6-4. Jen is already a very competent player (see
the report on her later doubles). With practice and the few extra inches
that the next 12 months will bring her tennis will be that much stronger,
and I doubt that Ros would win this particular fixture next year.
- Sue and Jen Ehr took on Ros Norkett and Alexa Tilley in
the evening's ladies doubles fixture. The first set was rather
uneven, as Ros and Alexa took it 6-1. In the second set Sue and Jen
were broken early on, but broke back to make it 4 all. There were
some tremendous baseline rallies on the shale between Jen and the
opponents, one of which must have easily been over 20 strokes.
However, with the opponents serving first the pressure was on the
Ehrs, and Sue had to serve at 4-5 down to stay in the match, but could
not find the necessary consistency, and Ros and Alexa took the set 6-4
and the match 6-1 6-4. I did not see the whole match - only the last
part of the second set, but as far as I can see Jen was playing some
beautiful consistent groundstrokes and holding her own at the net and on
serve, seemingly completely unflappable. However, her mother seemed
not to have left work behind and was most distinctly feeling the
pressure. I would suggest to Jen that she must find a way to calm
her mother's nerves during a match in order to make further progress next
year!!. The opponents, however, did not seem to have twigged what was
going on, and kept playing on Jen when the opposite tactic might have
yielded more advantage.
- I can only conclude that Paul O'Flynn and Nick Lyons are not
perhaps quite as tough as they would like us to believe. They
started their match and got to 5 all, but a spot of rain seemed to have
put them off and instead of waiting for it to subside or
continuing on shale they decided to adopt the unusual procedure of spinning a coin to see who went through.
It appears that Paul won this, but there are distinct rumblings
from the direction of the tournament referees that Paul cannot play on
Saturday and should have conceded instead. The next
fixtures are against Martin Schotness and Sultan Gangji to be followed by
the men's semis which are due to be played on Wednesday, so maybe there is
justtime to get these two matches in.
- Ollie Brock and Dhananjay Talwar appeared to be having a good
game on the shale. There were some good rallies and good winning
shots on both sides. However, it seemed that Ollie's greater
experience was telling and he was able to put pressure on Dhananjay, who ended up making a number of
semi-forced errors. This resulted in Ollie winning the match 6-2 6-2.
- Richard Nightingale and Jan Powers versus Peter Davies and Susan Grossman was played on
shale. Richard was a slow starter in this match and, partly due to this and partly to Susan's new
found strokes and confidence and Peter's anticipation and speed about the court and ability to return
the ball in awkward places, Jan and Richard found themselves 6-0 down, losing the first set very
quickly, almost before they had realised what had happened. But at this point Richard really
got going (as in his men's doubles match on Sunday) and started to serve much harder and more consistently and to hit his groundstrokes much better. The result was that, after Susan won her
opening serve, Richard held his first service game in the second set to level it at 1 all, with Susan
unable to return his new-found deep and pacy first serve. There were some flaky games from
Peter and Susan, but they just managed to keep their noses ahead for a 3-1 lead before Susan was
broken to get the score back on serve. However, at this point Susan moved behind the
baseline to take Richard's serve, and although her returns were not strong, they were in, getting the
pair into the point and enabling them to to take Richard's service game to obtain a 4-2 lead. After that, by keeping the ball away from
Richard as much as possible, Susan held and Jan was broken to give Susan and Peter the
match 6-0 6-2. Susan admitted later that she had never won a match before, but seemed
quite confident throughout the match and hit some good strokes.
Thursday 17 July (day 6)
- Liz Goodfellow versus Philippa Glyn turned out to be the tactical battle of the tournament so
far. Philippa has improved her tennis immeasurably in the past few years and now has some great strokes. Liz
has the benefit of many years of expertise on grass. In the first set Philippa played beautifully, and Liz had
no answer, resulting in Philippa winning the set 6-1. In the second Liz changed tactics, using her native cunning
with regard to grass court play, but Philippa did not, and this allowed Liz the advantage to take the
set 6-2. Unfortunately the 3rd set was the same story, resulting in a win for Liz of 1-6 6-2 6-2. There were some
great rallies throughout the match, and the concensus was that it was the tactical switch rather than better strokes
that gave Liz the victory.
