Grafton Tennis and Squash Club » Tina Whitehouse

Noel New American Champ

Tina Whitehouse — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:41:19 +0000

Due perhaps to the holiday/wedding season there was a low turnout for the American Tennis Tournament last Saturday August 21 but it was a fun afternoon; after five rounds of 7 games our doubles expert Chris Noel came out on top with Tony May snapping at his heels so well done to them and good to see new member Simon Hartley. Tea was provided and the bar till rang! We hope to have a fuller house for the next one, date to be announced in due course….

Game set & match for Kirsty at Queens

Tina Whitehouse — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:09:11 +0000

To the Queens Club in West London for the Mail’s tennis tournament, where Mail Newspapers’ ad director John Teal and colleagues Andy Nicholl and Louisa Melling played mixed doubles with 30 agency and client guests.

Former world number 80 seed Andrew Castle lent glamour to the event, while the tournament’s dark horse was Kirstie Ogilvy from AW Media (pictured below partnering Nick Crips from TCS Media), who told fellow contestants she was “just ok” before proceeding to win the contest outright.

If “just ok” means fit enough to beat Zenith’s Ben McCallum, who used to play in his County Championships, media-land will have to start training in earnest.

TENNIS CLUB CHAMPS FINALS PART 1

Tina Whitehouse — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:51:40 +0000

We have a new Ladies champion in Kate Potts, who finally wore down Natalie Lyons 6/3 7/5 in an engrossing baseline battle- very short on dropshots and volleys but absorbing viewing with Kate just having the strength of groundstrokes to find a chink in Natalie’s wall.

Most unusually,the Mens Singles was halted at set-all to be decided later: Vincent looked very impressive taking the first very high-quality set 6/3 but then turned an ankle in the first game of the second; he gamely continued and Patrick took advantage only to pull a stomach muscle but managed to level the match 7/6; a third set was impossible for the wounded warriors so it was agreed to play the decided when both are fit.

The considerable crowd’s disappointment at this was rapidly dissolved by Kirsty, Natalie, Morvern and Melanie who staged a magnificent two and a half hour Ladies Doubles final; Kirsty and Natalie just managed to retain their title 7/6 4/6 8/6 having saved a match point and let slip 5/2 leads in the first and third sets- a memorable match.

So another great day in the sun helped not least by Radek’s BBQ.

Watch this space for the dates of the other finals….

Grafton Cup Triumph

Tina Whitehouse — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:26:05 +0000

A great day was had by all on the eve of Wimbledon: 24 pairs competed , using all courts from 10 to 8pm, a big crowd of WAGS and children enjoyed some exhilarating tennis and Radek’s BBQ in the afternoon sunshine relaxing in the new garden area. Radek had to make 4 emergency trips to cater for the demand!

Patrick Lisoire retained his grip on the cup partnering John Peck and they just got the better of Steve Grant and Fabien Figarol 10-8 in a high-class final; Steve and Fabien recovered from 3-5 and Patrick and John survived 3 match points before clinching it to the delight of the boisterous crowd.

The Barker Boys (Richard and Matt) beat Brian Chisholm and David Whitlam in another tight set (8-6) to claim the Plate and Dave Morgan/Andy McVeigh were Saucer champions beating James Welsh and newcomer Paul Denning 6-3.

Hats off to Steve Grant for organizing and NB the next event like this will be the ‘Grafton 122’ (less-serious, to celebrate the club’s 122nd birthday) on Sunday September 19 so diairize now and watch this space….

Strictly Come Grafton

Tina Whitehouse — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:51:41 +0000

Grafton members recently indulged in dancing lessons with Scott Cole, the brother of Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan. Good fun was had by all as can be seen from the following action shots:

Congratulations to John Laing

Tina Whitehouse — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:58:58 +0000

Former Grafton president, John Laing has become a father. His daughter, Keira was born on 30 April weighing in at 3.38kg. Congratulations to all

Social tennis afternoon

Tina Whitehouse — Sat, 08 May 2010 12:41:56 +0000

It’s time to kick the tennis season off with a bang. On 23rd May from 2pm onwards, we will have an afternoon of tennis to celebrate the beginning of the season.

Not only will there be tennis but there will be food and drinks available too (BBQ weather permitting). So, if you are a bit rusty in the tennis department, due to the lack of dry, snow free weather you can drink to console yourself. Who knows it may even make you play better; not that we can be seen to condone this type of behaviour!

This is a great opportunity to mingle and meet new people especially if you are new to the club. We don’t bite!

Thinking about it from another angle, it is also a fantastic chance to suss out your potential opponents that you may come up against in the summer tournament.

As food will be provided we really need to have an idea of numbers, so can you please reply to Kirsty, Rachel and Mike if you intend on coming along.

Hogarth Hoists Handicap

Tina Whitehouse — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:52:15 +0000

Graeme Hogarth beat Richard Nichol to win the squash handicap tournament this year. Grant Browne beat Andy Hedges in the plate final. Congratulations to all and thanks to everyone for taking part.

Hodgkinson wins winter plate

Tina Whitehouse — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:43:38 +0000

Rob Hodgkinson and Paul Dietrich (pictured) contested a hard-fought Winter Plate Final: Rob recovered from losing the first set comparatively easily to squeeze the second on a tiebreak, assisted by a cruel let-cord and out-steadied Paul in the third to run out a 2/6 7/6 6/2 winner; these two specialize in 3-setters and have established a keen rivalry….

More tournament news and pictures

Junior coaching and competitions

Tina Whitehouse — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:52:42 +0000

We are running junior tennis coaching and competitions during the Easter break and Summer term. Full details