Captain's report:
This year’s inter-county competition on the hallowed turf at Eastbourne was once again affected by injuries and rainy weather. The team this year consisted of Lisa Knowles, Caroline Milns, Sue Alexander, Helen Phillips and Stephanie Meins and they were drawn against Wiltshire, Cornwall and the Channel Islands in Division 5a.
Playing in the number 2 singles spot but first to go on court against Cornwall, Lisa had an easy win, making few errors and coping well with the usual tricky near gale force wind. Lisa’s win was timed to perfection as a few minutes after she completed her win, the heavens opened and the head groundsman deemed the courts unplayable for the rest of the day. This was very unfortunate for Notts as the team were stronger on paper but as only one match had been completed, the tie was deemed void.
The conversation most of the weekend revolved around either the weather, (with regular checks of the forecast on iphones), or the Olympics and what was set to be a historic weekend for British tennis. Luckily, the weather held for the rest of the weekend and the whole team were able to get on court for some high quality tennis. Saturday’s match was a very close affair against the Channel Islands, a team that Notts had beaten 3-2 in 2009. Lisa had another great win in her singles but unfortunately, Caroline came up against a very strong player from the Channel Islands and went down 2-6 6-7. With the tie at 1-1, it was all down to the doubles but disappointingly, Notts only managed to win one of the three matches, so this year, the Channel Islands squeezed a 3-2 win.
Having lost on Saturday against the Channel Islands, there was all to play for on Sunday against Wiltshire, who were felt to be the strongest team in the division. If Notts were to avoid relegation to division 6, then a win was essential on the final day. Fuelled up with Janine’s fantastic breakfasts at 17, Wilmington Square, the team gave it their all in their bid to avoid relegation. In the first singles, Lisa came up against a very strong, fit looking player and unfortunately succumbed in straight sets. Next up was Caroline in the first string singles, who played a fantastic match to win through in 3 sets, with a nail-biting 10-8 in the third. This left the tie at 1-1 after the singles, with Notts needing to win 2 out of the remaining 3 doubles matches. By this time, there was another very important match going on at Wimbledon between Andy Murray and Roger Federer, so tennis players were constantly moving between Devonshire Park clubhouse to watch the TV and the outside courts to support their county teams. Unfortunately, the Wiltshire doubles pairs proved to be too strong and we lost two out of the three doubles matches. Sue and Helen put up a great fight in their second doubles match, however, losing the first set 7-5. The final result against Wiltshire was another narrow loss, 3-2. On a positive note, Murray was an Olympic gold medallist.
Sadly, this means the team will be playing in division 6 next year but on the plus side, the only way is up!!
Thanks to all the team and supporters for a great weekend.
Aldona Greenwood (Non-playing captain)
Pictured from l to r: Aldona Greenwood, Sue Alexander, Helen Phillips, Caroline Milns, Stephanie Meins and Lisa Knowles.