Surrey 9U Mini League Event, 28th March 2010

Buoyed by the morning sunshine last Sunday, the ‘Grafton Nomads’ turned up for the first afternoon of a series of U9 orange ball mini league events at the Harris Academy in Merton. On arrival the sun disappeared but thankfully the rain held off. The boys seemed unaffected by the temperature and they did themselves proud on the court. Our team was Finlay Higgins and Ivan Barker, and they had three matches vs Wilton, Roehampton and All-England (Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative). Our first match was a close one vs Roehampton. Finlay at no. 1 lost in 3 close sets and Ivan at no. 2 lost in 2 close sets, but we recovered well to win the doubles. WJTI were up next – Finlay struggled against his big-serving opponent, and Ivan lost in 3 sets having had chances to win it. Unfortunately this time we didn’t manage to recover for the doubles. The final match vs Wilton was a fairly quick affair with the boys winning both singles and doubles for the loss of only a few points. Roehampton went on to beat WJTI in a tense final to secure 40 points, and we came away with an encouraging 20 points. Both Finlay and Ivan played well and matched their more experienced opponents for ability. The main difference on the day appeared to be a lack of match practice, but we get another chance in a few weeks and our boys will be ready!
MILLENNIUM CUP

(local tournament involving Grafton, Woodfield, Telford and Wigmore)

Jun 27:

Well (by our calculations) we’ve made it to the final despite a 4-5 loss to Norbury Park on Sunday 27th June.  The matches were all well contested and at 4-4 after 2 rounds it went down to the last match of the day – mixed doubles – to decide the final score.  To the delight of the crowds the match was played next to the clubhouse on Norbury’s #1 grass court.  The individual match results are below:

(Grafton names noted first):

• Women’s Open Singles – Norbury win – Morvern Scott lost to Lize Heuveling 3-6, 2-6
• Men’s Open Singles – Grafton win – Max Jones beat Ollie Richardson 6-0, 6-3
• Women’s 40+ Singles – Norbury win – Maureen Kenny lost to Jane Eastick 1-6, 0-6
• Men’s 45+ Singles – Norbury win – Rob Cumming lost to Mike Stoute 6-3, 2-6, 3-6
• Girls 16 Singles – Grafton win – Paula Ratajczak beat Jordan Smith 6-1, 6-0
• Boys 16 Singles – Norbury win – Renael Dixon lost to George Twum Barima 1-6, 1-6
• Women’s Doubles – Grafton win – Natalie Lyons and Melanie Gibbs beat Sue Lovejoy and Jane Eastick 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
• Mixed Doubles – Grafton win – Chris Noel and Angela Raynor beat Andrew King and Carole Watson 6-4, 7-6
• Men’s Doubles – Norbury win – Steve Grant and Richard Barker lost to Pat Williams and Nick Papazov 4-6, 6-2, 2-6

May 22:

we remain unbeaten with a 5/4 win over Wigmore; everyone did well to cope with the very hot conditions and to adjust to artificial clay; we went 0/2 with Max and Maureen succumbing but Natalie and Mel did the biz as usual to make it 2/1 after the first round; JJ Thomas celebrated his maiden Mill Cup appearance with a gritty win ignoring the 6 year age difference as did Paula with a comfortable straight sets win and Morvern had no trouble 6/2 6/1 tro give us a 4/2 lead; Steve looked to be cruising in the vets but Neil fought back to keep Wigmore alive despite Steve nearly hauling the 3rd set back from 2/5; but then Ben and Darren powered to a 6/3 6/3 win to take us over the line; Toby and Kirsty then lost in 3 but we now have one foot in the final against Telford who beat Woodfield 5/4 to make the table:

telford   24 from 4

Grafton  18 from 3

Woodfield   16 from 4

Wigmore   8 from 3

Norbury  6 from 2

So only Norbury on June 6 stand between us and another Final….

April 24:

We made it two wins out of two with a 5/4 win over Telford in a repeat of last years’ final on a glorious day; we recovered from 1/3 after the first round of matches so the team showed real character in turning this round; Steve and Maureen succumbed to superior opposition but Angela and Natalie kept us in it with a gritty 6/4 7/5 win in an entertaining match full of long ralies in front of a good crowd on court 5; this got nervy as they failed to capitalize on leads of 4/1 and 5/2 in the second set;the Juniors cancelled each other out , Renael losing and Crystal winning, both 6/0 6/0 but Renael was definitely worth a few games….then the match was turned by Ben and Darren who ground-down hard-hitting opponents in 3 sets, Melanie’s merciless 6/2 6/1 win and a classy performance from Chris Noel and Louise in the mixed (6/3 6/1; in the final rubber Rob Cumming lost a gruelling high-quality match to the man who he beat last year who mixed his game well with drops and lobs.

