Jersey tennis juniors stepped up a level last week as the Grainville Academy, sponsored by Rawlinson and Hunter and lead by head coach Joe Keany, travelled to and competed in the 113th Torbay Open LTA grade 3 event. This tournament is the largest of it’s kind in the UK, and so a tough draw was expected for the Jersey players. The trip was sponsored by Rawlinson and Hunter.
In the boys events Dan Harrison succumbed early in the U21s category to 12th seed Adam Cooper, but was fully recovered for his U18 match several hours later, in which he defeated unseeded Laurie Chittenden in a comfortable opener. Steven Le Cornu endured a similar defeat in the 21 & Under age group in the opening round, before winning through in the U18s event against Benjamin Collins. Scott Weaver also lost early on in the U21s in a tough match with John Ellmer, before edging a tense final set tiebreaker in the U18s to win in three sets.
Nicholas Boulter and Max Vasiliou enjoyed early wins in the the U16 boys singles, before both players fell to the 8th and 11th seeds respectively. In the U18s, Boulter and Vasiliou were narrowly beaten by the 24th and 5th seeded respectively in the second round, in matches that were highly competitive throughout.
The highlight of the early matches however, was undoubtedly Scott Weaver’s battle with the 4th seeded Owen Richards in the U18s, which ended in a nail biting 2nd set tiebreaker. On his performance against a very highly ranked national player, Weaver could only say “I played the match of my life.”
There was more success in the U18 doubles for Harrison, who partnered Steven Le Cornu to reach the quarter finals, before falling to stern opposition. Scott Weaver and Nicholas Boulter also lost out in the same event to challenging opponents. Max Vasiliou partnered local Joseph Smithyman, and put up an impressive fight before losing to the 7th seeds Seb Dartnell and Peter Avis.
On their impressive run in the doubles competition, Le Cornu commented, “I think our games have gone up a level this week, as we are facing extremely experienced opponents. Overall this experience has been really beneficial and made us much better players.”
In the girls events, Abbie Weaver lost early in the U14s in straight sets, before winning through the first round of the U16 singles, and eventually going out to the 3rd seed. Eva Hurst enjoyed an early win against the 7th seed in the U14s, and this impressive run continued with a further win in the second round, and a competitive encounter with the 2nd seed. Hurst won against seeded opposition again in the U16 singles, knocking out the 16th seed early, before putting up an inspiring effort against the 1st seed in the same event.
In the U14 girls doubles, Weaver and Hurst sent unseeded opposition out in the first round, before upsetting the 4th seeded pairing. Their run was to end in the semi finals however, as they were ousted in a final set tiebreaker to the 2nd seeds, despite vigorous support from their fellow players.
On the trip as a whole, head coach Joe Keany thanked the sponsors Rawlinson and Hunter, remarking, “It really wouldn’t be possible to organize these tours without such great support. The Academy performed very well as a whole this week, and I am proud of the competitive spirit and drive of the players against such tough opposition. Each tournament we visit there are more seeds knocked out by the Grainville Academy players, and this is a great reputation to have and to build on in the future.”