After a winter of discontent, with the men’s team being relegated in the winter competition, followed months of terrible weather, the Kent team were hoping for a bright start to 2013 with a match against the almighty Wimbledon on the clay courts of the greatest tennis club in the world. But on the day of the match the sun shone and the temperature went above 10 degrees for the first time in a while, was this an omen for the men from the garden of England?

The Kent Team:-

3^rd Pair- Paul ‘Cheffy’ Cook and Angus ‘Goose’ McCall

2^nd Pair- ’Jungle’ Jim May and Zane ‘Coach of the year’ Cheeseman

1^st Pair- Andy ‘Former Coach of the year’ Burgoyne and Alastair ‘Also former coach of the year’ Filmer

The Wimbledon Team:-

3^rd Pair- Simon Curtis and Andrew Ambrose

2^nd Pair- Paddy ‘I could also play for Kent’ May and Mark Beim

1^st Pair- Rob ‘I also could play for Kent’ Searle and Mark Petchey

The captain noted that with so many ‘coach of the years’ on the team we should be tactically good, but with no ‘player of the year’ in the line up, would we be strong enough for a tough All England line up?

Round 1 Started well with Kent first pair blasting through 6-0 6-1 in what Diane Filmer (Alastair’s Mum) described as like watching the Bryan Brothers, and although she may have been biased it was a good start. Meanwhile Zane Cheeseman and Jim May were on good form and took a decisive 6-3 6-2 win with a combo of Cheesy angles and lobs with some Jungle Jim silky feel. Wimbledon’s first pair were too strong for our thirds and although it was well contested, ended up 6-4 6-4.

2-1 Kent after round 1

Round two saw the clash of the two first pairs and early on it looked bad for Kent with Searle and Petchey having points for 4-0, but after a fight back the first set still went Wimbledon’s way, but to a more respectable 6-2. Paul ‘Cheffy’ Cook and Angus had another close battle, but went down in straight sets leaving the tie even, but not for long.... May and Snoop Cheesy Cheese took out an angry looking 3^rd pair 6-2 6-2 to give Kent the lead again. Burgoyne and Filmer were not done either and although they no longer appeared to resemble the Bryan Brothers, they did win the second set 6-3 and took it to a deciding championship breaker which they then took 10-6.

4-2 Kent after round 2

Just one more win for a historic victory for the Garden, could they do it? Yes, Yes, Yes was the answer as Cheffy and Goose shrugged off the loses to smash the third pair 6-1 6-1 and give Kent the win, but could it be even more decisive? Captain Burgs and Filmer took the first set on a tie break while May and Baby Bel lost a close first set 6-4, leaving it well balanced. With Filmer getting tired and Burgoyne remembering his age the second set slipped away and as May and Cheeseman shook hands for a straight sets loss. 6-1 down in the third set breaker Burgoyne and Filmer were not done and with every ounce of energy that was left they battled to win a tense breaker 10-7.

Kent Win 6-3

As always it was a great honour to play at Wimbledon in a close fought match. Incredible hospitality was enjoyed by all which just leaves me to thank all of our supporters for attending as well as the All England Club for the invitation for the fixture. Hopefully this bodes well for the summer as we look forward to Eastbourne, another great British venue for County Week 2013.

COME ON KENT!!!!!