Catherine and Lewis Fletcher brought Great Britain's tennis campaign at the 22nd Summer Deaflympics to an end with fourth place finishes in the women's singles and mixed doubles on Saturday in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Going into the last day having already played 11 matches across her singles and doubles events Catherine produced a typically brave performance in the women's singles bronze medal match, but after starting the match serving underarm to protect an injury, Catherine eventually retired at 4-0 down against French sixth seed and 2012 European silver medallist Sophie Bernard.
After treatment Catherine returned to court with her husband Lewis for the mixed doubles bronze medal match as the British fourth seeds took on second seeds Bernard and Mikael Laurent.
With Bernard and Laurent having won the European silver medal in the mixed doubles at the 2012 European Championships as Fletcher and Fletcher claimed the bronze medal, the French duo proved strongest as they added the Deaflympic bronze medal after a 6-2, 6-3 win over the reigning National champions.
Catherine Fletcher, who was appointed by the Tennis Foundation as Great Britain National Deaf Tennis Coach earlier this year, ends the 22nd Summer Deaflympics with three fourth places, having also partnered Bethany Brookes to fourth place in the women's doubles.
"Obviously the team are disappointed to have ended the Games without a medal after coming so close in three events but they did themselves proud this week with some outstanding performances against higher ranked opposition," said Geraint Richards, the Tennis Foundation's Head of Disability Player Performance.
"Jack Clifton and Bethany Brookes are still very young and have a bright future ahead of them and I'm excited about the future of GB deaf tennis."
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