The Girls 14 and under tennis team travelled to Harlow in Essex to compete in the LTA 14 and under County Cup over the weekend. The girls team, consisting of Charlotte Clarke, Sarah Long, Aailish Kelly, Caitlin Henery and Ava Austerberry, were placed in a tough group. They were to play against Essex, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and last year’s national champions in the age group, Middlesex.
Day 1 saw gale force winds, rain and hail so it was going to be a long hard fought battle against Bedfordshire in very challenging conditions. Charlotte, playing at number one, started with a comfortable 6-1 6-1 win and Aailish, playing at number three, won her match in a close third set tiebreak. Caitlin lost 6-2 6-2 and Sarah just lost out in a third set tiebreak.
Going into the doubles round at 2-2, our pairs shared the wins which meant at 3-3 a tiebreak shootout would decide the match. A player from each of our pairs joined up to take on the same opposition format. Our girls dug deep and won the tiebreak and the match 4-3.
Day 2 was a tough day against the two strongest teams: Middlesex and Essex. We played Middlesex first and despite our number one player suffering from an ear infection she produced the highlight of the day by beating their number one player, who is ranked number 13 in the UK, comfortably in straight sets. Unfortunately it was the only win of the day as we lost 5-1. However, Ava made her debut for the IOM and aged just 11 showed great spirit against her older opponents.
That afternoon we took on Essex and it was a similar story except Charlotte’s health was going down fast, she tried hard but hadn’t the strength to compete at the level she showed earlier in the day.
Day 3 we were playing against Norfolk. Charlotte, feeling a little better, comfortably won her singles 6-2 6-4 which was quickly followed by Sarah winning at number two 10-3 in the deciding third set tiebreak. Aailish took her first set to a tiebreak but couldn’t quite convert and then lost her second set and Ava battled but also lost a first set tiebreak and the second set. Going into the doubles at 2-2, Charlotte and Aailish and Caitlin and Sarah battled hard and won both matches to win the match 4-2.
A great effort to finish third in this particularly tough group.