Congratulations to Kents 14U Boys and Girls on qualifying for the Aegon 14U County Cup Event Finals which will take place at Nottingham City Tennis Centre Friday 16 to Sunday 18 May 2014.
14U Aegon County Cup 2014- Boys Qualifying Report
Squad
Daniel Goodwin (unwell)
Alex Jochim
Thomas Norwood
Michael Owen
Rory Blackman
Harvey Conway
In comparison to last year we have a relatively young team, but unfortunately our number 1 player Dan Goodwin was not well enough to join the team for the training sessions or the Qualifying weekend.
Saturday 3rd May - Kent v Gloucester
- Alex Jochim 1. Jochim and Blackman
- Tom Norwood 2. Norwood and Conway
- Michael Owen
- Harvey Conway
Harvey and Michael were up first for Kent and raced into a 1 set lead, 6-0 and 6-1 respectively. Harvey repeated his first set performance and served up a couple of bagels, whereas Michael lost his way and found himself going into a third set. With the new balls he carried on where he left off after the first set and won 6-1 4-6 6-1! 2-0 Kent
Tom put in a ruthless display winning 6-0 6-1 in quick time and Alex came through with a tight 6-4 7-6 win. 4-0 Kent
The doubles went true to form and the boys wrapped up a convincing win taking both in straight sets. 6-0 Kent
Sunday 4th May - Kent v Oxfordshire
- Alex Jochim 1. Jochim and Owen
- Tom Norwood 2. Conway and Blackman
- Michael Owen
- Rory Blackman
Today saw the debut of Rory Blackman up against a tricky lefty a couple of years younger. Rory got off to a great start winning the first set 6-2 and after a bit of a struggle found himself 5-3 up in the 2nd set. His opponent fought back and Rory got a little tentative, but held his nerve to win the set 7-6. Michael learnt from the day before and took his opponent out in straight sets 6-2 6-2. 2-0 Kent
Tom bettered his performance of the previous day winning 6-0 6-0 and Alex was almost as convincing winning 6-0 6-1. 4-0 Kent
Despite winning both doubles 7-5 6-2 and 6-3 4-6 10-8, the boys weren’t as convincing or ruthless as they had been. If they want to be contenders for the national title again they will need to be as ruthless on every occasion as the team were last year.
Monday 5th - Kent v Avon
- Alex Jochim 1. Jochim and Owen
- Tom Norwood 2. Norwood and Conway
- Michael Owen
- Harvey Conway
Quite breezy conditions caused the players to play quite smart on this morning. Harvey found himself in one of the battles of his tennis careers so far, winning the first set 7-6. Michael put in a solid first set taking it 6-2 and promptly followed it up by winning the 2nd set by the same score. Harvey’s opponent refused to give in despite looking dead on his feet for most of the match, due to the long gruelling rallies and subsequently saved 2 match points in the 2nd set, taking it 7-6. So far their match had taken 2hrs 30mins, with Michael finishing and Tom making quick work of his opponent on the court next to them, winning 6-1 6-0! 2-0 Kent
As Harvey started his 3rd set, Alex took to the court to start his match. We were wondering if it would be possible for 3 matches to be completed in the time it took Harvey and his opponent to finish their match. Harvey looking the fresher of the two, was able to maintain his level and take the match 7-6 6-7 6-2 in 3hrs 10mins! Alex went on to win 7-5 6-1 to wrap up another destructive day from the Kent 14 & Under team and qualify for the national finals for the 3rd year running without having to play the doubles on the last day. 4-0 Kent
It should be noted that since the start of the 2013 qualifying campaign Kent 14 & Under boys have played 40 singles matches and won an impressive 38, and of a total 54 matches inc doubles, hold a winning record of 51-3!!! Good momentum going into the 2014 National Finals.