After practice on Thursday evening spirits were high and the team were confident going in to day 1.
Sarah made a great start to the day, with a match which was tight at the start with games going to a number of deuces. Sarah making her on-court county cup debut was nervous but controlled those nerves to pull out the win. Emily came up against strong opposition and struggled with her consistency, however never gave up on a point. Mary had a match which hinged on a couple of points in each set, unfortunately not being able to take her chances. However showed a great attacking style against an opposition who was labelled drama queen for the amount of time she took between points with various ‘injuries’. Katy made an excellent start to her match using all angles of the court but her opponent dug in to start forcing the errors and start hitting more of her own winners. Louise played an extremely high level and exciting match which hinged on just a couple of points in each set. Unfortunately despite 2 set points Louise was unable to pull out the 2nd win of the day. Danni played a good first set and it was difficult to tell that she had barely picked up a racquet in recent months, however her opponents’ greater experience eventually pulled through and then ran away in the second set. Sarah and Emily came close in their doubles match to a victory with intelligent play against opponents who looked a lot more comfortable on the singles court. Mary and Katy struggled to get in to their match with the opposition dominating much of the play. Louise and Danni played stylish doubles however they were outplayed by the experienced D&C number 1 player.
Group 3A
Day 1 – Durham & Cleveland 8-1 Loss
Results
Sarah Ashcroft (7.1) beat Bethany Smiles (7.1) 6-2 6-2
Emily Hewland (7.1) lost to Yasmin Tanfield (7.1) 6-2 6-2
Mary Langen (7.1) lost to Iona Amos (6.2) 7-6 7-6
Katy Wilson (6.2) lost to Charlotte Derbyshire (5.2) 6-3 6-0
Louise Holtum (5.2) lost to Farah Abdel-Aziz (5.1) 7-5 7-6
Danielle Pym (5.2) lost to Caitlin Hindermarsh (3.2) 6-4 6-1
Sarah Ashcroft lost to Iona Amos 6-2 4-6 10-7
Emily Hewland Mary Langen
Yasmin Tanfield lost to Farah Abdel-Aziz 6-1 6-1
Katy Wilson Bethany Smiles
Louise Holtum lost to Charlotte Derbyshire 6-4 6-3
Danielle Pym Caitlin Hindermarsh
Cambridgeshire beat Staffordshire 8-1
Becky made her 18U County Cup debut with a solid performance against a much higher rated player, as like most of the matches as the day unfolded this was not an easy match for Cambridge, but the Derbyshire team struggled to convert game points. Sarah much like Becky played good tennis but again came up against a much stronger player. Emily put together a strong performance and showed much more consistency and point winning shots than the previous day. Katy had an excellent start to the first set creating several set points, however was unable to convert under pressure. The second set saw stronger play from her opponent with Katy unable to create the chances she did in the first. Louise came up against a very gritty player who stepped in on every ball using her strength and height to pressure Louise, although a majority of the games went to deuce, Louise was unable to get on the scoreboard. Danielle showed good form in many parts of this match, however her lack of match experience showed through against a player regularly competing in national level competition. Sarah & Emily again showed good doubles tactics playing together, there just ended up being too many errors when the opponents had periods of consistency. Katy and Becky proved to be a good pairing who complemented each other with their playing styles. They had a very strong second set however could not close it out in the tie-break. Louise and Danni had a tall order playing the unbeaten Cambridgeshire sisters, they had a fighting spirit all the way through the matches, determined that the team weren’t going to down 9-0, unfortunately it wasn’t to be. (Mary Langen was unavailable Day 2 due to Karate commitments).
Day 2 Cambridgeshire 9-0 loss
Becky Williams (7.2) lost to Stella Gordon (6.1) 6-2 6-2
Sarah Ashcroft (7.1) lost to Eilish Mackie (6.1) 6-2 6-1
Emily Hewland (7.1) lost to Victoria Nicholas (5.2) 6-2 6-3
Katy Wilson (6.2) lost to Alice McGee (5.1) 7-6 6-4
Louise Holtum (5.2) lost to Anneka Watts (5.1) 6-0 6-0
Danielle Pym (5.2) lost to Sophie Watts (4.1) 6-1 6-3
Sarah Ashcroft lost to Alice Taylor 6-3 3-6 10-3
Emily Hewland Natalie Bacon
Becky Williams lost to Victoria Nicholas 6-2 7-6
Katy Wilson Eilish Mackie
Louise Holtum lost to Anneka Watts 6-4 6-2
Danielle Pym Sophie Watts
Durham & Cleveland beat Staffordshire 5-4
Players were positive going in to Day 3 knowing that a win would mean Derbyshire would stay in the group. Sarah started the day positively taking the first set using power and angles. However her younger opponent grew in confidence and consistency during the second set and ultimately Sarah’s frustrations couldn’t bring her to win either 2nd or 3rd set. Emily started with the confidence of the previous day’s good performance however this faded against a consistent and powerful opponent. Mary struggled against a much more powerful and accurate player despite fighting for every point. Katy made an excellent start to her match utilising all angles, unfortunately she did not take her chances during the first set and the second slipped away in no time. Louise brought the second win of the weekend for the team with a controlled performance against a player of the same rating. Danni was simply outplayed in her match against another player who has a lot much matches under her belt in recent months. The players all wanted to carry on and play doubles despite the match already being won by Staffordshire. Sarah and Emily played as on previous days with periods of excellence however failed to take advantage of an inexperienced doubles player on the other side of the net. Becky and Katy had a slow start but in the second set they dug in and forced the opponents to make a number of mistakes to gift them the set. Unfortunately they couldn’t take this form into the 3rd set to seal the victory. Louise and Danni got our 3rd win of the weekend with a last match victory, in the end it was an easy win with the Staffordshire number 7 player being subbed in to rest their number 1.
Day 3 Staffordshire 7-2 loss
Sarah Ashcroft (7.1) lost to Megan Davies (7.1) 4-6 6-4 6-2
Emily Hewland (7.1) lost to Elif Gabb (7.1) 6-1 6-0
Mary Langen (7.1) lost to Francesca Wilkes (6.2) 6-2 6-1
Katy Wilson (6.2) lost to Hayley Marshall (5.2) 7-6 6-0
Louise Holtum (5.2) beat Amy Ellis (5.2) 6-4 6-3
Danielle Pym (5.2) lost to Elle Stokes (5.1) 6-0 6-1
Sarah Ashcroft lost to Megan Davies 7-6 7-5
Emily Hewland Elif Gabb
Becky Williams lost to Francesca Wilkes 6-0 6-7 10-2
Katy Wilson Hayley Marshall
Louise Holtum beat Amy Ellis 6-4 6-1
Danielle Pym Emma Benton
Durham & Cleveland beat Cambridgeshire 5-4
Summary
Obviously a disappointing weekend for all the players and myself as captain. It was always going to be tough going on what was on paper and that was proven on court. I believe all players tried their very hardest and remained positive over the weekend, meaning there were certainly no easy matches for the opposition. At the end of the day all the other teams were stronger as shown by the ratings and the Derbyshire girls can be proud of the effort and ball chasing they did over the weekend. All players were extremely well behaved on and off the court.
Katie Higson
Team Captain