On Saturday 30th June, Kent was at home at the Bromley Tennis Centre to play County Cup. This was the first time in my four years of being Captain, that Kent got a home draw and I thought to myself that a good omen like that must be a blessing at last as the most recent news was that Julian Lewis and Emile Hudd (Kent’s no.1 and 2) were unable to represent their County.
The Kent team consisting of Daniel Goodwin, Ewan Reader, Thomas Norwood and Anton Matusavich had to take on Sussex in the first of the box stages followed by Berkshire
Before the tournament started, Kent knew we were going to be up against it this year and the plan was to take one of the singles rubbers in order for us to go to doubles which we were confident at.
First up was Dan taking on the Sussex no.1.After a very closely contested first set with some solid trading which Dan lost, the Sussex no.1 stretched his lead and took a convincing second set win leaving Kent a rubber down. Next up was Ewan. From the start, Ewan looked a little nervous but soon overcame those nerves and put on a display of great ball striking and timing. However, as the match carried on and Ewan fought for every point, he was out gunned and took a straight sets loss. Kent were now two rubbers down, which meant the wildcard Anton was up to save Kent from a three rubbers loss. He did exactly that. Anton came out of the blocks like a man possessed and showed exactly why he was picked for the team as Anton traded well from the back of the court and was hitting the big forehand when an opportunity arose. Kent were back in the match as Anton took the win convincing
It all went down to the doubles, so Tom Norwood and Dan Goodwin stepped up to get a vital rubber. However, it wasn’t mean to be as it seemed Tom and Dan were caught with stage fright and as they struggled to dominate and take the net away from their opponents and they lost in an easy straight sets.
Sussex soon beat Berkshire in a one sided affair and it meant if Kent could beat Berkshire, then we would be through to the semi finals to play Surrey.
Dan played Seb Harris and controlled and dictated play from the first point and showed the class that we knew he had. Ewan was in a battle against the Berkshire no.2 and created a number of chances but unfortunately could not convert and lost, meaning that we were one rubber each. Yet again, the Russian phenomenal Anton stepped up and showed another fantastic display of raw power and some disciplined tennis to take another victory. After the loss against Sussex in the doubles, I switched the doubles pairing against Berkshire and put Tom and Anton in. The tactic worked and Tom and Anton played some of the best doubles so far and imposed themselves over their opponents for a simple win. This now meant that Kent were due to play Surrey in the semi finals the following day.
Sunday morning came and Kent were very upbeat about their upcoming matches .Dan played Jack Draper in a very tactical match and at times was looking to get the upper hand on the lefty but as soon as the opportunities came, they went. After a close two sets, Dan lost to Jack and was disappointed not to have won .Ewan, struggling with a little soreness in his shoulder, went on court to try and get that vital rubber but after several chances to pile the pressure on his opponent, he could not convert and lost the match in straights. Once again, Kent were relying on Anton to pick up the crucial third rubber. Anton started slowly as if he was scared to make a mistake or to even call the opponents ball out( which didn’t surprise me as the umpire sitting from 30 feet away decided to overall Anton on one of his calls earlier in the match).However Anton was starting to turn the screws on the Surrey no.3 and all of a sudden we were in a tiebreak for the second set. As Anton lost the first, this was going to be vital that he started well and carried on playing the controlled aggressive game which got him there as I firmly believed, if Anton won the breaker, his opponent Pele would crumble in the third. Within a blink of the eye, Anton had made 5 unforced errors and was spraying the ball needlessly all over the court and was 5 love down. Just as quickly as that, Anton won the next 5 points by actually getting the ball in the court. As a coach, when you see a player come back from a deficit of points like that, one might think the player has learnt from their mistakes and has an understanding of grinding points out and to not accept to lose. The next two points were over in respective shots as Anton failed to make a ball and that was the end to Kents County cup this year as we lost all three singles rubbers.
Over the last four years as Captain, I have seen some amazing comebacks, some dismal performances and a national winning team. This year, each of our players gave their all but could not take their chances which there was a plethora of .I am sure that all the team have learnt something from County Cup and will continue to develop as players.
On a final not, as always, I would like to thank the parents of all players for your continued support over the weekend and thank you to Dominic Cobby who once again has helped with the team and aided me in my decisions over the last four years.
Max Robinson - Boys 12U Captain