County Cup 2012 9&U Report by Team Captain Tom Edis
Bucks team: Rory Lawson (Chesham 1879/Gt Missenden), Joel Good (Halton), Alfie King (Gt Missenden/Halton), Emeka Atuanya (Chesham 1879), Olivia Scarles (GXBL), Ellie Stopps (GXBL), Niamh Lynch (Olney), Gabrielle Ireland (Halton)
This year’s county cup took place at Legends Tennis UK, Hertford Heath. After a few years at playing indoors at Gosling, it was nice to play outdoors in some glorious summer sunshine for a change! The other counties participating in this regional event were Herts, Oxfordshire, Essex and Berkshire.
The players were in good spirits from the off, even though they faced probably the hardest match of all at the start of the day against Herts. Joel and Alfie started proceedings in the singles with gruelling opening sets against the Herts’ 2nd and 3rd pair respectively. Both matches were fiercely competitive with Bucks narrowly and unfortunately losing out in both 12-10.
It was a tough start that took a lot out of the Bucks boys, and saw them both subsequently lose their second sets, and therefore the matches, 7-3 (Joel) and 7-2 (Alfie).
With Rory losing his first match 7-2 7-5, it was left to the girls to fight back.
Olivia won Bucks’ first set of the day in her 7-3 5-7 7-0 reverse to the Herts number 1 girl which at least brought some encouragement to the team after further defeats followed in straight sets for Ellie (7-1 7-2) and Niamh (7-1 7-0).
The promising pair of Alfie and Emeka in the boys doubles could only muster 7 points in their 7-3 7-4 loss, so with Ellie and Olivia, and Joel and Niamh both losing their doubles too, a rousing team talk followed by some key tactical changes looked to freshen things up before the team’s second match of the day against Berkshire.
This time Bucks were determined to be more competitive. Rory started to play some of his best tennis, narrowly losing 7-5 6-8 7-5 to Berks no.1, which was followed by an equally bright display from Joel, who was unfortunate to lose out 7-5 2-7 7-5 against the no.2.
The team needed a break, and finally they got it as Alfie managed to storm through 7-5 7-5 in his singles rubber to put the tie back in the balance.
Olivia then found some form of her own, racing into a commanding lead against Berks no.1 girl which developed into a fantastic battle from the baseline. Both girls were giving their all as the crowd showed their appreciation. Sadly for Olivia, she was to miss out in a deciding third set as the match finished 4-7 7-4 8-6 in Berks’ favour.
Ellie was next to play a match that went the distance, and even though she comfortably won more points than her opponent, she eventually was defeated 7-5 0-7 7-5.
Nevertheless, with Niamh showing real character to come through 7-4 7-3 in her rubber, Bucks knew a strong doubles performance would see them through the tie overall.
First Emeka and Alfie finally showed the sort of understanding that looked so good in practice by defeating the Berks’ boys pair7-5 9-7, and that was followed by an heroic effort by Olivia and Ellie in the girls doubles – winning 9-7 8-6 after saving both set points and match points!
This clearly inspired the new-found pair of Joel and Niamh in the mixed, who went on to win 9-7 5-7 7-5, giving bucks a great victory and much needed confidence boost.
The afternoon saw the team first take on Oxfordshire, who unfortunately were deprived of the services of one of their key boys. This gave Bucks walkovers in the boys ‘3’ singles and in the mixed doubles. Comfortable wins for Ellie and Joel in their singles (7-3 7-5, 7-3 7-4 respectively), meant that tough defeats (7-4 8-6 against Rory, 5-7 7-5 7-1 against Olivia) counted for little, especially when Niamh managed to storm through 7-5 5-7 7-5 in her rubber.
It was academic that Emeka and Alfie lost 7-4 7-4 in their doubles, and Olivia and Ellie lost 7-3 8-6 in theirs.
The final fixture of the day saw Bucks play another very strong county in Essex. With form improving throughout the day, the players felt ready to take on a team that only Herts had managed to defeat up to then.
Rory and Joel by now were playing some inspired tennis against arguably their toughest adversaries of the day. Rory was very close to taking a set off Essex’s national no.1, only losing 7-4 8-6 in a thrilling encounter. Joel actually lost 7-4 7-1, but in a match that had parents and coaches a like off their seats applauding some fantastic rallies from both players!
With Alfie coming the closest to breaking the deadlock for Bucks with a 7-4 5-7 7-1 defeat, an over all win for Bucks here seemed unlikely.
The players gave their all, but subsequent losses for Olivia (7-1 5-7 7-1), Ellie (7-1 7-3) and Niamh (7-4 7-3) ended Bucks’ hopes of gaining runners up spot in the competition.
Alfie and Emeka fought valiantly in the doubles before succumbing 7-3 7-3, despite some heavy serving from Emeka!
The losses in the girls doubles for Olivia and Ellie (7-4 7-4) and in the mixed for Joel and Niamh (7-2 2-7 7-4), did nothing to spoil the fun the team had on the day.
All the players realised they had learned some crucial lessons going into their summer holiday tournament schedule, and the signs are promising for future success after Bucks’ 3rd place finish overall.
If anyone has any photos of this event please email to Janice.roach@LTA.org.uk