Two Berkshire players played at Wimbledon this week at different ends of their careers. Jamie Delgado in his 19th appearance reached the second round of the Men's Doubles with his partner Matthew Ebden. On their way to the second round they beat former singles world number Lleyton Hewitt and his partner Mark Knowles (former world number 1 in the doubles) 6-3, 7-5, 7-6. Jamie and his partner eventually lost to the 4th seeds in the doubles. Jamie also competed in the mixed doubles with fellow brit Tara Moore but unfortunately didn’t make it past the first round losing 7-6, 6-3.
Whilst 18 year old, Robbie Ridout made his debut in the first round of the Boys Doubles, however was beaten.
The previous weekend saw both Berkshire 12u teams appearing in Oxford. Whilst the Boys were unsuccessful the girls had 2 significant wins beating both Essex & Oxfordshire. All 4 players contributed victories-Annabelle Davis, Jemma Lancaster, Rachel Barrett and Sasha Southgate. Sasha in particular won two matches both of which went to tie-breaks in the final sets. Thanks are due to Richard Downs (Maidenhead) and Ben Murrell (Caversham) for looking after the youngsters.
This week has also seen three Berkshire players compete at the Aegon GB Pro-Series in Manchester (which is in the QF stage). James Ireland lost in the first round to a player ranked nearly 500 places above him in the world rankings. 3rd seed Neil Pauffley made it to the second round after beating fellow brit Liam Broady in three sets, but then went onto loose. Marcus Willis (5th seed) is still in the tournaments and will face another brit Brydan Klein, who is the top seed and ranked 279 in the world.
Well done and Good luck to all Berkshire players in future events
B. Warren
Berkshre LTA Chairman