Team: Ruby Cooling, Emily Stukins, Bethany Aust & Imogen Clough
Manager: Stuart Calow
Grantham Tennis Club were fantastic host for the County Cup event on bank holiday weekend. We held a practice session the night before to keep our goals in mind and to encourage a controlled performance. That defiantly carried through to Day 1 of the County Cup.
Day 1:
Conditions was tough as temperatures reached 25 degrees with light showers in the morning and strong winds in afternoon. Round 1 saw Lincolnshire play against Nottinghamshire, who fielded an experienced and strong team, in the singles. Ruby put in a excellent performance, challenging on every ball but unfortunately losing out 4-1, 4-1. With many games going to deuce (sudden death) Emily lost 4-1, 4-2. Bethany showed great character but lost to a consistent opponent 4-0,4-0. In the doubles against Nottinghamshire our girls Imogen and Emily played smart in very windy conditions, coming through 2-4, 4-2, 10-7 winners.
Round 2 against Northamptonshire, as a team we kept our good form going and played with a lot of confidence. Singles first, Ruby losing out 1-4, 0-4 but played a very physically long match. Emily was too strong and took her singles to a convincing win 4-0, 4-0. Bethany played a good percentage game taking the win 4-1, 4-0. After losing the doubles, both Imogen and Ruby were asked to stay on for the shootout as they always looked the better team and never panicked. Winning a tense match and taking the victory 10-7!
Day 2:
Playing conditions were perfect and round 3 was against Leicestershire, who had a strong first day winning both their rounds. Our girls in their singles got off to a strong start, Bethany was incredibly consistent and taking the victory 4-0, 5-3. Emily was on court a long time but eventually lost 4-0, 2-4, 2-10. Ruby had to dig deep but unfortunately lost 1-4, 3-5. In the doubles Imogen & Bethany looked strong, worked well together in a difficult game, but narrowly missing out in the tie breaker 4-0, 2-4, 7-10.
Round 2 our team's moral was still high and the girls waved the Lincolnshire flag at every opportunity. Against Derbyshire Ruby put in a superb performance and fighting back to take an impressive 0-4, 4-0, 13-11 win. Emily found it tough to break her opponent down losing out 2-4, 1-4. In Bethany's singles match, she was made to play arguably her best tennis with a 5-3, 2-4, 10-8 win, so far so good! Unfortunately, doubles saw Ruby & Imogen losing in a very competitive match, and eventually missing out 6-10 in the shoutout.
We would like to thank all the parents who showed tremendous support and encouragement. The team would also like to send a huge thank you to our County Chairman John Copsey for attending, it was greatly appreciated. It has been an absolute pleasure leading this team out to represent Lincolnshire Tennis, and they should be very proud of their attitude and overall performance, well done!
Stuart Calow
LTA 10U Girls AGM