- Julie Fletcher and Vandana Talwarenjoyed themselves immensely playing against Malika Sood and Christine
Thompson. Neither were they intimidated by their opponents, The match had some good
rallies and Julie and Vandana had a go when they could. However, it was to no avail and Malika and
Christine took the match 6-0 6-0.
- Richard Nightingale continued in his rich vein of form in his singles match against Yusuf
Samad, though you would not have guessed that was going to be the case from his dreadful knock-up. There were some extraordinary rallies in which both players scraped up the low-bouncing
grass court ball (you should have seen Rachael Gangi's acting out of one of the best of these strokes when telling me
about it!) Further, the points were played out at a real lick as Richard was very keen, running to pick up balls
almost as fast as he scampered after them during play. Richard's dramatic improvement in play from the
knock-up as he came to life to start play proper earned him a 6-1 6-2 victory, and it seemed the match was much
enjoyed by the spectators.
Wednesday 16 July (day 5)
- In their match against Malika Sood and Tim Allen, Sue Ehr and Huw Crompton lost the first set 6-2. In the
second set they were broken early, but, with more luck, could have broken back to level the set at 5-5, but in the end Malika
and Tim won 6-2 6-4.
- Ollie Brock vs Brian Coffey had some good rallies. Brian claims his knee is much better nowadays but
still wears strapping. At least he has given up the red shorts. However, Ollie took the honours 6-1 6-4.
- Simon Nelson and Sally Tornow did not play to their potential in their fixture against Ed
Nightingale and Alexa Tilley, the number four seeds. However, the seeds were playing well and won
6-1 6-4
- Gill Green has now withdrawn from all 3 events as she has been feeling unwell.
Tuesday 15 July (day 4)
- Paul Rubie said that he played poorly against Sultan Gangji, perhaps intimidated by
Sultan's historical reputation. The result was a 6-3 6-1 win for Sultan.
- Against Jane Boyle and Cedric de la Chaise, mother and son Vandana and Dhananjay Talwar were not intimidated
and played quite well, especially considering it was their first competitive match. However, the class of the
third seeds told and the result was a 6-0 6-1 victory to the seeds, Jane and Cedric.
- James Angus withdrew from his first round men's singles match with Martyn Schotness at the
time the match was due to start. We don't really know why,
but James does have a tendency to get injured easily and one suspects this may have
had something to do with it.
- Michael Goldman vs Mark Stapleton was not as one sided as Mark's 6-1 6-1 victory might
lead one to believe. Michael played some good points and pushed Mark hard in Mark's own service games, and
was perhaps a little hard done by to come out of the match with only 2 games to his credit.
- In his match with Simon Nelson, Bill Thom served well, but missed a number of his trademark dink
shots over the net. With that plus perhaps the age gap and Simon's more powerful
strokes, Simon emerged as 6-1 6-1 victor.
Monday 14 July (day 3)
- Huw Crompton versus Walter Reid was a tight match, with both players coming to the net at
times to seek advantage and put the other under pressure. Huw served well and Walter hit some
consistent shots, both players making use of the angles where possible. This resulted in some fine and
watchable rallies, though there were some unforced errors from both sides at times and Walter's face was a
picture to behold once or twice. Huw managed a break in each set, including one early on in
the second set and managed to close both out on his serve for the first time of asking and a 6-4 6-4 victory,
- Peter Davies and Huw Crompton were the challengers to the number 3
seeds Jeff Fine and Jani Petou. Matters proceeded with serve in the first set. It looked
unlikely that Jani's hard serve would be broken unless he double faulted sufficiently (which he
did only occasionally). In the end Peter was broken at 3-4 and the seeds closed out
the set for 6-3. There was a discussion on one of Peter's
second serves with Jani standing almost on the T and could not get out of the way in time of a serve that was
clearly going out. Jeff tried to claim the point but the barrack-room lawyers at the other end were
not having this, as it appeared that Jeff had told Jani to stand there to put the server off. In the second set
the challengers lost their way a little. Huw lost his serve and Jani held his. Then at break point
down on Peter's serve Huw called that one the ball was going out but it landed plumb on the line and was
called in by Peter who mis-hit it to concede the double break. Jeff was serving for the match and
was getting the upper hand but for some reason saw fit to question a clear and early let call from
Peter, demanding that someone else call lets, particularly when he was employing his spin
serve. Peter (who was not receiving and therefore believed it was his function to call lets as he heard
them) was not having this and held up proceedings to
explain this, but it only delayed the final and inevitable result by a minute or so, as Jeff made no mistake to
close it out 6-3 6-2. The verdict was that the power of Jani and consistency and guile of Jeff were more
than a match for Peter and Huw's serving, Huw's enthusiasm for attacking, and the challengers unforced
error rate which sunk them in the end.
