A recent grade five tournament at Southbourne Tennis Club boasted one of the largest fields the county has seen at the level after a massive turnout for the weekend event.
The club has been hosting regular tournaments for a number of years and had a total of 32 male entrants for the singles draw and six entrants in the Ladies’ round robin draw. There were also 22 players in the men’s doubles tournament and the mixed doubles draw had 14 entrants.
After two long days of competition, the winners were finally confirmed. The men’s champion was James Murry, who survived a deciding tie-break in the semi-finals before fending off a stern test from Cyprian Kuczera in the final 4-2, 5-3.
Alice Carpenter was crowned as the Ladies’ champion. She came through her group after winning both of her round robin matches; she then beat Cleo Skilton in the final 4-1, 4-2. Carpenter dropped just six games in her four matches in the tournament, with Skilton only conceded eight.
The men’s doubles had some excellent play on offer with a lot of players who represent clubs in the Aegon Team Tennis competition involved in the draw. Players from the Saint Sebastian’s club were on the top of the pile with both pairs who reached the final coming from the club. Kris Koziol and Robert Ziemba beat Cyprian Kuczera and Prem Jeyapaul in the final 4-0, 4-1.
Over in the mixed doubles draw, Andrew Mirza, a semi-finalist in the men’s draw, and Kate Harris finished as champions after coming from a set down to beat Cleo Skilton and Joseph Owst 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a rollercoaster final.
The last tournament that took place during the Southbourne Spring Open was the consolation draw for men’s singles event. Some mammoth encounters took place early on, with two matches lasting over two hours. The final was another close affair with Carlo Covello beating Jonathan Hillard 4-2, 4-1 in a match that featured a lot of long rallies.
Southbourne Tennis Club has got a busy summer of events ahead. The club is hosting a charity Cardio Tennis event and a Disability Tennis tournament in June, as well as having young members Jose Pegorini in the running to be a ball kid at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London.
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By Harry Lund