With another wonderful Wimbledon reaching its climax at SW19 this weekend, and local tennis enthusiasts able to watch the “stars of the future” in the East of England all next week, it seems appropriate the news been received of success for Washbrook’s Ashley Watling, continuing to develop both his game and his education at Tulsa University in the States. Ashley will be sorely missed in the Aegon County Cup squad at Hunstanton in a fortnight’s time, when Suffolk Men take on the enormous challenge of competing in the echelons of Group 3 for the first time ever.
The University of Tulsa men’s tennis team dominated the 2011 Conference USA postseason awards, as “The Golden Hurricane” nearly swept the speciality awards and had four student-athletes named to the All-Conference USA Singles lst Team, an outstanding achievement that has never been reached before in league history. Ashley’s coach Vince Westbrook was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year after guiding Tulsa to its 5th league title in the last 6 years, Westbrook now being named the league’s top coach in five of the last six years.
Still known as a “Junior” in collegiate terms, Ashley added his name to the first team for the 2nd year running. He was also named “The Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship” after posting a perfect 2-0 mark. Emphasising just how well he is doing, Ashley is currently ranked as the number 88 player in the country and holds a 17-5 record for the year, being given the special honour of competing along the front four courts for the “ Golden Hurricane “.
Ashley really is in great form at the moment, winning 12 of his last 14 matches and holding a five-match winning streak in earning his second straight first team honour. In Doubles he teamed up with Clifford Marsland to earn a spot on the All-Conference USA Doubles lst Team, being named the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship with a 2-0 record. They reached a national ranking of 24, and recently contested an automatic bid into the 2011 Division 1 Men’s Doubles Championship.
Local tennis fans once again have the opportunity to watch competitors from all over the world of Ashley’s standard, as the East of England Championships will once again take to the Bath Road courts. Last year the honours went to M.Brooklyn and A.Fitzpatrick, and it was good to see local youngsters Paul Midgley and Rohan Abel gaining invaluable experience by competing in the pre-qualifying event. Though not quite hosting the high level stars of yesteryear, there will be some high-quality and competitive tennis for spectators to enjoy throughout the week, in highly pleasant surroundings too !
The majority of these players will, as usual, making the sort trip to Holland Road next week, when Frinton will stage their annual top quality Men’s Singles event. Such is the rise in level that many of the Felixstowe competitors will have to start in the Frinton qualifying, and local tennis fans are surely in for a feast of tennis to remember. Let’s hope the weather is kinder than last year, when it rained incessantly in the first half of the week, and it was a miracle that this prestigious event was ever completed.
It’s on to the challenge of the nationwide County Week for our senior teams, especially our Men in the lofty heights of Group 3 at Hunstanton, then the Summer holidays arrive and our juniors can enjoy a veritable feast of non-stop competitive tennis. The Glasswell’s Bury Junior is always a tasty opener, to be rapidly followed by Framlingham, Lowestoft, Felixstowe and finally the Suffolk Closed, which is an event all Suffolk juniors should enter for, and one which provides a fitting climax to a busy Summer circuit. With most entries taken in “on-line” now, don’t forget to meet those deadlines !!
There is inevitably a let-down once Wimbledon is over, but what an opportunity to watch high-quality tennis on the doorstep, with the tickets not quite as expensive!!. Catering is always much enjoyed during the week, and if you have not made the trip to Felixstowe before then make the effort this week – I guarantee you will not be disappointed. One of my very special memories is refereeing Tim Henman when he appeared in the East of England 21 and Under event. Young though he was you could clearly see something special in this fresh-faced schoolboy, and how quickly his game progressed as he regularly reached the later stages of Grand Slam events and became number 4 in the world.
Many of the East of England competitors will be moving on to Frinton at the end of the week, when the Holland Road courts will be hosting a Men’s Singles event of an even higher quality, former British number one Jeremy Bates bringing along a number of highly-ranked players last year from the Sutton High Performance Academy. With a scattering of international competitors with world ranking points also competing, there is sure to be some hardfought and entertaining tennis to watch all week.