- Richard and Ed Nightingale versus Ollie Brock and James Angus, the number 4
seeds. In the first set the seeds were well on top, taking it 6-0. The second set, however, was
a much fiercer battle. It looked like Richard raised his game, taking Ed with him somewhat,
and forcing a number of errors from James in particular. The net result was that the score got
to 5 all before the seeds managed to break the Nighingales and close it out. The last set was
very close and watchable tennis, and the few spectators were kept well entertained by some lengthy rallies.
- Darren Lee and Michell Ganz versus Clare Macnamara and Barry Adamson was a very closely
fought affair. Barry and Clare took the tie break in the first set 8-6. There was a number of
long rallies punctuated by attempts to intercept by the men when they were at the net, and some good
running for the ball from all parties. In the second set Michelle and Darren prevailed to take it
6-3. Michelle and Darren were able to keep up the pressure in the champions tie break to edge
ahead, then accelerate to 9-4 to give themselves 5 match points, but they only needed the first of them
to take the match 6-78-6 6-3 [10-4]
Sunday 13 July - Day 2 (or day 4 for Sultan).
- Simon Nelson and Brian Coffey beat Pete Goldsmith and Laurent Deckers in what
appears to have been a tight match in which the winning pair won a minority of the games. Simon and
Brian both have some good strokes but Brian is not as mobile as he used to be as he has knee problems
nowadays. Anyway these two took a very tight first set by 9-7 in the tie break. Pete and Laurent
must have been spurred to greater effort by this narrow miss and took the second set 6-1. All was then decided by
a champions tie break in which Simon and Brian once more gained the ascendancy to take it 10-3 for a final score of
7-69-7 1-6 [10-8]
- Huw Crompon and Sue Ehr's match with Vince Sudbery and Julia Abbott was rather one
sided. Using flat groundstokes and timely interceptions, Huw and Sue ran away with it until 5-0, at which point
Vince then held serve, but that was it as Sue and Huw took the set 6-1. Some good rallies in the second set but
Sue and Huw were well drilled and closed it out 6-0 for a 6-1 6-0 victory.
- Bill Thom and Dan Braverman took on Aruna Gunasekera and Nick Lyons in another close encounter
in the men's doubles. It was the power and placement of Dan and the guile and experience of Bill versus a
huge serve from Aruna on the opposite side. The first set went to Bill and Dan 6-4, but Aruna and Nick pulled
it back by winning the second 6-3. The ensuing champions tie-break was also very close, but Bill and Dan inched
ahead and then held their nerve to take it and the match [10-8] by the narrowest of margins.
- Jane Boyle versus Sally Tornowappears to have been relatively one sided, with Jane winning 6-1 6-2.
- The same score was recorded in another ladies singles match, this time with Marjan Denis beating
Clare Macnamara 6-1 6-2.
- Alexa Tilley was given a walkover by Stephanie Stapleton.
- Christine Thompson versus Moira Duncan was a much less one-sided affair. Christine was
caught on the hop by Moira's powerful forehand, and found herself 4-2 down in the first set. Unfortunately Moira
got a little nervous at this point, particularly as the match suddenly became much more populat
with the bystanders, and could not close out the set, letting Christine back in to take it 6-4. In the second set
Christine had less trouble and took it 6-2 for a 6-4 6-2 victory. Moira was relatively pleased with the result as she
had been expecting rather a drubbing.