The sunny conditions and good atmosphere and Molly’s lunch contributed to an excellent day all round and we are now top of the table with 13 points so well-placed; next match is Wigmore away on May 22.

We started the defence of our title with a resounding 8/1 win over Woodfield Grove on April 10, albeit assisted by four walkovers but we’ll take the points and this does not detract from excellent performances from Darren, Melanie, Renael and Rob Cumming; Anthony and Rachel put up a good performance against strong opposition.

SURREY SUMMER LEAGUES

We can look forward to a very full Summer campaign with confidence after a very strong Winter performance (Ladies and Mens 1,2,3 all promoted for the loss of a single match and the 4ths found their feet); the best news though is the advent of Under 14 and Under 16 squads together with Ladies 2nds and Mens 5ths to add to the mix.

Ladies 1sts  (captain Morvern Scott)

Jun 5:  Natalie, Kirsty, Melanie and Morvern continued their success in the Surrey League to beat Sanderstead Village 4-0.  Next match is scheduled for 27th June.

May 9:  Our first match of the summer leagues saw the Ladies 1st team (Natalie, Kirsty, Melanie, Morvern) win 4/0 over Chipstead.  A great start to the summer matches.

Ladies 2nds  (captain Louise Wilson)

Aug 7: The Ladies Seconds (Louise & Gemma and Angela Z and Monica) drew 2/2 with Surbiton. It was a bit of a mammoth match with Angela & Monica battling hard but unluckily narrowly missing out in two championship tiebreaks – they must win an award for spending the longest time on court in one of these matches though! It was a good match and with one left to go this summer, there is still all to play for.

July 17th: Ladies Seconds continued on a winning streak with a 4/0 win over David Lloyd Epsom. Great performances from Giorgina & Alice and Gemma & Louise. Giorgina & Alice battled especially well, coming back from 2-5 down in one set to win 7-5 and ensure we didn’t drop a point. Nice one ladies – looking forward to the next one!

May 23rd: Ladies Seconds are back on track and off the mark with a 4/0 win over Wentworth iv. Accompanied by some lush sunshine, some apparently famous golfers lurking in the background and some cheesecake both pairs (Maureen & Giorgina and Rachel & Louise) put in great performance, showing no signs of it being the first time either pair had played together.

Mixed  (captain Morvern Scott)

May 27:  We had a minor blip this round with Grafton (Chris, Giorgina, Leigh and Caroline) being beaten 2-6 in sets.  We can still top the league table however and have our next match scheduled for 15th June.  It’s at Grafton so feel free to offer your support from the sidelines!

May 12:  Our Mixed campaign kicks off on Wednesday against Norbury Park ii, with a team of Chris Noel, Toby Mitchell, Natalie Lyons and Morvern Scott.  We came top of our league last year and we aim for a repeat performance this year.

Mens 1sts (captain Mike Adcock)

August 8: we duly completed our clean sweep with a 3/1 win over Reedham Park: Max and Nick Wint lost only four games with Max serving big and Nick putting his volleys away nicely; Mike and Julian didn’t quite recover from a slow start against their 1sts losing our only rubber of the season 4/6 4/6 but had no problem against their seconds. So the unbeaten run from June 3 2007 continues and we can march on to the winter in great shape.

July 11:   Sanderstead couldn’t raise a team and granted us a walkover…we duly accepted the 2 points.

June 19: we consolidated our position at the top of the table with another 4/0 win , over Sutton Churches:  Ollie and Simon won 6/2 7/5 and 6/2 6/2 and Fabien/George won 6/2 7/5 and 6/0 1/6 1/0, proving that we can mix-up partnerships successfully…next match July 11.

May 30:  another 4/0 victory over Cranleigh using the hitherto-untried combos of Mike/Fabien and Max/George;  Mike/Fabien survived a matchpoint but came through….

May 9:  Magdalen Park provided the stiffer opposition that we can expect as we climb the ladder but Patrick/Mike and Vincent/Simon got us off to the best start with a 4/0 win without losing a set so the fix is in for the summer….

