Cornwall Men's Winter County Cup.
The travelling squad consisted of,
Tim Webster 2.1
John Richards 3.2
Roy Knight 4.1
Andy Hill 4.1
Ryan Fen 4.1
Colin Jones 4.2
Adam Hayward 5.1
Adrian Williams 5.2
Friday 27th Cornwall v Devon
The local derby is always a must win match for Cornwall with West Country bragging rights at stake. Cornwall’s singles team consisted of Webster, Richards, Knight, Hill, Jones and Williams.
Adrian Williams got the county off to a flying start against Oscar Wynne in a well fought 7-5 7-6 win. Adrian was aggressive throughout and came up with some vintage tennis using his experience in the points where it really mattered. Adrian is in the shape of his life with his new fitness regime really paying dividends. Colin Jones then played what was to be one of the longest matches of the competition losing in 3 hours to Joshua Rees 7-5 in the 3rd set. Colin served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set but his brave effort was cruelly snatched away from him in a match that could have gone either way.
Andy Hill won a straight forward encounter with an erratic opponent 6-1 6-2. The skipper looked in good shape, after fine tuning his body with yoga classes and hard work in the gym during the off season. This took the score 2-1 in favour of Cornwall. The next rubbers were to be much more entertaining in terms of quality with John Richards and Roy Knight playing on adjacent courts showing off their improved on court credentials. Roy Knight, who is now leg pressing the maximum stack of weights at the Dragon Centre gym, won through in 3 sets against the young Steven Knowles 6-2 4-6 6-1 impressing in the 1st and 3rd set. John Richards also won in 3 sets against the big serving Steve Wood 7-6 6-7 6-2. Richards and Knight have both taken big strides in their physical development in both matches coming through as the fitter and stronger players.
Cornwall leading 4-1 and now in the driving seat sent out number 1 player Tim Webster to play Gary Drake. Webster took little time in stamping his authority on to the match and raced to a 6-1 6-3 victory ensuring the tie would go to Cornwall with an irreversible 5-1 margin. The doubles proved somewhat hollow, with the evening setting in and Cornwall slumped to 2 losses by Hill/Richards and Jones/Hayward but Webster/Williams took another win with Williams proving he was the safest player under an overhead since Andy Angove and Mark Venn graced the Cornwall team with their presence. This took the final score to 6-3 Cornwall. A great start to the campaign!!! However there was one injury sustained at the end of the day, in the form of Tim Webster’s’ pride who in spite of actually making the effort to shed a few pounds was asked by the referee Malcolm Terry “are we seeing a little more of you this year”.
Saturday 28th November Cornwall v Somerset
Adrian Williams continued his winning form with another straight sets victory beating Devonshire coach Richard Stock 6-2 6-1. Stock struggled to match Adrian’s power and variation of shot play which got the county off to a 1-0 lead. Colin Jones was next up and he fought bravely in a close first set but was edged out 6-4 in the first set against Peter Hoyland. In the second set, with Jones running low on fuel (Sauvignon Blanc and the West Country finest cheese selection) he succumbed to a 6-4 6-1 defeat.
Andy Hill was leading 4-1 in his first set until his opponent went off for an injury break to tend to a nose bleed... however when returning to the court his opponent Craig Phillips started to raise his level and Hill struggled to stay with his pace of shot and ended up losing 6-4 6-4 which put Cornwall in into a 2-1 losing rubber count. However the remaining matches swung back in to Kernows favour with Roy Knight again impressing with a tough battle against Richard Fay. Roy won through 7-6 (0) 6-3 and again stamped his authority on being one of the county’s finest prospects and definitely one of the most improved players of the last 12 months.
John Richards also carried on his fine form with a 6-4 6-2 win over James Deen. Richards delivered another tactically astute performance making his more senior opponent work very hard to cover the court. Richard’s superior strength and speed was clearly evident again. This result took us to 3-2 before Tim Webster stepped up to play Somerset’s number 1 James Pankhurst. Webster struggled against an amazing 1st set from Pankhurst who played out of his mind to take the first set 6-3. Webster regrouped and turned the match around completely crushing Pankhurst in the 2nd set 6-0 and then professionally wrapped up the 3rd set 6-3 to take Cornwall to a commanding 4-2 position going in to the doubles round.