- Anne Marie Williams and Laurent Deckers took on Gabriella and Brian Coffey. This was Anne Marie's first
appearance at the club (and hence on grass) this season, and bolstered by Laurent's strong game the pair went on the
take the first set 6-3. They then went on to take the second set 6-1. Gabriella was a little nervous during the match.
- At 17:00 we were treated to the sight of three concurrent mixed doubles matches on the show courts.
- On court 1 the above winners of the previous mixed match Anne Marie Williams and Laurent Deckers were going to have
their work cut out to beat Sultan Gangji and Christine Thompson. I felt obliged to give the underdogs some
tips on how to neutralise Sultan by keeping him on the hop and hitting the ball out of his reach, and how to induce
the occasional error from Christine, but it proved to be a waste of time as Sultan and Christine proceeded to win 6-1 6-1. The challengers
got a reasonable smattering of points, including some fine efforts by Anne Marie who passed Sultan down the line
once or twice, but Anne Marie's serve is too weak and Laurent's is a little inconsistent when he
is having to try to put pressure on a pair of ex-club champions. Nevertheless a good time was had by all.
- On court 3 Charles Rubinstein and Moira Duncan took on Julie and Joris Fletcher. It is fair to say that
Joris was the strongest player on the court and Julie is, as yet, the weakest. In the first set Moira and Charles were able to
take it 6-2, but Joris then decided to go for a lot more balls, with some consistent but only medium-paced support from Julie, and
brought matters even with a 6-3 second set win. Around about this point there was a discussion at the opposite end of the
court on the morality on playing on Julie all the time just to win, as Charles thought this was unsporting. However, his
partner fortunately persuaded him that it was fair and also necessary and the effect was apparent in the ensuing champions' tie break which
Moira and Charles won 10-8 for a 6-2 3-6 [10-8] victory.
- On court 2 Paul O'Flynn and Marjan Denis were struggling a little against Bill Thom and Liz Goodfellow. It is good to see
Liz back at West Heath this season, and her consistent and tactical style of play caused Paul and Marjan some problems, and Marjan
especially got a little nervous and started to miss her shots. Bill and Liz took
the first set on a tie break. Paul and Marjan came back to take the second set 6-2, resulting in a champions' tie
break. At first this seemed to be going all with Paul and Marjan as they changed ends at 4-2 up, but the tide
turned a little in the middle and the momentum switched to Bill and Liz who got back on serve. However, in turn this pair
then made a few mistakes towards the end to lose the last 3 points and give Paul and Marjan the set 10-6 for a final 6-7 6-2 [10-8] victory.
- At this point most of the spectators drifted off to dinner, but a determined few stayed on to watch Paul Rubie beat
David Cohen 6-1 6-1. Paul has improved markedly (though Sue Lattimer reckons she can still beat him).
In particular Paul now has a very consistent forehand and is well capable of hitting winners off it, though his backhand
still leaves a little to be desired, and, being tall, his movement forward to the short ball is not as effective as it might have
been. His height gives him a good advantage on the serve too, and David did not have enough in the
way of power or cunning to beat Paul, at least once Paul had decided that he did not have to serve and volley
every point in order to win the match.
Saturday 12 July - Day 1 (OK Sultan day 3 but no-one ever plays before the first weekend!(.
- Walter Reid beat Pete Goldsmith 6-2 6-1. The match was a lot closer than the score
might indicate as a number of games went to deuce. However, Pete broke his racket
towards the end of the first set and had to play the remainder of the match with a wooden
racket, which cannot have helped!!
- Charles Rubinstein versus Laurent Deckers was another early match. Laurent took the first set
easily 6-2, but Charles got his act together a bit more in the second, and used his innate cunning to win it 7-5 and
level the match. However, in the third Charles could not continue to dominate and Laurent got on top once more
to win the match 6-2 5-7 6-3.
- He said he was just visiting, but I believe he just could not keep away from the first day of the West Heath Tournament.