Mens 2nds: (captain Murray Sutton)

July 18: sadly our 13-match winning streak has drawn to a close courtesy of Chipstead who fielded an exceptionally strong squad to beat Toby/Ben and Dietrich/(newcomer)Matt Lavers 4-0 without dropping a set; this puts pressure on us to beat Southfields in our final match on Sept 5 which should be enough to gain us promotion.

July 4:  Camber ii were despatched 3/1 : Jude and Ben had a lapse against their 1st pair missing 3 matchpoints in the tiebreak; otherwise it was plain sailing with Nick Wint combining well with Steve for straight sets wins; so we head the table on 5 points; next up is Chipstead away on July 18.

June 13: Purley away: we extended our unbeaten run to 12 matches but lost a point drawing 2/2; Darren and Ben cruised to straight sets wins but Paul Dietrich and Chris Noel failed to click unfortunately but they’ll bounce back…

May 15:  Cranleigh v (away): we cruised to a convincing 4-0 win in our opener without the loss of a set: Ben and Darren, who are developing into a powerhouse combo, won 6/4 6/4 and 6/3 6/2 and debutant Ollie and Steve outdid them 6/1 6/4 and 6/1 6/1 so everyone got home in good time for the Cup Final! It will get tougher no doubt….

Mens 3rds: (captain Murray Sutton)

August 8: Spencer v home: we gave the runaway division leaders their biggest test but went down 1/3 despite actually winning more games; having lost both first matches, one on a tiebreak, we were battling for a draw and Toby and Chris Noel came close in a second tiebreak; Will Excell did well in his maiden Surrey match with Richard and it was a good, tough, competitive match; our fate is now in the hands of others but with luck we should avoid relegation with 4 points so keep an eye on the table.

July 11: Shirley Park home: we had to settle for a 2-2 draw: Vin and Ant and Stonehouse/Dougie both had easy wins against their 2nd pair  but lost narrowly to their first, Vin and Ant’s match going to a tight tiebreak; this keeps us in second place behind runaway leaders Spencer in a very tight division so we need a win in our last match against (uh) Spencer on August 8 to stand a chance of promotion…Grafton grit required….

June 13: Sutton Churches iv (away): 2/2 although Joe and Leigh came within a point of making it 3/1 losing a deciding tiebreak 9-11; Richard and Alex Thompson were not troubled in their matches. So we’re well in the mix for promotion after 3 matches although this is developing into a very tight division with Spencer leading the way….

May 22:  a 0-4 loss to Elmwood but it could so easily have been 2-2 as Gavin and Vin so narrowly lost 5/7 6/2 and 10/12 in the tiebreak and Joe and Leigh lost two 6/7 sets; so tight enough but we need to regroup for Sutton Churches on June 13; 4 clubs are tied aon 2 points so its going to be a tight division….

May 9:  we kicked-off our campaign with a 3/1 win over Camber iii in a tight encounter involvin three tiebbreaks, two of which went to 12/10; Leigh and Brian as first pair got into their stride in the second match winning 6/0 6/0 and Jonny and Simon came close to making it 4/0; this is an encouraging start given that we came last in our division last summer….

Mens 4ths:  (Captain Anthony North)

April 18: our fledgling 4ths kicked-off their summer campaign with a 3/1 win over Selsdon, Anthony, Andy, Badar and Leigh doing the business-report to follow.

Mens 5ths  (captain Badar Khan)

South Croydon vi:  lost 1/3 but it came very close to 2/2 with Badar and Andy just losing the deciding tiebreak 8-10 and they ran their second pair close 3/6 5/7; Paul denning and Iain Clark recovered well form a 0+0 loss to win their second match-good spirit!

UNDER 14 GIRLS  (captain Issie Beasley)

The format for these matches is two singles and a doubles; two of our new stars , Paula Ratajcsak and Angela Zamara have already racked-up two wins :

Thames Ditton:  3/0 for the loss of only two games!

Shirley Park:  3/0- this was marginally tighter, Paula winning 6/1 6/3 and Angela 6/1 5/7 1/0 before strolling through the doubles 6/1 6/0

UNDER 16 BOYS: (captain Mike Adcock):

April 25:  Sergino Zamara and Luke Hesleden went down 0/3 to a strong Wigmore pair but made them work for it- special thanks to Luke for standing-in at the 11th hour. Competition for places will be strong with a squad including JJ Thomas, Alfie Fox and Renael Dixon.

If you are not involved yet,  please contact the captains .