The last day of the Dorchester Junior Open produced some high class tennis between players from throughout Dorset.
The Boys 18 & under singles was a very close match. Dorchester’s 14 year old Justin Smith just managed to sneak the win by beating 17 year old James Marsh from Bournemouth 6-4 3-6 10-5. This age groups consolation event went to Charlie March from Swanage who beat Weymouth’s Steve Pellow 6-0 6-1.
The Boys 16 & under singles was a tussle between two Swanage boys. Richard Davies over came Nathan Fowler 6-3 6-2. The consolation event was a lopsided affair, between to Dorchester boys, in which age overcame exuberance. 15 year old Alex Skidmore just managed to hold his nerve over 13 year old Isaac Verkaik and went on to win 0-6 6-4 11-9.
The 14 & under singles final was contested between two 13 year old rivals, both of whom train at Dorchester. Ben Skidmore started well, but Levi Gale used his slow ball tactics to good effect and went on to win 6-2 6-1. The consolation event was also between two boys who are in the same Dorchester. Sam Roles used the experience gained from watching the tennis all week to beat Sam Allen 6-0 6-2.
Long rallies were the order of the day in the 12 & under boys final, which went on for almost 2 hours, Gianpiero Placidi eventually beat a persistent Ben Battey 6-2 7-6.
In the boys in the 10 & under final Finley Bygrave beat Millen Hurrion 5-3 4-1, in a match that showed the huge promise these two boys have for the game.
The tournament was a huge success with 112 people playing throughout the week, in weather that amazingly provided uninterrupted play. Many thanks go to all those that helped throughout the week, from Tournament Referee Chris Penny, to all the providers of home made cakes that went down so well!!