Training completed the Kent girls 12 under team of Caitlin Mcloughlin, Sophia Johnson, Alaia Rubio Perez, and Nina Sherwen headed to Hassocks to compete against the counties of Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset.
Day one saw Kent drawn up against Hampshire & Isle of White. Caitlin lead the team off against an inspired Hampshire number one losing 4.0 4.1, Sophia Johnson playing two had no problems against her opponent over whelming her 4.0 4.0, Alaia playing three followed Sophia example and easily rolled over her opponent 4.1 4.1. With Kent leading 2.1 going into the doubles the pairing of Nina and Alaia played some great attacking tennis at the net to take the rubber 3.1 in Kent’s favour with a comfortable 4.1 5.3 victory.
Saturday afternoon saw Kent matched up against the girls from Sussex, this time Caitlin got the team of to a good start with a extremely hard fought victory over the Sussex number one 4.1 0.4 (10-5). Sofia keeping up her confident start to the weekend easily dispatched her opponent 4.1 4.0 leaving Nina Sherwen to step in to the third place singles position with a 4.0 4.2 win, giving Kent all three singles victories. The new pairing of Sophia and Caitlin then teamed up to win a closely fought match against the Sussex pair in a final set tie break. Day one successfully completed with two convincing wins.
Up bright and early for practise the next day the girls were looking forward to the challenge of playing a very strong team from Dorset. First match up saw Caitlin playing against ex Kent player Kristina Paskauskas, this highly charged match saw Kent take the first set 4.2 but then Dorset strike back to level it 1.4. Caitlin got off to a great start in the third set tiebreaker getting an early break to lead 5.1, although Kristina rallied Caitlin was able to close the match out giving Kent a much needed lead in the tie. Sofia again playing at two struggled to regain the fine form of the day before and lost the first set in a tiebreak, still not firing on all cylinders Sophia made a super human effort to take the second set on a tie breaker and like Caitlin managed to turn it around to win the champions tiebreak. We will all remember the incredible forehand winner at 5.3 that finally broke her opponent’s spirit. Two one up in the tie Alaia struggling with a head ache stepped on to the court to take on a very competitive Dorset number 3. Playing some solid tennis Alaia closed out the first set 4.1 only to see her opponent go up a gear to claim the second set 0.4, yet again Kent were heading for a Champions tie break finish. After the referee was called on court to deal with some line calling disagreements, Alaia finally got the upper hand to win a highly combative tiebreak. A massive physical and emotional effort from all three girls puts Kent into an unassailable three nil lead against Dorset and a place in the final against the number one seeds Surrey.
The final starts with Kent number one Caitlin playing the top ranked player at the event Leah Gonzales Edwards, The first set quickly slipped away as Leah hit with great depth and accuracy, but a super human effort in the second saw Caitlin take the set to a tiebreak which she finally loses 5.10. The anchor role again goes to Sophia who yet again came up with the goods winning a hard fought match 4.1 4.2 against a very strong Surrey number two. With the match now evenly balanced at one all, Alaia steps out to play the third singles for Kent. Unfortunately her Surrey opponent is on her game from the first ball making it extremely tough for Alaia to get into the match which she eventually loses in straight sets. With fatigue setting into the Kent team after their massive efforts against Dorset the new pairing of Caitlin and Alaia are selected to play the deciding doubles rubber against Surrey. The Kent pair take some time to get together and lose the first set 1.4 but after a change of tactics and some great volleying from both players Kent take the second set 4.1 and yet again we head for another tiebreaker. Unfortunately after trying everything in their arsenal the Kent girls finally lose out to the strong opponents and Surrey take the deciding rubber and win through to the finals in two weeks time.
In the end a very successfully weekend for the Kent girls with three counties beaten and a close match to decide the final winner. Some amazingly brave performances where all the girls gave everything there had physically and mentally. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work, enthuasium and fighting spirit. Their behaviour on and off court was a credit to them and Kent LTA. Also a big thank you to all the parents who gave up their weekend to come along to support, it was much appreciated.
Martin Whitehouse
Kent Girls 12 under County Cup Captain.