It was here that one of the best wins from a Cornish pair took place with Roy Knight and Adrian Williams producing an inspired 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory guaranteeing victory for the Kernow boys at 5-2. Williams hit some outrageous winners from all over the court and Roy made awesome use of his trademark reverse backhand volley angled drop shot.
Ryan Fern made his reappearance in the side partnering Tim Webster in what proved a straight forward match victory. Hill and Richards also scraped through a tie break shoot out 14-12 to seal a convincing 7-2 total match score. Cornwall were now going in to a Sunday promotion battle with the young and talented Cambridge team made up of mainly national junior players. To prepare for the big clash the team went back to the hotel to make use of the fitness and spa facilities, mainly the swimming pool, but Andy Hill was disappointed to see a sign adjacent to the pool confirming his worse fears that no flippers were allowed.
29th November Cornwall V Cambridge
Cornwall and Cambridge have met 3 times in as many years with Cambridge in the same division as Cornwall for summer county week. The Cambridge team were slightly stronger on paper and had a marginal lead in the rubber count from their first 2 matches but all this was irrelevant as it was a straight forward format where the first team to win 5 matches would be promoted.
Adrian Williams continued his outstanding form reeling off another straight sets demolition of the Cambridge number 6 James Morris 6-1 6-2. Williams has benefited from a new exercise regime over recent months which involve pounding the streets of Bodmin most mornings with his marathon training sessions. A great achievement from the 32 year old going unbeaten in his 3 singles matches.
Ryan Fern came in at number 5 to play the talented Sam Fleck. Fern who has hardly played competitive singles over the last few years still played a great opening set leading 5-4 with serve but unfortunately failed to close it out and then went down 7-5 6-1. We hope that Ryan and Adrian can keep playing for Cornwall for many more years to come.
Andy Hill was up next and started slowly against Matt Lewis and lost the first set 6-3. He fought back in the second to clinch it on a tie break but unfortunately lost serve once in the third set and this was enough for him to go down 3-6 7-6 3-6 which was to prove a costly loss for the team.
Roy Knight came up against one of the best players in the event Robin Goodman who is a highly ranked full time player. Roy was put to the test and had chances in the first set and at times the power play from both sides made sensational viewing for the watching crowd. Roy lost 6-4 6-1 but he can be proud of his 3 singles matches. Knight is leaving to play college tennis in Louisiana in January and we wish him well and look forward to seeing him again at the summer county week.
John Richards again produced another awesome performance at number 2 beating the hard hitting Bruce Wagstaff 7-6 7-5 to cap an undefeated singles tournament from the Penzance hero. This took the score to 3-2 Cambridge. Tim Webster then played 4 points against Matthew Taylor who pulled out injured. This took the score to 3-3 and Cornwall where also awarded a doubles walk over for Fern and Webster who were due to play Taylor and his partner. This gave Cornwall a 4-3 lead with 2 matches to play. Williams and Hayward played at 3rd pair and both were struggling with fatigue and injuries and went down in straight sets to Lewis and Van Houghton.
So the match was tied 4-4 with one match to play, a familiar situation for Hill and Richards who won from the same position 12 months ago at Barnstaple. However Wagstaff and Goodman came out blazing winners and took the first set 6-0 in a short space of time. Hill and Richard regrouped and stayed with them in the second set forcing a tie break but failed to convert their chances and went down 6-0 7-6. Cornwall lost 5-4 and finished the group in second position allowing Cambridge promotion to group 3.
It was a brave effort from the Cornish team and there were a lot of positives including re-establishing themselves as a leading team in West Country tennis.
The team would like to thank the county for the financial support and backing that it gave the team and also to all the well wishers who sent their messages of support throughout the tournament. We would also like to thank Hilary Webster for travelling up to support the team on 3 consecutive days and also Sue and Jim Eames for their support on Saturday and Sunday.