Last September Martyn Raybould took the whole Raybould clan off to Melbourne, Australia for two
years (hasn't it been quiet recently?). But today he turned up
at the Club with only a pale tan, claiming that it was winter in Australia, or some such feeble
excuse. He says he is missing
West Heath and London already but has to return to Melbourne on Sunday.
- Paul O'Flynn and Mark Webb made heavy weather of their match versus Michael Goldman and
Martin Schotness. Paul and Mark took a close first set to 5-5 and proceeded to win it 7-5, but thereafter things
did not proceed quite so smoothly as Michael and Martin stepped up the pace to take the second set 6-4. At
this point we had our first champions tie-break of the tournament (tie break, first to 10 with a lead of 2 - only for the doubles events). Paul and
Mark did well at first, but got pegged back, then managed to nick it at the end by 10-8, for a final score of 7-5, 4-6, [10-8].
- Vince Sudbery versus Bill Thom was a ding-dong singles battle. As the young pretender Vince
could not keep up with the tactical nous and experience of Bill during the first set, which Bill took
6-4. But in the second set
Vince worked out a game plan of hitting the ball away from Bill, instead of to him, and this seemed to do the
trick for a while as Vince took the second set 6-2. The third set started very evenly, with the score at
2-2, but Bill must have worked out a way to counter Vince's second set tactics and found himself serving
for the match at 5-4 up. Bill looked to be getting on top in the game and at one point Vince
threw himself in desparation at a ball and end up flat on his back. We thought he had gone on strike, but
he eventually picked himself up, lost the final point and went on after a 30 minute break to play his doubles.....
- At the same time the other side of the next round tie was being decided. Simon
Nelson and Nikhil Sood decided that grass court 3 was too wet and dangerous and opted for shale court 1 instead.
This had the unfortunate effect that no-one could really follow what was going on. It appeared that Nikhil was hitting
the ball with much better style and technique than Simon, but when they got back to the clulbhouse it emerged that
experience and (for now) power had told and Simon had triumphed 6-1 6-0.
- Julie Fletcher versus Elena Valarche took place on grass court 1. As one might expect
with Elena on the court the match was decided by the net-rushing tactics of Elena. Julie was able to
win a number of points on the baseline rallies, but when Elena got a chance for a half-decent approach shot
she took it and Julie often missed the attempt at a pass or lob outright, so, in the end, Elena won 6-1 6-0.
- Once Vince Sudbery had had a half-hour break after his marathon and unrewarded singles exertions
he teemed up with Charles Rubinstein and they took on Darren Lee and Paul Rubie. Paul is
hitting the ball much more consistently nowadays and he and Darren had too much
power (and height) for Vince and Charles, and won by the comfortable margin of 6-2 6-3.
Whether Vince's former exertions had anything to do with it I do not know.
Tuesday 8 July - The 2008 West Heath Club Tournament draw is now on this web
page. The tournament will start on Thursday 10 July and first
round matches must be completed by Saturday 12 or Sunday 13 July. If you are in the men's singles and are not seeded then check carefully
to see if you have to play a Round 0 (preliminary round) match before the first weekend of
the tournament. Joint referees are Sultan Gangji and
Marjan Denis, so please
let them know if you have any questions or issues.
The cost is £3 for one event, and £5 for 2 or 3 events. Please pay Moira Duncan or Marjan Denis. As always, semi finals
will be played during our Gourmet Dinners week, from Monday 21 to Thursday 24
July. Sign up for the Gourmet Dinners on the sheets in the
clubhouse. Finals day is Saturday 26 July.
The tournament rules are in the clubhouse but can also be found here. The
aim is to publish results on the web site each night along with the occasional match report!
