On the weekend of the 19th April it was Loughborough University’s turn to host the student-only grade three tennis tournament as part of the University Tour launched by the LTA in 2013.
The two day event included a 12 player men’s and an 8 player women’s compass draw, with all players playing a minimum of 3 matches each. We had students who had travelled from universities across the country to participate as well as our very own Loughborough development and performance players taking part. For both the winners and runner up of the main draw we had personalised plates plus shields for the winners of the consolation draw which everyone wanted to get their hands on!
Trophies for the main draw winner and runner up
The tournament got off to a great start with a few close matches in the men’s first round. Two of Loughborough’s development squad players had to fight it out with Jamie Trevett coming through and beating Laurence Hubbard 10-6 in the match tie break. Whilst the women’s first round matches saw no drama with all seeded players going through comfortably.
Both the men’s finalists Abdul Hassan and John Thompson had quite an unscathed route to the final with neither of them dropping a game on the way. Despite some amazing rallies Thompson could not hold off Hassan who was just too strong beating him 6-2 6-0 in the final.
As the men’s final came to a close the ladies final got underway which saw two of Loughborough’s performance players, Victoria Bullock and Carys Gilbert, battle it out. The game got off to an intense start with Elizabeth coming out strong and taking the first set 6-2. Nevertheless Carys did not give up and picked herself up in the second set pushing her opponent to the limit. Her strategy paid off and she took the second set 6-1. With what little energy they had left they both fought hard for the top spot producing some great winners when it mattered. However, Elizabeth really upped her game to take the title 10-8 in the championship tiebreak.
Runner up Cary’s Gilbert and Winner Victoria Bullock
Jamie Trevett who is both a committee member and a development player at Loughborough University said “I thought the tournament was well organised and I had a lot of fun. Its great that something like this is on our doorstep and I would recommend anyone who enjoys matches to get involved in these events”
I would like to say well done to all those who took part and a big thank you to Penny McCrorie, our referee who made sure everything ran smoothly. Next up is the last of the grade three tournaments taking place at Cardiff Met University on the 1st June, good luck to all those taking part.
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