Great Britain have claimed bronze at the Master-U BNP Paribas University International in Aix-en-Provence after defeating home favourites France.
The team of six Brits had reached the semi-finals after defeating Germany 4-3 but were denied a place in the gold medal match by a strong Russian team. Despite an excellent win by Mark Whitehouse against the Russian No.1, two losses in hard fought three-set matches left the team again 3-1 down. And, despite creating some opportunities, the team was only able to win two out of the remaining three doubles matches to lose 4-3.
This put the team into the bronze medal play-off match and solid singles wins from Georgia Craven and Alex Walker followed by a stunning victory by Steph Cornish and Walker in the doubles put the team 3-2 up. This left doubles duo Darren Walsh and Mark Whitehouse with a French pair and 200 French supporters to beat. The key was some impressive play from the British pair in the first set tie-break in which they saved set point and won 13-11 before completing a famous win against the home nation 7-6, 6-1.
GB's Darren Walsh, who won five out of his five doubles matches, said, "It's always an honour to represent GB and beating the French in France was the perfect way to cap off a great weekend."
Team Coach Alistair Higham added, "We had a great team spirit and this achievement is another sign of the growing success and importance of GB University Tennis. I'm sure the team can build on this throughout 2014 and beyond."
The USA were the eventual gold medal winners with Russia having to settle for silver.
The following players were part of the GB Team representing BUCS:
Men
Scott Duncan, University of Stirling
Darren Walsh, Southern Methodist University, Dallas
Mark Whitehouse, Imperial College
Women
Steph Cornish, University of Bath
Georgia Craven, University of Warwick
Alex Walker, University of Bath
Team Manager: Barry Scollo, University of Bath
Team Coach: Alistair Higham, Tennis Foundation
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