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles: Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies, Gossip, Rules
 |
Men's Open Singles
Holder : Cedric de la Chaise
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round (0) 1
Sat 12 July
|
Round 2
Wed 16
|
Round 3
Sat 19
|
Semi-finals
Thurs 24 |
Final
Sat 26
|
Winner |
| |
Cedric de la Chaise (1) |
Cedric de la Chaise
6-1 6-0
|
Cedric de la Chaise
6-1 6-0 |
Cedric de la Chaise
6-1 6-2
|
Cedric de la Chaise
6-3 7-67-5
|
Richard
Nightingale bt
Saswat Bhandra
6-2 6-4 |
Richard Nightingale
6-1 6-2
|
| Yusuf Samad |
| Bill Thom |
Bill Thom
6-4 2-6 6-4
|
Simon Nelson
6-1 6-1 |
| Vince Sudbery |
| Nikhil Sood |
Simon Nelson
6-1 6-0
|
| Simon Nelson (8) |
| |
Tim Allen (4) |
Jeff Fine
6-4 6-3 |
Jeff Fine
6-3 6-1
|
Laurent
Deckers bt
Charles Rubinstein
6-2 5-7 6-3 |
Jeff Fine
6-0 6-1 |
| Jeff Fine |
| Huw Crompton |
Huw Crompton
6-4 6-4
|
Ed Nightingale
6-3 6-1 |
Walter Reid bt
Pete Goldsmith 6-2 6-1 |
| Daniel Coffey |
Ed Nightingale
6-1 6-1
|
| Ed Nightingale(5) |
| James Angus(6) |
Martin Schotness
w/o |
Paul O'Flynn
6-1 6-1 |
Sultan Gangji
6-1 6-1 |
Mark Stapleton
6-0 6-1
|
| Martin Schotness |
Nick
Lyons bt
Christopher Cooper
6-2 6-2 |
Paul O'Flynn
5-5 w/o
(on the toss of a coin)
|
| Paul O'Flynn |
| Paul Rubie |
Paul Rubie
6-1 6-1 |
Sultan Gangji
6-3 6-1 |
| David Cohen |
| |
Sultan Gangji (3) |
| Ollie Brock (7) |
Ollie Brock
6-1 6-4 |
Ollie Brock
6-2 6-2
|
Mark Stapleton
6-3 6-2 |
| Brian Coffey |
| Peter Davies |
Dhananjay Talwar
w/o
|
| Dhananjay Talwar |
| Michael Goldman |
Michael Goldman
w/o
|
Mark Stapleton
6-1 6-1 |
| Aruna Gunasekera |
| |
Mark Stapleton (2) |
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles: Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies, Gossip, Rules
 |
Ladies' Open Singles
Holder : Malika Sood
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round 1
Sun 13 July
|
Round 2
Sun 20 July
|
Semi-final
Wed 23 July
|
Final
Sat 26 July
|
Winner |
| Malika Sood (1) |
Malika Sood
w/o
|
Malika Sood
6-1 6-1
|
Malika Sood
6-2 6-1
|
Malika Sood
6-2 6-3
|
| Gill Green |
| Sally Tornow |
Jane Boyle
6-1 6-2
|
| Jane Boyle |
| Marjan Denis (4) |
Marjan Denis
6-1 6-2 |
Marjan Denis
6-2 3-6 6-4
|
| Clare Macnamara |
| Julie Fletcher |
Elena Valarche
6-1 6-0
|
| Elena Valarche |
| Liz Goodfellow |
Liz Goodfellow
1-6 6-2 6-2
|
Alexa Tilley
6-2 6-2 |
Christine Thompson
3-6 6-2
6-3 |
| Philippa Glynn |
Stephanie
Stapleton bt
Jan Prower 6-2 6-3 |
Alexa Tilley
6-0 6-0 |
| Alexa Tilley (3) |
| Ros Norkett |
Ros Norkett
4-6 6-0 6-4
|
Christine Thompson
6-0 6-1
|
| Jen Ehr |
| Moira Duncan |
Christine Thompson
6-4 6-2
|
| Christine Thompson (2) |
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
 |
Men's Open Doubles
Holders : Sultan Gangji & Mark Stapleton
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd
set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round 1
Sun 13 July
|
Round 2
Sun 20 July
|
Semi-final
Wed 23 July
|
Final
Sat 26 July |
Winner |
| |
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton (1)
|
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton
6-0 6-1 |
Sultan Gangji
Mark Stapleton
6-0 6-1
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Joris Fletcher
6-3 6-4 |
| |
