Team; Emma Raducanu, Tiegan Aiken, Summer Reeves & Phoebe Buckland
Kent v Sussex (singles)
Our first match this year was against the hosts, Sussex. Whilst they had the home advantage, the Kent girls were raring to go and where more than ready for the challenge ahead.
Summer and Tiegan started for Kent, Summer was up against a really plucky opponent and Tiegan had to play against an equally tough competitor who she had faced before with mixed results.
Tiegan came storming out of the blocks, playing some really smart, effective tennis that saw her run away with the first set without losing a game. However Summer got off to a slow start and although she fought back from losing the opening two games by winning the next three, she was piped to the first set by a really stubborn opposition.
A more relaxed Summer started to get the better of her opponent, producing some great tennis which saw her comfortably win the second set. Tiegan was on fire at this point and continued to dominate her opponent, wrapping up the match 4-0, 4-0. It was a great performance by Tiegan and a great start for Kent.
As Emma went on to play her match, Summer’s match was again turned on its ahead and Summer was on the brink in the match tie-break, but she battled and battled forcing her way back showing some unbelievable grit and determination. She eventually came through in three sets and Kent were 4-0 ahead.
Whilst all this was going on, Emma was really up against it against the Sussex number one who was playing some excellent tennis. Emma tried her hardest to make a match of it, but it wasn’t to be and Sussex pegged us back to 4-2 meaning the match would be decided by the doubles.
Kent v Berkshire (singles)
Phoebe was in for Summer at number three for this match and wasted very little time in romping through the first set of her match without dropping a game playing some really precise tennis along the way. It was great to see such a composed effort. Tiegan who was playing her second match of the day was not having things all her own way and was made to work hard in taking the first set 4-1.
Both girls wobbled in the second set of their matches and all of a sudden Berkshire started to grow in confidence, they really started to believe that they could turn both of these matches around after what looked like a formality for Kent.
Tiegan managed to recover fairly quickly to win in straight sets and whilst she felt it wasn’t as good as her first performance, it was still really important for Kent to get the first point on the board.
Just when we thought her match might go to a deciding set, Phoebe began to hit herself out of trouble, once again playing some great tennis. She took the second set to a tiebreak and won it impressively to put Kent 4-0 ahead.
Things were looking really good for Kent at this point but things changed quickly when Emma fell behind, losing the first set of her match 2-4.
Although Emma was way off her best, she found a way to turn the match around in the second set by taking it 4-1, but her opponent didn’t seem phased and made a real go of the match tie-break.
Emma knuckled down, rolled up her sleeves and ground out the win meaning Kent had a chance of making it to the semi-finals if we could beat Sussex in the doubles.
Kent v Berkshire (doubles)
Although the tie against Berkshire was already won at this point, it was important for us to send out a message to our opponents and to wrap up the doubles, which is exactly what we did in impressive fashion.
Phoebe and Summer were by far the better team, winning points time and time again with some excellent volleying.
It was a really professional performance from our girls and soon they were shaking hands with their opponents.
Kent v Sussex (doubles)
Playing in this match were Emma and Tiegan, they couldn’t have started any better in this match. Tiegan was back to the form that she showed in her first match and Emma started to show flashes of her normal self after what were two poor performances by her standards in the singles.
Our girls were winning the baseline battles and were also dominating the net and at 4-1, 3-1 ahead, things looked very good for us indeed.
With nothing to lose, the Sussex girls relaxed and started to chip away at our lead.
Things got incredibly tight and eventually all four girls were playing very cautiously from the baseline and it wasn’t long before we were fighting for our lives in a match tiebreak! With rallies lasting at least thirty shots it became a battle of concentration, a battle of will and although it was ugly, Kent came through on top.
We had won both of our matches on the first day, which meant we were in the semi-finals and had a real chance of qualifying for the national finals.
Semi-Final
Kent v Hampshire & IOW (singles)
Emma was first on for Kent in this match and was playing with confidence. After a few close games, she pulled away from her opponent and didn’t look back. It was great to see Emma using the court and adapting to the difficult conditions to put us 2-0 ahead.
Tiegan was equally as impressive, playing on possibly the wettest artificial grass in the history of tennis!
It didn’t faze Tiegan and she slid around like she was on clay, comfortably winning her match in straight sets to put Kent 4-0 ahead overall.
Summer was back in the singles line up in this match and was in impressive form in what were really tough conditions. It was wet and windy to say the least, but Summer was playing great tennis, moving well and hitting through her opponent who didn’t have any answers. Summer won with ease 4-0, 4-1 in what was her best performance of the weekend and what a time to produce it.
The three wins in the singles put us through to the final where we would once again have to play Sussex who scrapped through to the final by beating the defending national champions, Surrey.
Final
Kent v Sussex (singles)
The teams for the final were set up in exactly the same way as the opening match which is always interesting as all the girls knew each other inside out at this point and each match was always going to be close.
Summer and Tiegan started for Kent and the matches were a mirror image of the first encounter with Sussex. Tiegan looked comfortable from the beginning but Summer was up against it only this time she wasn’t able to turn it around, her opponent was too good and put in a solid performance. Summer showed her fighting qualities, fighting until the end but she just came up short. Meanwhile, Tiegan once again got the better of her opponent winning by another big margin.
With the match evenly poised at 2-2, Emma had a chance to avenge her defeat on the first day against the Sussex number one.
She came out fighting and dominated her opponent with some calculated tennis, it was the first time over the whole weekend that her opponent looked under pressure and Emma was soon a set to the good.
The second set saw a change in momentum, Emma started to get a little tight and her opponent started to come alive and she levelled the match at one set all.
The match tiebreak was very competitive as both girls were playing well at the same time, the Sussex player got off to a better start and began to pull away from Emma who was producing some great tennis. Whilst Emma closed the gap and began to come back, it wasn’t enough and she finally went down 6-10.
Kent v Sussex (doubles)
We knew that we had to win the doubles to stay alive in the final, the parings were the same as before with Emma and Tiegan teaming up for Kent.
Again, the match was exactly the same, Kent raced ahead taking the first set, Sussex came back to take the second and then the Kent girls snatched the match tie-break.
This meant that we were tied at 4-4 so a mach tiebreak shoot-out to decide the final was to be played.
The same four girls went straight back on court for one last tiebreak. Emma and Tiegan won the first two points only to lose six in a row! The wheels were coming off and they were coming of fast, the crowd were going mad, the wind was at an all time high and my stress levels reached new heights!
The Kent girls clawed their way back and out of nowhere reached match point at 9-8 up. After another long rally they just missed out and so the match went on. Back and forth it went for a couple more points, nobody was letting up, holding their nerve spectacularly. In the end Sussex gained the upper hand and took the match on their second match point.
It was a great finale to the weekend, our girls missed out by the smallest of margins and no doubt will come away from the experience as better players.
I would like to thank the girls for being so good to work with both in the training and at the competition; they were a pleasure to work with a long with the parents who were so supportive throughout. Thankyou everyone.
Harry Bushnell
Captain