The tennis world has been rocked this week by the sad news of the untimely death of
former British number one Elena Baltacha, who made Ipswich her base a few years ago and has been inspiring youngsters to develop their talents to the full at her Academy, which hopefully will live on long in her memory. I was lucky enough to be at her wedding to coach Nino Severino in December, and it is impossible to comprehend that such a beautiful and talented lady should be taken from us at the tender age of 30. Our deepest thoughts go out to her family and friends.
Indeed, Elena would have been proud of the performance over the weekend of our youngsters, who had an excellent weekend at the Lionel Cox competition at Queenswood. Overall Suffolk finished in 3rd place out of 10 counties, and were one win away from snatching 2nd place from Essex, who finished as runners-up to Hertfordshire. The 10U team of Maddie McLoughlin, Isabelle Eaton and Justice Hall deserve special mention for winning their event without losing a rubber.
The 9U and 12U girls both fought their way to the final of their events, finishing as runners-up to Hertfordshire and Essex respectively, Harriet Petley remaining unbeaten in the 12U Girls. In the Boys, the 10Us finished a very creditable 3rd, the 9Us 6th, and the 12Us came 7th after a very tough round-robin box. Coaches Chris and Richard Daynes were delighted by the attitude and performance of all teams.
It was a tough weekend for our 14U Girls in the Aegon County Cup at Frinton, Georgia Harris, Abigail Callaghan, Hannah Stokes, Catherine Whittle and India Ball all putting in 100% , but finding Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk all far too strong. Emily Wharton and Sheelagh Watts accompanied the teams, George Adey and his 14U Boys enjoying more success in their trip to Lincoln.
Oscar Cutting, Kareem Shah, Ed Pomeroy, Noah Cuting and Ross Spinner registered a victory over host county Lincolnshire, just went down to Hertfordshire 10-7, and despite some battling performances, they had to give 2nd best to rivals Cambridgeshire for 3rd/4th place. Oscar Cutting led by example at number one, and the competition will have provided all players with invaluable experience for future years to come.
Next weekend sees the prime dates for the Great British Tennis Weekend, and some 13 Suffolk Clubs have registered to stage Open Days, with a variety of free activities being run for all members of the family. We will look at the venues and activities in greater detail in next week’s column, with the Saturday seeing Open Days at the Sports Club, David Lloyd, Roundwood, Holbrook, Culford, Charsfield, Woodbridge, St.John’s and Newmarket URC.
Tennis fans of all ages can look forward to Open Days on Sunday 18th at Stowmarket, Grundisburgh, David Lloyd and Woodbridge, with Lowestoft Town in the north completing the May schedule on the 24th. Events will be listed next week, though will include Mini Tennis, as part of National Mini Tennis month, Adult and Junior Coaching, Cardio Tennis, Tennis Xpress, and with the emphasis of the activities on the family, Family Time and Family Fun. Those intending to participate can either register online, or simply turn up and enjoy the fun on the day!