Darren Lee
Paul Rubie
|
Darren Lee
Paul Rubie
6-2 6-3 |
Charles Rubinstein
Vince Sudbery
|
Jeff Fine
Jani Petrou(3)
|
Jeff Fine
Jani Petrou
6-3 6-2 |
Simon
Nelson
Brian Coffey
7-67-5 3-6 [10-8]
|
Huw Crompton
Peter Davies
|
Laurent
Deckers
Pete Goldsmith
|
Simon
Nelson
Brian Coffey
7-69-7 3-6 [10-3]
|
Simon
Nelson
Brian Coffey
|
Bill Thom
Dan Braverman
|
Bill Thom
Dan Braverman
6-4 3-6 [10-8]
|
James Angus
Ollie Brock
6-4 5-7 [10-2]
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Joris Fletcher
7-5 6-1
|
Aruna Gunasekera
Nick
Lyons |
Ed Nightingale
Richard Nightingale |
James Angus
Ollie Brock
6-0 7-5
|
James Angus
Ollie Brock (4)
|
Mark Webb
Paul O'Flynn
|
Mark Webb
Paul O'Flynn
7-5 4-6 [10-8]
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Joris Fletcher
w/o |
Michael
Goldman
Martin Schotness
|
Saswat
Bhandra
Daniel Coffey
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Joris Fletcher
6-0 6-0 (??)
|
Cedric de la Chaise
Joris Fletcher
(2)
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
 |
Ladies' Open Doubles
Holders : Christine Thompson &
Malika Sood
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
|
Round 1
Sat 19 July
|
Semi-final
Tue 22 July
|
Final
Sat 26 July
|
Winner |
|
|
Christine Thompson
Malika Sood (1)
|
Christine Thompson
Malika Sood
6-0 6-0
|
Christine Thompson
Malika Sood
7-67-3 6-2
| Christine Thompson
Malika Sood
6-1 6-1
|
Vandana Talwar
Julie Fletcher
|
Ludmilla
Stapleton
Jane Boyle
(3) |
Ludmilla
Stapleton
Jane Boyle
w/o |
Gill Green
Sally Tornow
|
Philippa Glynn
Elena Valarche
|
Philippa Glynn
Elena Valarche
6-3 7-68-6
|
Philippa Glynn
Elena Valarche
0-6 7-5 [10-3]
|
Moira
Duncan
Marjan Denis
(4) |
Sue
Ehr
Jen Ehr
|
Alexa
Tilley
Ros Norkett
6-1 6-4
|
Alexa
Tilley
Ros Norkett
(2)
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
 |
Open Mixed Doubles
Holders :
Christine Thompson & Darren Kaye
Note the change to a champions tie break
instead of a 3rd set
Sponsored by SABMiller plc
|
|
Round 1
Sun 13 July |
Round 2
Tues 15 July
|
Round 3
Sun 20 July
|
Semi-final
Tue 22 July
|
Final
Thu 24 July
|
Winner |
|
Christine Thompson
Sultan Gangji
(1)
|
Christine Thompson
Sultan Gangji
6-1 6-1
|
Christine Thompson
Sultan Gangji
6-3 7-67-3 |
Christine Thompson
Sultan Gangji
2-1 w/o
|
Christine Thompson
Sultan Gangji
2-6 6-3 [10-8] |
Gabrielle Coffey
Brian Coffey |
Anne Marie Williams
Laurent
Deckers
6-3 6-1
|
Anne Marie Williams
Laurent
Deckers |
Julie Fletcher
Joris Fletcher
|
Moira Duncan
Charles Rubinstein
6-2 3-6 [10-3]
|
Elena Valarche
James Angus
6-3 6-1 |
Moira Duncan
Charles Rubinstein |
|
Elena Valarche
James Angus
|
|
Alexa Tilley
Ed Nightingale (4) | Alexa Tilley
Ed Nightingale
6-1 6-4 |
Alexa Tilley
Ed Nightingale
6-0 6-1 |
|
Sally Tornow
Simon Nelson |
Michelle Ganz
Darren Lee |
Michelle Ganz
Darren Lee
6-78-6 6-3 [10-4]
|
Michelle Ganz
Darren Lee
6-4 6-4 |
Clare Macnamara
Barry Adamson |
Jan Prower
Richard Nightingale |
Susan Grossman
Peter Davies
6-0 6-2 |
Susan Grossman
Peter Davies
|
|
Malika Sood
Tim Allen
|
Malika Sood
Tim Allen
6-2 6-4 (?) | Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise
6-77-5 6-2 6-4
|
Ludmilla Stapleton
Mark Stapleton
6-3 6-2
|
Sue Ehr
Huw Crompton |
Sue Ehr
Huw Crompton
6-1 6-0
|
Julia Abbot
Vince Sudbery
|
Gillian Green
