Congratulations to Craig and the Team
Team Captain: Craig Allen
Assistant Captain: Mark Ruffle
Friday 17th May - Kent v Norfolk
- James Davis 1. Summers and O’Reilly
- Matthew Summers 2. Brookes and Smith
- Jonah Smith
- Ethan O’Reilly
In a different format to previous years saw us placed in a box with Norfolk, Yorkshire and Middlesex, with the winners going up against Surrey, Warwickshire, East of Scotland or Sussex on the final day. It was going to be a very busy schedule over the 2 days with 3 full matches to be played, 12 singles and 6 doubles. Squad rotation was going to be key to keep the players fresh, but at the same time ensure qualification as box winners.
Nick was rested for the singles with Ethan coming in at 4. Both Ethan and Jonah got us off to a great start winning in straight sets. 2-0 KENT
Matt made short work of his opponent winning 6-0 6-1 in quick time, but James had a tight first set with Will Davies, eventually coming through with a 7-6 6-2 win. 4-0 KENT
We lost our first match of the 2013 county cup with Matt and Ethan going down 3and3 in the dead doubles rubber, Nick and Jonah won 0and0. 5-1 KENT
Friday 17th/Saturday 18th - Kent v Yorkshire
- James Davis 1. Davis and Brookes
- Nick Brookes 2. Smith and O’Reilly
- Matt Summers
- Jonah Smith
Matt and Jonah didn’t have their singles matches all their own way as they struggled to find their best form, but Jonah came through 6-3 6-2 and Matt followed up his first set 6-1 with a tighter 7-5 2nd set. 2-0 KENT
With the day dragging on the number 2 and 1 singles matches went on at 6.30pm with the plan to complete as much of the matches as possible and come back the next day to complete. Nick got off to a very good start winning the first set 6-2 but was pegged back by his stubborn opponent in the 2nd before play was abandoned at 3-3. James found himself in a very tight first set which he managed to take 6-4 before bad light stopped play.
With Saturday packed with enough tennis without the finishing off of the singles from the day before, the boys did the best they could and won their 2nd sets with the loss of only one more game between them, Nick 6-2 6-3 and James 6-4 6-1. 4-0 KENT
The boys kicked off the doubles matches but were able to stop playing the dead rubbers after about a set as Middlesex completed their win over Norfolk to set up a showdown with us.
Saturday 18th - Kent v Middlesex
- James Davis 1. Davis and Brookes
- Nick Brookes 2. Smith and Summers
- Matt Summers
- Jonah Smith
Jonah played his best match of the weekend so far and won 6-2 6-2, but unfortunately Matt was unable to find his best tennis and went down 4and1. To this point this team had won 20 straight singles matches from the qualifying to now and not even dropped a set so this was new territory for us. 1-1
With the match evenly poised at 1-1 we would have loved to win both singles at 1 and 2, but during an intense hour or so it was clear that it was going to be tough. James’ opponent took the 2nd set and the match to a match tie break in which James found himself pegged back from 8-4 to 8-8 before winning it 10-8! 2-1 KENT Nick had lost the first set 7-5 after being up 5-2, but made no mistake in the 2nd closing it out 6-3. A few errors early on in the match tie break meant Nick had a tough hill to climb and lost it 10-5! 2-2
At the start of the match I was confident that if it came down to the doubles we had the stronger doubles pairings and maybe the strongest doubles pairings in the whole competition. The boys did not disappoint and ruthlessly destroyed their opponents 6-3 6-1 and 6-1 6-0 earning a place in the national finals on Sunday against Surrey who won their group in almost identical fashion.
Sunday 19th - Kent v Surrey NATIONAL FINAL
- James Davis 1. Davis and Brookes
- Nick Brookes 2. Smith and Summers
- Matt Summers
- Jonah Smith
Finally the day had arrived after 15yrs as Captain of this age group Kent were in a position to be National Champions at 14U! For many years Surrey have been strong rivals to Kent Tennis and many times Kent have been on the wrong end of the result. The boys were determined to prove their worth and become National Champions.
Jonah and Matt were up first again and looking to give us the best possible start with both winning their opening sets 6-3. Jonah was up against the winter 12&U Winter National Tour winner and Matt was up against Ben Draper. Word was that Surrey were very confident that they would get the result after their win over Warwickshire the day before, but the boys had other ideas. Jonah continued to dominate his opponent and sealed a 6-3 6-1 win to put KENT 1-0 up. Matt found himself in the tightest match of the weekend as he dropped the 2nd set by the same score 3-6. The match tie break was tight all the way with Matt staying with Ben and found himself at match point at 9-8, before Ben sent down his best first serve of the match to make it 9-9. The boys changed ends and with 2 unforced errors from Ben saw Matt take the match 11-9!! 2-0 KENT
During Matt’s tense mtb Nick was in a high quality tight first set with Damien Rodriguez, which Nick eventually edged 7-6(5), whilst James was racing away with the first set against Zack Norman 6-1! Nick and James were clearly playing their best tennis of the weekend and were feeling the momentum created by Matt and Jonah’s performances. James wrapped up his match 6-1 6-0 giving his opponent zero chance of a look in. By this time the Surrey team looked shocked by what had happened and had clearly not expected it, but Damien was making Nick work hard for the win. Nick upped his level again and took the match 6and3 and with it the title for the boys!! The boys had been so dominant and ruthless that the doubles didn’t even need to be played! KENT 4-0
From the very first training session I knew that this team has a strong team of boys and not just because of their tennis ability, but also the bond and team spirit between them, surely one of the greatest performances by a Kent team of any age. Congratulations boys you deserved it and we would like to thank you for being such an easy team to manage.
Craig and Mark