Grafton Tennis and Squash Club » Murray Sutton

SUNSHINE SPRING DOUBLES

Murray Sutton — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:46:24 +0000

The first day of summer was well and truly celebrated in glorious sunshine with a thoroughly enjoyable American Doubles tournament; 28 players competed in five rounds of seven games after which the top four played an extra round; David Millar and Oliver Turner were still locked on equal points so played a tiebreak which Oliver won to become the new champion and cup-holder; early Easter eggs were distributed as prizes and the day was rounded-off with Pimms and the first Radek BBQ of 2012; this augers well for Sunday Social Tennis…

123 FOX TROPHY

Murray Sutton — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:57:26 +0000

The club’s 123rd anniversary was celebrated in fine style on September 10: a full house of 48 tennis players (plus supporters ) battled out roundrobin and knockout stages for the prize of the brand new Fox Trophy, presented by our four-legged friends (really? -ed) . Steve Lynch, fighting through the tendonitis pain barrier,,and John Williams ou-foxed Julian Sanders and Anna Scott to hoist the cup after an epic 7/6 (11-9) final involving 6 matchpoints in front of a very vocal Crabbie-fuelled crowd. Renael and Peter Cooper won the Plate and Matt Barker and Olivia the Saucer. Radek’s BBQ hit the spot, the weather just about co-operated and the bar jumped til gone midnight. Many thanks to Rachel,Ant and Kirsty for organising .

CLUB CHAMPS FINALS

Murray Sutton — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:33:59 +0000

Three high-quality finals were fought on Sunday in front of a good crowd basking and BBQing in glorious sunshine in the garden and patio areas, all demonstrations of how the standard has risen in the last 12 months. Plus we benefited from the skills of a professional umpire in Linda Wilson, Louise’s mother.

Giorgina and Kirsty just edged Morvern and Melanie 6-4 0-6 7-5: a strange set sandwiched between two tight ones; sharp volleying and Giorgina’s serve turned the first, Morvern and Mel romped through the second and there was very little in the the third.

Vincent Quinery retained his crown despite a strong challenge from Mike Adcock, who had two set points at 6-5 in the first but lost the tiebreak; Vincent then turned the screws to win 7-6 6-0.

Much to the dismay of the seniors, Crystal, our top junior, took the Ladies Singles by storm, putting out Giorgina and Melanie en route to the final where Morvern was her victim by 6-1 6-1; she produced an impressive display of power serving and consistent stroke play and despite several long rallies, Crystal emerged a worthy new champion- the first of many Grafton triumphs no doubt as she is only 15!

The date for the Mixed and Mens Doubles finals will be broadcast soonest.

GRAFTON CUP AQUA TENNIS

Murray Sutton — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:51:08 +0000

The weather people could have been wearing white robes and weilding scythes so apocalyptic was the forecast for Grafton Cup day…and it did rain and the wind bent the trees, but miraculously all 48 players turned up and the tennis was played and true Grafton grit was displayed; the round-robin stage produced some memorable moments: Simon Mills nearly cutting himself in half on the dividing fence, Ant North’s suicidal dive for a volley, Rachel’s match-winning cut dropshot that spun back over the net before Louise could touch it, not to mention Sutton and Mozley’s totally ineffectual Tennis Haka….after a BBQ break (hats off to Joe Brasse and Radek in absentia here), with the canopy straining at its moorings, the KO stage ensued in ever-soggier conditions but noone cared by this time…Patrick Lisoire and Morvern Scott emerged victorious, edging John Peck and Melanie Gibbs, depite John’s revelatory volleying, 10-8 in a tense final; the Barker Boys raised the Plate and young guns Tom Nicolson and Matt McInery the Saucer. It was a fairly bedraggled, windswept, chilled, but happy bunch of tennis players that recovered themselves in the bar afterwards and after a day like this anything’s possible at The Grafton! A big thankyou to Steve Grant for masterminding the event and to Sean Chestnutt for organising the squash that also took place- indoors sensibly…

PAUL ARCHER BENEFIT NIGHT

Murray Sutton — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:50:53 +0000

Paul was duly honoured for his sterling work for the club over the years with a very enjoyable night in the bar; he was presented with shirts for his beloved Tamworth FC (home and away strips of course), a case of Summer Lightning ale and the proceeds of a whipround; thanks again to Paul for all his efforts maintaining Grafton.

MILLENNIUM CUP UPDATE

Murray Sutton — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:41:40 +0000

We lost our third roundrobin match to runaway leaders Telford last Saturday 3/6 but they are 3 valuable points as we still have a good chance of making the final on September 17 with one match to go v Woodfield Grove on June 11 (away); Steve Grant, Louise Wilson/Gareth Jardine and Angela Zamara secured our wins and it was an enjoyable sundrenched days’ tennis so thanks to all who competed and supported. The table is now:

Telford 26 from 4

Grafton 15 from 3

Wigmore 14 from 3

Norbury 10 from 3

Woodfield 7 from 3

so it’s going to be a tight run-in….

Rob Cumming is Winter Champion

Murray Sutton — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:24:12 +0000

Rob Cumming outsteadied Ben Kelly in the delayed final of the Winter Tournament, triumphing 6/1 4/6 6/3; Ben recovered from a poor first set to level the match and hauled Rob back from 4-1 to 4-3 in the third but Rob teased a few too many errors to seal his first win in the competition.

Tennis tour to Northern Ireland

Murray Sutton — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:22:29 +0000

SEPTEMBER 24-27

A match is planned between Grafton and Coleraine LTC on September 25; accommodation will be in the coastal town of Portrush with the added attractions of the Giants Causeway, the wild Antrim coast, real Guinness in cosy bars etc; all interested parties should talk to Murray please and see the tennis noticeboard for more details.