Nick Lyons
|
Vandana Talwar
Dhananjay Talwar
w/o |
Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise
6-0 6-1
|
Vandana Talwar
Dhananjay Talwar
|
|
Jane Boyle
Cedric de la Chaise
(3) |
|
Marjan Denis
Paul O'Flynn
|
Marjan Denis
Paul O'Flynn
6-7 6-2 [10-6]
| Ludmilla Stapleton
Mark Stapleton
6-2 6-4 |
| |
Liz Goodfellow
Bill Thom
|
| |
| |
Ros Norkett
Ollie Brock
|
Ludmilla Stapleton
Mark Stapleton
7-5 6-1 |
| |
|
Ludmilla Stapleton
Mark Stapleton (2)
|
Singles: Men's,
Ladies Doubles:
Men's, Ladies,
Mixed
Order of Play, Match
Reports, Biographies,
Gossip, Rules
Player
Biographies
Cedric de la Chaise
Strong right-hander who has
now been singles champion for four years in a row, but lost his men's and mixed doubles crowns last year. We look forward
to another singles battles between him and Mark Stapleton
this year and over the years to come However, it must be said that Cedric's winning margin over Mark last year was a convincing 6-1 6-2, which compares very favourably (for Cedric that is) with 2004 and 2006 when Mark took him to 3 sets before conceding.
Sultan Gangji
While Sultan's eye is as good as ever, his
mobility on court seems to be much reduced and a hip operation
looks on the cards at some stage. I am afraid that an appearance
in the semis is the most that Sultan can hope for this year.
Mark Stapleton
Strong
right-hander. Mark is married to Ludmilla
whom he partners in the mixed doubles. Mark will have his work cut out to defeat Cedric de la Chaise in the men's singles final this year unless he has markedly improved his level of speed and
fitness. We shall see but my money is on Cedric once again!
Jane Boyle
Jane holds more West Heath
ladies singles titles than any other West Heath member, past or
present (1974, 1976 - 1981, 2000 and 2001), a record of which she
is justifiably proud. However, in 2005 Jane only
reached the semi-finals and had to withdraw in 2006. She is partnering Cedric de la Chaise in themixed again this year which may yield better results than last year's semi-final appearance.
Marjan Denis
Marjan was the 2004 title holder,
beating Christine Thompson in the final. In 2006 she lost in 6-4 in the third against
Malika Sood, and last year lost in straight sets to Christine Thompson, so the record says that a semi-final appearance is the best that Marjan can ope for again this year. She
currently plays her league tennis for Brampton (who put on some good quizzes in which Marjan has appeared in the winning team at least twice that I know of).
Malika Sood
Malika is in her early teens and improving dramatically year by year. She made her first
appearance in 2005 when she got knocked out in the first round. In 2006
she beat Marjan Denis in the quarters in a titanic struggle, winning 6-4 in the third. She was then
knocked out in the semis by Kate Povey. Last year she took the ladies singles title from Christine Thjompson in a tense match of two straight sets, both of which were decided by tie breaks 9-7 and 8-6, despite my prediction which said that Christine would just have the edge! This year the writing is on the wall and I think only injury or a newcomer can stop Malika.
Christine Thompson
Christine has been playing for the West
Heath first ladies league team during this season. S |
